Mariners whip Cubs for title
The Daily Inter Lake
Gordon, John Rausch collect MVP honors
POLSON 'd1 The Mission Valley Mariners hogged nearly all the honors Sunday on the final day of the Firecracker Tournament at O'd5Malley Park.
Mission Valley rolled to an easy 11-5 victory over the Dillon Cubs in the championship game.
Afterwards, two Mariners earned individual tournament awards for their outstanding play. Left fielder Will Gordon was named the Tournament MVP while catcher John Rausch picked up the defensive MVP award.
The other award handed out was the Tournament Best Hitter. That honor went to Chance Plutt of Dillon.
Gordon went 3-for-4 in the title game and drove in four runs. The No. 5 hitter in the order, Gordon slammed a three-run shot over the 330-foot fence in center field in the first inning to give Mission Valley a 3-0 lead.
Dillon rallied to tie the contest at 4-all in the fourth, but Mission Valley tallied seven more runs.
The Mariners exploded for five runs in the sixth inning to put the contest out of reach. Brandon Roy led off that inning with a solo home run, about 370 feet, which hit the scoreboard in left field. It was Roy'd5s first homer of the season.
Roy also went the distance on the mound, improving to 7-0 on the season. He gave up eight hits, but fanned six batters.
Plutt hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to right field for the Cubs.
Mission Valley advanced to the title game following a 16-9 win over Deer Lodge earlier Sunday in pool play.
The Glacier Twins finished fourth, losing to the Bitterroot Red Sox, 14-1.
Glacier had just four hits in the outing, but two were doubles by Jeff Streeter and Wade Martinson, who had a RBI.
In the fifth/sixth place game, Missoula Senior Babe Ruth edged the Deer Lodge Ranglers, 9-5.
The Mariners have now won 10 in a row and are 38-6 overall on the season. They play a doubleheader Tuesday, 5 p.m., at Missoula.
Glacier is back in action Tuesday hosting Libby in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.
Mission Valley Firecracker Tournament
Sunday
O'd5Malley Park
Championship
Dillon Cubs 001 300 1 'd1 5 8 2
Mission Valley 301 025 x 'd1 11 13 0
Zach McCrea and Jackson Berkrum; Brandon Roy and John Rausch. W 'd1 Roy, 7-0 (8 hits, 6 strikeouts, 2 walks, 1 hit batter). L 'd1 McCrea.
Dillon 'd1 Joel Rogers 1-4, Chance Plutt 1-4, McCrea 1-4, Berkrum 1-2, Tim Goins 1-4, Drake Waltner 0-3, Allan Howard 1-2, Jake Schmit 1-3, Kirt Taylor 1-3.
Mission Valley 'd1 Kyle Brown 2-5, Eric Locke 1-2, Craig Bagnell 0-0, Roy 1-1, Tim Rausch 3-4, Brandon Thompson 2-4, Will Gordon 3-4, Tyler Linse 0-1, Cubby Pierre 0-3, Nick Fell 0-1, J. Rausch 1-2.
2B'd1McCrea; T. Rausch, Thompson, Gordon; HR'd1Plutt, Gordon, Roy; RBIs'd1Rogers, Plutt, Howard (2), Schmit; Brown (4), Roy, Thompson, Gordon (4), Fell.
'd1'd1'd1'd1'd1
Pool Play
Deer Lodge 010 35 'd1 9 7 1
Mission Valley 243 70 'd1 16 13 6
Joe Stefalo, Jake Baughman (4) and Blake Niederklein; Spencer Trawick, Beau Nordberg (4), Derrick Rathe (5) and Gordon. W 'd1 Trawick, 4-0 (3 hits, 3 strikeouts, 1 walk). L 'd1 Stefalo.
Deer Lodge 'd1 Mike Lowery 1-3, Andrew Stefalo 0-3, Niederklein 1-2, Blake Despain 1-3, Trent Thomas 0-1, Troy Thomas 0-2, Zeb Fitter 1-2, J. Stefalo 1-1, Roy Stidham 0-0, Baughman 1-1, Cody Jennings 0-0, Jordan Jennings 0-2. Will Anderson 0-3.
Mission Valley 'd1 Joe McCarthy 0-2, Joe Andrews 0-1, Linse 1-1, Rathe 1-3, Mike Fisher 2-4, Thompson 0-0, Kyle Bagnell 0-0, Gordon 2-3, Nordberg 1-2, Pierre 0-2, Chris Alfiero 2-2, Roy 1-2, Rocky Reynolds 1-2, C. Bagnell 2-3.
2B'd1Fisher, Gordon, Roy, C. Bagnell; 3B'd1Lowery; RBIs'd1Lowery; Fisher, K. Bagnell, Gordon (3), Nordberg (2), Alfiero, Reynolds, C. Bagnell (2).
'd1'd1'd1'd1'd1
Third/Fourth Place
Glacier 000 01 'd1 1 4 5
Bitterroot Red Sox 272 03 'd1 14 9 0
Will Beasley, Cody Elek (3), Adam Pisk (4), Kyle Yogodzinski (5) and Trevor Miller; Drew Brown and Brady Anderson. W 'd1 Brown (4 hits, 1 strikeout, 0 walks, 1 hit batter). L 'd1 Beasley.
Glacier 'd1 Miller 0-1, David FauntLeRoy 0-2, Jeff Streeter 1-3, Quinton Hagel 0-2, Dustin Vonfeldt 0-1, Kyle Knox 0-1, Elek 0-1, Pisk 0-1, Yogodzinski 1-1, Beasley 1-2, Wade Martinson 1-2, Jack Cronin 0-2.
Bitterroot 'd1 Matt Hamlin 2-2, Patrick Turner 0-2, Andrew Shook 0-2, Zach Henniger 0-1, Danny Gates 0-1, Cody Cousins 0-2, Drew Brown 3-4, Brandy Anderson 2-3, Casey Seaman 1-4, Luke Root 1-4.
2B'd1Streeter, Martinson; Brown, Anderson; RBIs'd1Martinson; Shook, Brown (4), Anderson (2), Seaman (2).
'd1'd1'd1'd1'd1
Fifth/Sixth Place
Missoula Sr Babe Ruth 022 230 0 'd1 9 12 8
Deer Lodge Ranglers 200 030 0 'd1 5 5 1
Kirk Booi and Steven DeYoung; Fitter, J. Jennings (4) and J. Stefalo. W 'd1 Booi (5 hits, 2 strikeouts, 8 walks, 1 hit batter). L 'd1 Fitter.
Missoula 'd1 Rob Parthin 2-3, Brandt Montelius 1-3, Keith Eustance 0-1, Jake Ginn 2-3, Dustin McCrudden 2-4, Pat O'd5Rourke 1-3, Dustin Hover 2-3, Booi 0-2, DeYoung 1-3.
Deer Lodge 'd1 Lowery 2-3, A. Stefalo 0-1, J. Jennings 0-1, Niederklein 2-3, Despain 0-3, Trent Thomas 1-2, Fitter 0-1, J. Stefalo 0-1, C. Jennings 0-1, Baughman 0-1, Anderson 0-1.
2B'd1Hover; Lowery; HRs'd1McCrudden; Niederklein; RBIs'd1Parthin, Montelius (2), Ginn (2), McCrudden (2), Hover; Niederklein (2).}