Lakers walk over Mariners

The Mission Valley Mariners American Legion baseball team's pitchers had a terrible Wednesday evening at Griffin Field.

And the Class AA Kalispell Lakers capitalized.

The Mariners issued 14 walks and hit three batters in a game billed as a Class A perennial power against a Class AA power Kalispell.

The game was anything but, as the teams combined for 10 errors. The Lakers ended up winning 15-4 in shortened seven innings.

"That was so ugly," Mariners coach Jamie Hanson said. "We are so much of a better team than that, period. We counted 12 different things that cost us runs besides the walks."

Mission Valley gave up just one of its walks in the first inning, but its defense committed two errors early and the Lakers' first for batters of the game scored.

"We were fortunate to take advantage of their errors early," Kalispell coach Ryan Malmin said. "It allowed us to grab the momentum. But I was pretty pleased with how well we came out and swung the bats - even when Brandon (Thompson, the redshirt freshman at Lewis-Clark State) came in. That was good to see."

The Lakers, fresh off a 3-1 Class AA road trip in Bozeman and Helena, improved to 9-4 on the year. They host the Canadian Days Tournament this weekend.

Mission Valley dropped to 5-3.

Hitting-wise, the teams equaled each other with six hits. But of the Lakers' six hits, five of them came with runners in scoring position.

Kalispell second baseman Tyler Reichoff was the only player with more than one hit in the game. He went 2-for-3 with an RBI single in the first and RBI double in the sixth that eventually sealed the mercy-rule advantage.

Shortstop Zac Ford finished 1-for-1 and three RBIs with two walks, a hit by pitch, a sacrifice fly and a two-run single.

"They dug themselves into a hole allowing all those base runners," Ford said. "A few weeks ago we were struggling getting base runners in but we capitalized in this one. That was good to get out of our system. We got some big two-out hits. We put the ball in play and good things happen.

"We thought they were going to be tough, especially with Thompson back pitching. But they just had a rough day. They didn't locate and we capitalized."

Kalispell third baseman Adam Olson was 1-for-2 with three walks and a two-run single in the second inning. Center fielder Jacob Scott was 1-for-3 with a two-run double in the sixth inning.

Lost in all the walks and errors with Kalispell on offense was the performance of its starting pitcher. Greg Neils pitched four innings of two-hit ball while striking out two. Tucker Hankinson relieved him in the fifth, allowed three hits and three runs in three innings and picked up his first victory on the mound.

Still the focus was on Mission.

"We are a young team that needs to step up and play the game the way it was designed to be played and not make it harder than it is," Hanson said. "We already know that 90 percent of the game is mental and the other half is physical.

"We use these games against Class AA teams to try and build on things, but we took a step back in this one. I know we are talented enough to compete with these guys, and the (Missoula) Mavericks even, and Glacier."

The Mariners host Kootenai Valley (Eureka) Saturday in a non-conference doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.

The Lakers' tournament starts Friday. They play the 8 p.m. nightcap against the West Kootenai Eagles of Trail, B.C.

Mariners 010 010 2 - 4 6 6

Lakers 450 024 x - 15 6 4

Tim Rausch, Cubby Pierre (2), Kyle Bagnell (3), Brandon Thompson (5) and John Rausch. Greg Neils, Tucker Hankinson (5) and Pat Hergesheimer. W - Hankinson (1-0). L - T. Rausch (1-1).

MISSION VALLEY (5-3) - J. Rausch 0-2, Eric Locke 1-3, T. Rausch 1-4, Thompson 1-3, Pierre 0-1, K. Bagnell 0-1, Rocky Reynolds 0-1, Will Gordon 0-3, Nick Fell 0-1, Craig Bagnell 1-1, Beau Nordberg 1-2, Kyle Brown 1-3.

KALISPELL (9-4) - Jacob Scott 1-3, Derek Keller 0-1, Tyler Reichoff 2-3, Adam Olson 1-2, Zac Ford 1-1, Hergesheimer 0-5, John White 0-2, Zach Davis 1-3, Neils 0-1, Hankinson 0-2.

RBIs - MV 3 (Locke 3), Kal. 9 (Ford 3, Reichoff 2, Olson 2, Scott 2). 2B - MV 3 (Brown, Locke, C. Bagnell), Kal. 2 (Scott, Reichoff). SAC - MV 2 (J. Rausch, Pierre), Kal. 2 (Reichoff, Ford). SB - MV 0, Kal. 4 (Keller, Reichoff, White, Scott).