Roy, M's keep on winning
The Daily Inter Lake
WHITEFISH - Brandon Roy struck out 10 batters and limited the Pullman Posse to three singles as the Mission Valley Mariners posted an 8-2 victory Thursday at the Ed Gallo memorial Class A American Legion baseball tournament at Memorial Park.
Roy, now 5-0 on the season, fanned two batters in the first, second and fifth innings and struck out the side in the fourth.
He issued just two walks, but did hit five Pullman batters in going the distance.
Mission Valley capitalized on walks, wild pitches and throwing errors to score its first four runs of the ballgame, two in both the first and third innings.
The Mariners put the game away with a four-run fifth inning. Tim Rausch had two stolen bases in that inning for the Mariners and Nick Fell one.
Will Gordon and Craig Bagnell both singled once for the Mariners.
Mission Valley has now won 13 straight games and is 28-5 overall on the season. They will play the tournament host Glacier Twins tonight at 5:15. The tournament ends Saturday.
Pullman, Wash. 001 010 0 - 2 3 3
Mission Valley 202 040 x - 8 2 2
Jaime Ferkakis, Druffel (5), Alex Kirk (6) and Alec Scourey; Brandon Roy and John Rausch. W - Roy, 5-0 (3 hits, 10 strikeouts, 2 walks, 4 hit batsmen). L - Ferkakis.
Pullman - Kyle Davison 1-2, A. Scourey 1-4, Kirk 0-4, Ferkakis 0-3, A.J. Therrien 1-2, Nick Jacobs 0-3, Mike Scourey 0-1, Christian Kurc 0-2, Austin Buscher 0-2.
Mission Valley - Kyle Brown 0-2, Mike Fisher 0-1, Eric Locke 0-2, Brandon Thompson 0-3, Will Gordon 1-4, Tim Rausch 0-2, Tyler Linse 0-1, Beau Nordberg 0-0, Cubby Pierre 0-1, Nick Fell 0-1, Craig Bagnell 1-1, John Rausch 0-3.
RBIs-Davison; Gordon, Bagnell.
Mead 3, Libby 1
Derek Benefield's sterling pitching wasn't enough as Mead scored all of its runs in the first inning to beat Libby.
Benefield went the distance for the Loggers, allowing just four hits and one earned run, but Libby committed two errors in the first inning and its offense couldn't catch up.
"We played six innings of some of our best defense of the year, but we weren't awake for that first inning," Libby coach Kelly Morford. "All in all, we're playing pretty well, we just can't get out of those early innings."
Libby dropped to 0-2 in tournament pool play and 14-14 overall. Mead notched its first tournament victory after falling to Kalispell on Wednesday.
Benefield allowed just one hit over the final six innings.
"He was pitching instead of just throwing, and kept his fastball down and worked his off-speed in there well," Morford said.
The Loggers loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth inning, but scored just one run on a wild pitch in between a double play and strikeout.
Benefield, Zack Rowan, Steve Bertelsen, Rory Hendrickson and Chris Herbig each singled for Libby.
Libby battles Kalispell this afternoon at 2:30. Mead opens today's action with a 9 a.m. contest against Laurel.
Libby 000 001 0 - 1 5 3
Mead 300 000 0 - 3 4 0
Derek Benefield and Matt Schad. Baldini and McNagten. W - Baldini. L - Benefield (2-4).
LIBBY (14-14) - Zack Rowan 1-2, Benefield 1-3, Steve Bertelsen 1-2, Rich Brumbaugh 0-3, Schaw 0-2, Rory Hendrickson 1-2, Ryan Stapley 0-3, Nate Peltier 0-3, Chris Herbig 1-3.
MEAD (NA) - Murphy 1-3, Allen 0-1, Larson 0-1, Fink 0-2, Guzman 1-1, Peterson 1-2, McNagten 1-3, Johns 0-2, Kosoff 0-2, Woodard 0-2, Kambel 0-2.
RBIs - Lib. 0, Mead 3 (Larson, Peterson, McNagten). 3B - Lib. 0, Mead 1 (Peterson). SB - Lib. 1 (Bertelsen), Mead 1 (Murphy).
Kalispell vs. Laurel
No results were availble.
Kalispell plays Libby today at 2:30 p.m.