Lakers sweep Great Falls Stallions

By CARL HENNELL

Finish season 28-31

The Daily Inter Lake

The Kalispell Lakers baseball season ended Saturday at Griffin Field.

And wouldn't you know it, with the Class AA American Legion baseball team already eliminated from postseason play, it played up to its ability and swept a Western AA doubleheader from the conference's No. 2 seed - the Great Falls Stallions.

Kalispell starting pitchers Tyler Reichoff and John White turned in dandy performances to help lead the Lakers to 5-3 and 4-1 victories.

The Lakers ended their season with an 8-16 conference record and 28-31 overall record. The team said good bye to four players: Zach Ford (who had the big hit in the first game), Zach Davis, Tucker Hankinson and White. None of them have plans to continue their baseball careers.

"Obviously, record-wise, it didn't end up the way we wanted it to, but baseball isn't always about winning and losing," Ford said. "All of these guys and our coaches worked really hard the last five months and to end it on two wins is pretty sweet.

"I probably won't go on to play anymore competitive baseball, but to end with two wins at home in front of our fans … Well, what little fans we have - I wish there were more people here … But to end it like this was nice.

Kalispell's second-year coach Ryan Malmin was happy the season ended this way.

"I was happy with the day," he said. "The kids didn't give up. Our pitchers did a great job of pitching strikes and our defense made outstanding plays.

"The season was frustrating. I expected us to go to state, but we weren't able to close out some critical games. We had good leads after the fifth inning in six conference games that we let slip away. Those, right there, would have been the difference between the season ending today and going to state. But on top of that, there were four other days out of four months of play when we didn't show up at all to play on the road. Even if we go .500 on those days, we're looking at extending our season.

"But I'm happy with the kids for ending the season like this."

The Stallions dropped to 13-9 in conference and 29-31 overall and will play the Glacier Twins today.

Lakers 5, Stallions 3

Reichoff spread six hits and three walks over six innings while striking out three and three of the four out-going Lakers combined for all of the RBIs.

The only two runs Reichoff gave up were solo home runs leading off the game and third innings.

After the Stallions' leadoff hitter Phil Parrish hit his state-leading 14th homer of the season, which most people in the stands went foul down the right field line and Kalispell assistant coach Nick Hergesheimer got ejected for arguing about, the Lakers came right back with four runs in their half of the first inning.

After back-to-back leadoff walks and a sacrifice bunt by Adam Olson, Ford hammered the second pitch he saw into left-center field for a two-run double.

"The guys did a good job setting the table for me," Ford said. "On the first pitch, he (Great Falls pitcher Dan Olinger) nibbled on the plate and got a call I wasn't too happy with. But the next pitch he piped and I got a hold of it. That was a good thing because after giving up that leadoff home run we were on our heels but then we came right back and put up four. It set the tone for the rest of the game and (Reichoff) settled down after that."

Ford came around to score on a wild pitch and then Hankinson capped the first-inning scoring with a two-out RBI single.

That's all Reichoff needed as he worked his change-up to keep the Stallions off-balance.

"I was lucky enough that both of the home runs I gave up led off innings," Reichoff said. "I was locating better this game than in any other time of the year - except for those two pitches that got yanked."

For his catcher, rookie Zach Brosten, it was a difference between night and day because it was his first game up at the Class AA level.

"I caught (Reichoff) when I was 14-years old in all stars," Brosten said. "But it's a little different since then. He's gotten a lot faster and his curve ball has more of a break to it. But the change-up was the big difference. That's a real nice pitch. That was my favorite. This is the first time I ever saw it and it was accurate and on."

The Stallions actually out-hit the Lakers, 9-4. But the Kalispell defense, along with timely hitting, made the difference. The Lakers even turned a triple play in the fourth inning.

Great Falls 101 000 1 - 3 9 2

Kalispell 400 100 x - 5 4 2

Dan Olinger, Zach Griffith (5) and Cole McPherson. Tyler Reichoff, Adam Olson (7) and Zach Brosten. W - Reichoff (5-6). L - Olinger (2-1).

GREAT FALLS (13-8, 29-30) - Phil Parrish 1-4, Olinger 1-4, Tanner Bleskin 3-3, John Coleman 1-4, Rick Hedstrom 0-3, McPherson 1-2, Taylor Ferradas 1-3, Zach Griffith 0-2, Kyle DeBolt 1-3.

KALISPELL (7-16, 27-31) - Derek Keller 0-3, Zach Davis 0-3, Adam Olson 0-3, Zach Ford 1-2, John White 1-2, Pat Hergesheimer 0-2, Brosten 0-2, Tucker Hankinson 1-3, Greg Neils 1-3.

RBIs - GF 3 (Parrish, Bleskin, Olinger), Kal. 4 (Ford 2, White, Hankinson). HR - GF 1 (Parrish (14), Olinger (1)), Kal. 0. 2B - GF 1 (Ferradas), Kal. 1 (Ford). SAC - GF 0, Kal. 1 (Olson). SB - none.

Lakers 4, Stallions 1

White pitched to one batter more than the minimum through five innings and improved to 8-5 from the mound.

On the strength of his left-handed curve ball, he struck out three and issued just one walk. He also went 1-for-2 from the plate and scored two runs in his final game as a Laker.

Brosten, who went 2-for-3, put the Lakers on the scoreboard first in the second inning with a two-out, bases-loaded single over the second baseman's head.

Lakers' second baseman Pat Hergesheimer, who had played catcher all season until Brosten was called up, smacked a two-run home run over the left field fence in the fourth inning to give the Lakers a 4-0 lead.

"The pitch before it the umpire called a strike on a way outside pitch and it made me laugh," Hergesheimer said of the at bat. "But the next pitch was right down the pipe and I took a stroke on it. I knew it was out right away. That was my fifth one so that tied with my last year's total. So I'm happy about that."

The Lakers out-hit the Stallions, 6-5, and both teams played flawless defense.

The Lakers defense was downright fantastic with diving outfield plays by Hankinson and center fielder Derek Keller, which got them out of a big jam in the sixth inning. Ford also added a diving snag at first base in the seventh inning.

Brian Sneck closed the game from the mound for the Lakers. He pitched to four batters and got five outs. He struck out the final batter of the game to end the Lakers' season.

Great Falls 000 001 0 - 1 5 0

Kalispell 020 200 x - 4 6 0

Griffith, DeBolt (4) and McPherson. White, Brian Sneck (6) and Brosten. W - White (8-5). L - Griffith (2-3).

GREAT FALLS (13-9, 29-31) - Parrish 0-3, Olinger 2-3, Bleskin 1-2, Coleman 0-3, Hedstrom 0-3, McPherson 0-3, Ferradas 0-3, Griffith 1-2, DeBolt 1-2.

KALISPELL (8-16, 28-31) - Keller 1-2, Davis 0-4, Reichoff 0-3, Olson 1-3, Ford 0-2, White 1-2, Hergesheimer 1-2, Hankinson 0-2, Brosten 2-3.

RBIs - GF 1 (Olinger), Kal. 4 (Brosten 2, Hergesheimer 2). HR - GF 0, Kal. 1 (Hergesheimer (5)). 2B - GF 2 (Olinger, Griffith), Kal. 2 (Olson, Keller). SAC - none. SB - none.