Rain washes out epic end

Kalispell scores five runs in fourth inning to beat Glacier in conference opener

WHITEFISH - An epic finish looked inevitable until foul weather washed it away.

The Kalispell Lakers used an explosive fourth inning to beat the Glacier Twins 6-4 Wednesday night in both teams' rain-shortened Western AA American Legion baseball opener.

The game was called in the bottom of the seventh inning with Glacier trailing 8-4, but batting with a runner on second base and no outs. Because the teams played at least five innings, the game became official, with the final score reverted to the end of the sixth - and last complete - inning.

The Lakers led 1-0 after one inning, but managed no hits against Twins pitcher Scott Yogodzinski before erupting for five runs on four hits in the fourth inning to pull ahead 6-1. Lakers pitcher John White walked to start the two-out rally, which featured singles by Derek Keller, Zach Davis, Jacob Scott and Austin Zapata.

Keller had Kalispell's lone multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Davis drove in two runs in the fourth inning to help White (4-0) to the win.

"The two (starting) pitchers on the mound - we both threw pretty well, and it felt good to have the first few innings just be a breeze," White said. "Our offense picked it up, and it felt good. It's always good when you beat the Twins."

White recorded five strikeouts over five innings while holding Glacier to two hits through the first four innings.

"My fastball felt good and so did my curve," he said. "I was able to spot both of those."

But Glacier didn't go away. The Twins chipped away at Kalispell's lead with one run in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth while Weston Chambers pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

"I think the bottom line is it's always important to get that first conference win, and it just didn't seem like even though we had a big inning that we could gain momentum," Lakers coach Ryan Malmin said.

Glacier out-hit the Lakers 7-6 with Brad Bell and Zane Ridings collecting two singles apiece. Bell led Glacier with two runs and a stolen base.

First baseman Justin Collom produced Glacier's most dramatic highlight, blasting a solo home run to dead center in the fourth inning. Twins catcher Ryan Caron nearly went deep as well, but Lakers center fielder Jake Scott, who stole two bases, caught his second-inning shot while racing into the outfield wall.

The Twins' only two errors came in the seventh inning, which proved inconsequential. Left fielder Michael Hader continued his outstanding glove work, diving head first to rob Keller of a second-inning hit.

"I'm totally ready for the Glacier Twins to play like they're capable of playing," Twins coach Jarod Grubb said. "If they had all played to their full potential today we would have faired much better."

The Lakers improve to 1-0 in conference play and 14-4 overall while Glacier drops to 0-1 in conference and 12-7 overall.

"I think the conference is going to be evenly balanced for the most part, so every game's going to count," Malmin said.

"We're going after that conference title, so this is just one step closer," White said. "We've got to keep working like we did for this one."

Grubb said it was tough to see the game end early while the Twins had the momentum.

"It certainly is unfortunate, but you can't control the environment," he said. "The environment got us when we were playing our best today."

In hanging with Kalispell - a state tournament team last year that looks even stronger this season - the Twins proved they are vastly improved from a year ago when they went 1-23 in conference.

"Sometimes we lose sight of our progress year-to-year and just focus on day-to-day," Grubb said.

Both teams are back in action Friday at the Wood Bat Tournament in Whitefish.

Kalispell 100 500 - 6 6 1

Glacier 001 120 - 4 7 0

John White, Tyler Reichoff (6) and Pat Hergesheimer. Scott Yogodzinski, Weston Chambers (4) and Ryan Caron. W - White (4-0). L - Yogodzinski (NA).

KALISPELL (14-4, 1-0) - Jacob Scott 1-3, Austin Zapata 1-4, Reichoff 0-2, Adam Olson 0-3, Zac Ford 1-2, White 0-2, Derek Keller 2-3, Hergesheimer 0-2, Zach Davis 1-3.

GLACIER (12-7, 0-1) - Roo Grubb 1-3, Rusty Hill 1-3, Josh Peterson 0-3, Justin Collom 1-3, Chambers 0-3, Caron 0-3, Brad Bell 2-2, Zane Ridings 2-3, Michael Hader 0-2.

RBIs - Kal. 5 (Davis 2, Reichoff, Keller, Zapata), Gla. 4 (Collom, Hader, Grubb, Hill). HR - Kal. 0, Gla. 1 (Collom). 2B - Kal. 0, Gla. 1 (Grubb). SB - Kal. 2 (Scott), Gla. 1 (Bell). SAC - Kal. 0, Gla. 1 (Hader).