Glacier swept by Mavericks
WHITEFISH - The Glacier Twins' dream start may have roused the sleeping giants.
The Missoula Mavericks swept a Western AA American Legion baseball doubleheader from the Twins on Sunday at Memorial Park, rallying from a 5-0 deficit for a 9-5 victory in the opener before rolling 13-3 in the nightcap.
Glacier (8-8 overall) dropped to 0-2 in Western AA play, while defending conference champion Missoula (22-7) moved to 4-0.
Sunday's sweep was far more comfortable for the Mavericks than Saturday's, when they totaled just five runs in two one-run victories over the Kalispell Lakers.
The Twins visit the Lakers on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Mavericks 9, Twins 5
The Twins put the Mavericks in an early hole, but Missoula swung its way out.
Glacier raced to a 3-0 first-inning lead on a sacrifice fly by Dustin VonFeldt and a two-run single by Wayde Martinson. Ryan Caron and VonFeldt had RBI singles in the second and third innings, respectively, as the Twins built a 5-0 lead.
Missoula pitcher Brendan Brown started the Mavericks' comeback with a solo home run to lead off the fourth. The Mavericks added three more runs in the inning, including two on Sam Sopko's double to left-center field.
Wayde Martinson robbed Kendal Maier with a leaping catch behind second base in the fifth inning, but Brown tagged up at third and raced home to tie the game. Cubby Pierre scored the sixth-inning, go-ahead run for Missoula, which never looked back.
The Mavericks amassed nine runs and 10 hits after the third inning as the Twins went hitless.
"It just seems like when we put up some numbers, we roll pretty well," Mavericks coach Brent Hathaway said.
"It's just getting started. Once we get started, we seem to do pretty well."
Kyle Yogodzinski turned in a fine pitching performance for Glacier. He held the Mavericks to one single through three innings before their bats warmed up in the fourth. Scott Yogodzinski hurled the final three frames.
"Little Yogi gave us four good innings, but they kind of got a bead on him a little bit," Twins coach Ryan Hadfield said. "Their bats really came alive, and I saw a chance to win with older Yogi.
"And, quite honestly, I thought we were gonna get the second one rained out, so I wasn't gonna leave my ace without throwing."
Persistent showers led to some fielding adventures as the teams combined for six errors. Play was briefly delayed in the first game, allowing the slick mound to be groomed.
Brown, Pierre and Taylor Nordby each had two hits for Missoula. Nordby blasted a solo homer to left in the seventh.
Six Twins managed one hit apiece, including Bridger Beach with a third-inning double to right.
Missoula 000 413 1 - 9 11 2
Glacier 311 000 0 - 5 6 4
Brendan Brown, Lincoln Mansch (6) and Sean Dwyer, Andy Freeman (4), Dwyer (6). Kyle Yogodzinski, Scott Yogodzinski (5) and Bridger Beach. W - Brown. L - S. Yogodzinski.
MISSOULA (21-7, 3-0) - Taylor King 1-5, Ben Roberts 1-3, Brown 2-3, Dwyer 0-3, Cody Burgmeier 1-1, Freeman 0-1, Kendal Maier 1-3, Taylor Nordby 2-4, Sam Sopko 1-4, Cubby Pierre 2-4.
GLACIER (8-7, 0-1) - Scott Palmer 0-3, Ryan Caron 1-3, S. Yogodzinski 0-4, Beach 1-2, Dustin VonFeldt 1-3, Wayde Martinson 1-4, Brad Nielsen 1-3, Adam Pisk 1-2, Cody Elek 0-1, Michael Hader 0-2.
RBIs - Brown 2, Roberts 2, Nordby 2, Sopko 2, Maier; VonFeldt 2, Martinson 2, Caron. HR - Brown, Nordby. 2B - Brown, Sopko; Beach. SB - King, Freeman; Palmer. SAC - Maier; VonFeldt, Hader.
Mavericks 13, Twins 3
Glacier couldn't keep pace with Missoula's relentless attack.
Sopko and Taylor King put the Mavericks up 4-0 in the second inning with two-run singles.
Brad Nielsen had an RBI single and Adam Pisk ripped an RBI triple in the bottom half of the frame as the Twins trimmed the lead to 4-2, but Missoula added two runs in the third inning, two in the fourth, three in the fifth and one in the seventh.
Scott Yogodzinski singled Caron home in the third inning to make the score 6-3, but five errors gave the Twins little chance to rally.
"(The Mavericks) were probably looking to break out, and they did," Hadfield said. "And we could have minimized that, had we played perfect defense.
"We just gave 'em more chances. Without the errors, it would have been a whole lot closer. They wouldn't have had as many at-bats."
Roberts, Sopko and Maier had two hits apiece. Sopko drove in three runs, while Roberts homered to right-center to lead off the fourth.
"We played a little bit better today," Hathaway said. "We've still got a long ways to go, but we're winning on the way, so we're happy with that.
"It's not the state tournament, so we don't have to be at our best right now. We just want to continue to make progress."
Wes Martens pitched five solid innings for the win before Anthony Maes tossed two innings of hitless relief.
Glacier had just two hits outside of the second inning and none after the fourth. Nielsen went 2-for-2, and VonFeldt ripped a double to deep center in the second inning.
"I think we'll be able to shake it," Hadfield said. "That (Missoula) team that showed up today wasn't the team that showed up in Kalispell.
"They brought their bats with them. They definitely have some really good swings.
"A few of those pitches our pitchers threw were good pitches that they just flat-out hit, and we need to get our hitters to that point."
Missoula 042 330 1 - 13 9 0
Glacier 021 000 0 - 3 5 5
Wes Martens, Anthony Maes (6) and Sean Dwyer. Scott Palmer, Josh Schott (3), Michael Hader (6) and Brad Nielsen, Cody Elek (5). W - Martens. L - Palmer.
MISSOULA (22-7, 4-0) - Taylor King 1-5, Ben Roberts 2-4, Brendan Brown 0-3, Dwyer 1-5, Drew Lytle 0-4, Kendal Maier 2-4, Taylor Nordby 1-2, Sam Sopko 2-3, Cubby Pierre 0-2.
GLACIER (8-8, 0-2) - Palmer 0-2, Schott 0-1, Hader 0-0, Ryan Caron 0-1, Scott Yogodzinski 1-3, Bridger Beach 0-4, Dustin VonFeldt 1-2, Wayde Martinson 0-2, Nielsen 2-2, Elek 0-1, Kyle Yogodzinski 0-2, Kyle Knox 0-1, Adam Pisk 1-2.
RBIs - Sopko 3, King 2, Dwyer 2, Lytle 2, Roberts, Brown; Nielsen, Pisk, S. Yogodzinski. HR - Roberts. 3B - Pisk. 2B - Maier; VonFeldt. SB - King, Dwyer, Pierre; Caron, S. Yogodzinski. SAC - Lytle.