Twins, Lakers win tourney finales at Sapa-Johnsrud
WHITEFISH — The Glacier Twins finished off the 26th annual Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial Tournament with a 5-2 victory over the Pullman Patriots at Memorial Field on Saturday.
The victory gave the Twins a 3-2 record in the five-day event.
Trevor Miller was superb on the mound for Glacier, throwing a 1-hitter. He gave up a second-inning single, and finished with seven strikeouts and four walks.
“It was great for him to come out and throw like that,” Glacier coach Lindsay Fansler said.
“This will be his last Sapa- Johnsrud tournament, and with his family in the crowd, it was pretty neat.”
Fansler said Miller had “real good control. He kept his walks down and had good command of his fastball and off-speed stuff.”
Offensively, Kyler Blades and Cody Elek led the Twins’ hit parade, both going 3 for 4. Blades doubled on the first pitch in the bottom half of the first inning to set the tone for Glacier.
“Kyler had a really good week,” Fansler said.
“He’s been doing a good job in the leadoff spot. He provides a spark for us.”
Glacier out hit Pullman 11-1.
Glacier (19-26) was originally scheduled to play Kalispell on Saturday for third place, but since the two teams met on the first day of tournament and face off again on Tuesday in Kalispell at 6 p.m., they agreed to alter the tournament schedule and play different teams. Glacier and Pullman did not meet, which resulted in that pairing. Kalispell was matched with Lethbridge again. Those two teams played Friday night.
Pullman 101 000 0 — 2 1 0
Glacier 002 120 x — 5 11 3
Scourey and Jacobs; Trevor Miller and Cody Elek. W — Miller (1 hit, 7 strikeouts, 4 walks). L — Scourey.
PULLMAN — Hoadley 0-2, Johnson 0-2, Robinson 0-1, Drussel 0-2, Young 0-3, Scourey 0-3, Mooney 1-3, Jacobs 0-3, Barnes 0-2.
GLACIER — Kyler Blades 3-4, Carl Talsma 1-4, Elek 3-4, Dustin VonFeldt 0-3, Geoff Streeter 2-3, Kyle Knox 1-2, Zach Massen 0-3, Cody Hill 0-1, Kirs Gross 1-2.
2B—Blades, Elek; RBIs—Drussel; Blades, Elek (2), Streeter (2)
Kalispell Lakers 8,
Lethbridge Spitz Elks 6
WHITEFISH — For the second time in two days, Kalispell emerged with a thrilling victory over Lethbridge.
The Lakers scored two runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning to break a 6-all tie on Saturday for an 8-6 decision.
On Friday, Parker Motley singled in the winning run in a 7-6 victory.
Michael O’Connell went 3 for 4 for Kalispell and drove in four runs on Saturday for Kalispell.
The Lakers received an encouraging mound performance from Cody Dopps, who went 5 2/3 innings. He gave up seven hits, struck out three and walked five.
“He’s had an arm problem,” Lakers coach Ryan Malmin said.
“He said it finally felt good last week. We put him on the hill and he did a great job for us.”
Lethbridge took a 3-1 lead in the top half of the fourth, but Kalispell responded with five runs.
Kalispell, 3-2 in tournament play, hosts Glacier on Tuesday, 6 p.m. The Lakers are 29-16 overall and 7-8 in Western AA play.
“We’re trying to get healthy,” Malmin said for the stretch drive.
“I think we’re playing a lot better than we have in the last couple of weeks.”
Lethbridge 000 312 0 — 6 8 1
Kalispell 100 502 x — 8 8 2
Jamin Heller, Chris Stodolka (3), Matt Wiber (6) and Cody Lencucha; Cody Dopps, Greg Seaman (6) and Michael O’Connell. W — Seaman. L — Wiber.
LETHBRIDGE — Tyson Hudson 2-5, Kym Barthel 0-5, Blair Balog 0-3, Cole Stober 1-3, Lencucha 1-2, Dillon Houghton 0-4, Ryan Aiken 2-3, Stodolka 1-4, Wiber 1-2.
KALISPELL — Dean Stimpson 1-2, Marshall Boyland 1-2, O’Connell 3-4, Joe Pistorese 0-3, Seaman 0-3, Domenic Eickert 1-3, Dillon Matteson 1-3, Mat O’Brien 0-2, Parker Motley 1-3.
2B—Lencucha, Hudson, Stodolka; Matteson, Stimpson; HR—Aiken; RBIs—Hudson (2), Lencucha (2), Aiken; Stimpson, O’Connell (4), Matteson, Motley.