Hankinson hurls Lakers out of trouble

That was a big favor Tucker Hankinson did for the Kalispell Lakers.

He'd never pitched a AA American Legion baseball game in his life, but Hankinson took the ball when Kalispell coach Mike McFarland asked Thursday night.

The result was four hits allowed, five strikeouts, four walks, two hit batsmen - and an 11-1 Kalispell win over the Kootenai Valley Rangers at Griffin Field.

"I was a little bit nervous at first - my first AA game pitching," the 17-year-old admitted.

"But it felt good. I got over my nerves a little, got more relaxed on the mound. I felt pretty comfortable out there.

"I threw consistent, threw about the same amount of balls as I did strikes. And I had great defense behind me the whole game. I couldn't have done it without the defense behind me," he emphasized.

"He hasn't pitched much. We wanted to see if he could throw strikes," McFarland said.

The coaches expected him to throw four or five innings and then they planned to bring someone else in.

Instead, Hankinson went the distance.

"Once we got enough (runs), we talked about (relieving him). But he felt fine, so we let him finish the game."

With four games ahead of the Lakers this weekend - two of them conference - Hankinson's performance allowed the Lakers to keep their other pitchers fresh.

"So Tucker did us a huge favor by pitching a complete game," McFarland said. "That's the best thing about (the win)," said McFarland.

Kalispell took control of Thursday's game early - it managed one run in the first, then added three more in the second inning when Eureka's pitcher struggled.

The Lakers loaded the bases and scored three runs on one hit, two hit batsmen and three walks.

They added five more runs in the bottom of the fifth - on four hits, an error and one walk.

"We did the little things right - at the plate, baserunning …" McFarland said.

"We're much more aggressive on the bases and the communication on the bases is great," he added.

Defensively, the Lakers are still making some decisions, the coach said.

"The people we're trying at these positions are all capable," he said. "They're all doing well and I think the competition has been good.

"There are just a lot of options," he added.

"But we're real strong, real united. The chemistry we have is great."

Kalispell travels Saturday to Great Falls to take on the Stallions for a pair of conference games, then returns to Griffin Field for a Mother's Day doubleheader against the Helena Senators.

Lakers 11, Rangers 1

Kootenai Valley 000 000 1 - 1 4 1

Kalispell 130 151 x - 11 10 0

Drew Shay, Jordan Lundberg (2), Kraig Chupp (5) and J.D. Belstad. Tucker Hankinson and Jake Fitzsimmons and Carl Christianson (6). WP - Hankinson (1-0). LP - Shay.

Hankinson - 4 hits, 5 strikeouts, 4 walks, 2 hit batsmen. 3B - Christianson (K) 2B - Shay (KV).

Kootenai Valley - J.D. Belstad 0-2, Drew Shay 1-4, Zach Nieuwsma 1-2, Jordan Lundberg 0-2, Matt Peltier 1-2, Kraig Chupp 0-3, Clete DeShazer 0-2, Pat Broom 0-0, Eli Yost 0-1, Mark Smith 1-1, Mike Broom 0-0, Kris Chupp 0-3.

RBIs: Shay.

Kalispell - Chris Hooley 2-3, Nick Hergesheimer 1-3, Stefan Malkuch 1-2, Michael Crail 0-1, Jake Fitzsimmons 0-3, Carl Christianson 1-1, Sam Freudenberg 1-2, Craig Olson 1-3, Tom Gregory 1-1, Matt Venturini 2-4, Jeremy Chambers 0-2, Ryan Grubb 1-2, Tucker Hankinson 0-0.

RBIs: Hergesheimer 1, Malkuch 2, Venturini 1, Ryan Grubb 1, Hankinson 1,Tom Gregory 1.