Legion baseball: Mavs deal Lakers third-straight loss
MISSOULA - Ben Roberts and Riley King combined for three triples and four RBIs and the Class AA Missoula Mavericks battered the slumping Kalispell Lakers 11-1 at Lindborg-Cregg Field on Wednesday night in American Legion Western AA conference action.
Missoula (41-5 overall, 6-1 league) jumped ahead 5-0 after two innings and held on to deal the Lakers (22-10, 5-5) their third conference loss in a row.
Mat O'Brien, who started on the mound and lasted through five, led the Kalispell offense with a pair of hits and Alex Stanley added a double.
Kalispell 000 000 1 - 1 5 4
Missoula 320 105 x - 11 11 2
Mat O'Brien, Greg Seaman (6), Michael O'Connell (6) and Zach Brosten. Steven DeYoung, Shawn McArthur and Sean Dwyer. W - DeYoung. L - O'Brien.
KALISPELL - Dean Stimpson 0-3, Dillon Matteson 0-3, O'Connell 0-3, Zach Brosten 1-2, Marshall Boyland 1-2, O'Brien 2-3, Seaman 0-2, Alex Stanley 1-2, Cody Dopps 0-2, Domenic Eickert 0-1.
MISSOULA - Ben Roberts 3-4, Brody Miller 1-2, Kendal Maier 1-4, Sean Dwyer 1-3, DeYoung 0-3, Riley King 1-4, Sam Sopko 1-2, Robby King 2-3, Matt McMann 2-3, McArthur 0-1.
3B - Roberts 2, Riley King. 2B - Stanley. RBI - Roberts 2, Riley King 2, McMann 2, Miller, Maier.
Libby, Mission Valley split
POLSON - The Libby Loggers scored five runs in the extra-inning eighth to salvage a nonconference split with the Mission Valley Mariners.
In the nightcap with the game tied 5-all in the eighth, Libby's Clay Smith earned a walk and Alex Cislo followed with a double to put runners in scoring position. The next batter, Zach Watson, came through with an RBI single and the Loggers added four more runs to take the 10-5 victory.
Mission Valley won the opener 4-3 after Justin Evans scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh. Evans also had a homer in the third to lead off the inning.
Tim Rausch and Matt Detweiler each had solo homers in the nightcap.
Micah Germany had two RBIs for Libby. Also knocking in runs in the nightcap were Joe Coker, who had a double, Eric Grotjohn, Tate Wilson and Clay Smith.
Libby (16-18 overall) hosts the annual Big Bucks tournament starting Friday with 10 teams scheduled to compete.
Game 1
Libby 000 300 0 - 3 4 3
Mission Valley 101 001 1 - 4 3 0
Adam Stapley, Joe Coker (7) and Micah Germany. Justin Evertz, Bradley Pichler (6) and Tim Rausch. W - Pichler; L - Coker
LIBBY - Dustin Morningstar 0-3, Chris Herbig 0-3, Germany 1-3, Coker 1-3, Justin Wicka 1-3, Eric Grotjohn 1-3, Tate Wilson 0-2, Stapley 0-1, Clay Smith 0-3, Eric Riddle 0-3.
MISSION VALLEY - Kalib Gillingham 1-2, Kyle Bagnell 0-3, Evertz 0-2, Chris Alfiero 1-1, Rausch 0-3, Tyler Linse 0-3, Derrick Rathe 0-2, Matt Detweiler 0-3, Justin Evans 1-1.
HR - Evans; RBI - Evans.
Game 2
Libby 013 001 05 - 10 11 0
M. Valley 012 100 10 - 5 9 2
Riddle, Wicka (7) and Germany. Evertz, Corey (7), Rausch (8) and Morigeau. W - Wicka (2-3), L - Rausch.
LIBBY - Morningstar 1-5, Chris Herbig 2-5, Micah Germany 1-4, Joe Coker 1-5, Justin Wicka 0-4, Eric Grotjohn 2-5, Tate Wilson 1-1, Clay Smith 0-0, Alex Cislo 1-3, Zach Watson 2-3.
2B - Coker, Cislo; RBI - Herbig, Germany (2), Coker, Grotjohn, Wilson, Watson.
MISSION VALLEY - Justin Evertz 1-5, Kyle Bagnell 2-2, Xavier Morigeau 0-3, Tim Rausch 1-2, Derrick Rathe 1-4, Matt Detweiler 1-4, Chris Alfiero 2-4, Willie Wallace 0-3, Justin Evans 1-4.
HR - Rausch, Detweiler; RBI - Bagnell, Rausch (2), Rathe, Detweiler.
Rangers sweep Twins
WHITEFISH - The Kootenai Valley Rangers squeaked out a win in the opener and then powered past the Class A Glacier Twins in five innings to earn a conference sweep on the road.
In the opener, Bryton Guckenberg broke a 2-2 tie by driving in Caleb Curtiss in the top of the eighth inning and starter Josh Soderling finished strong for the complete game victory, 3-2, in extra innings.
Guckenberg went 2 for 3 with a double and RBI and Colin Gillard had an RBI single for Kootenai Valley (16-16 overall, 3-3 in conference).
In the nightcap, the Rangers scored 12 runs in the first three innings and starter Ryan Holder struck out five of the 10 batters he faced as Kootenai Valley cruised to a 14-3 win in five innings.
The Rangers head to Libby on Friday for the Big Bucks tournament.
Game 1
Kootenai Valley 101 000 01 - 3 8 4
Glacier 001 010 00 - 2 8 2
Josh Soderling and Colin Gillard. Connor Donahue and Jim Jumper. W - Soderling (4-2, 4 strikeouts, 0 walks); L - Donahue.
KOOTENAI VALLEY - Bryton Guckenberg 2-3, Alex Lesowski 2-5, Cade Davis 0-3, Ryan Holder 2-3, Colin Gillard 1-2, Little 1-3, Curtis McDuffie 0-2, Caleb Curtiss 1-3, Grove 0-3.
2B - Guckenberg, Little; RBI - Guckenberg, Gillard.
GLACIER - Jacob Rogers 0-4, Devon Rocker 1-4, Connor Donahue 2-4, Isaac Venezio 2-4, Jim Jumper 0-4, Anderson 1-3, Micahel Herbig 1-4, Michael Heater 1-4, Bryce Wehrli 0-3.
2B - Venezio.
Game 2
K. Valley 336 02x x - 14 13 2
Glacier 000 30x x - 3 4 3
Holder, Davis (5) and Davis and Curtiss (5). Anderson, Davis (3) and Jumper. W - Holder (5 strikeouts); L - Anderson.
KOOTENAI VALLEY - Guckenberg 1-3, Lesowski 1-3, Davis 1-2, Holder 4-4, Gillard 2-4, Curtiss 2-4, Little 1-3, Grove 0-3, Soderling 1-2, Rackley 0-0, McDuffie 0-1.
2B - Gillard,; 3B - Curtiss; RBI - Guckenberg, Lesowski (3), Davis (3), Holder, Gillard, Rackley.
GLACIER - Rogers 0-2, Rocker 1-2, Donahue 1-3, Benezio 0-1, Jumper 2-2, anderson 0-1, Herbig 0-0, Houston 0-2, Heater 0-1, Davis 0-1, Wehril 0-2, Van 0-1.
2B - Donahue; RBI - Donahue