Rustad powers Mariners

POLSON - Mission Valley knocked off the Western District champion Libby Loggers 11-3 on Sunday behind a stellar pitching performance by Josh Rustad, who was running on just two days rest.

Rustad went the distance and struck out 13, holding the hard-hitting Loggers to just six hits.

"Give credit to (the Mariners). Rustad threw a good game on two days rest and they hit about every fastball we threw at them," said Libby coach Kelly Morford.

"But I'm proud of the kids for the year they've had. They should hold their heads high for their accomplishments," he added.

The Mariners jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings, but Libby scored three in the top of the sixth.

Mission Valley answered in the bottom of the frame, however, with Kevin Hagedorn hitting a two-run homer.

Hagedorn added to the lead again in the bottom of the seventh with a single that plated two runs and made it 8-3. Hagedorn finished the game 2 for 3 with a home run and four RBIs.

In the bottom of the eighth, Mission Valley got an RBI by Robbie Gauthier and a double by Austin Von Tom that scored two to make it 11-3.

The Mariners had seven doubles in the game.

Micah Germany batted 1 for 4 for the Loggers with a double and an RBI.

The Loggers will graduate three from this team - Chris Herbig, Alex Cislo and Alex Bluhm.

But they also return a good group of young players who saw a lot of success this year.

"We will miss them, but we have a good group coming back, so we are already excited about next year," Morford said.

Mission Valley will play Great Falls game today at noon with the winner advancing to take on Laurel at 4 p.m.

Libby 000 003 000 - 361

Mission Valley 022 002 23x - 11131

Jared Winslow, Justyn Mack (6), Alex Bluhm (8) and Micah Germany. Josh Rustad and Jack Humphreys.

Mission Valley - Jack Humphreys 1-3, Justin Evertz 0-4,Chris Clary 3-4, Robbie Gauthier 1-5, Derrick Rathe 2-4,Austin Von Tom 2-4, Kevin Hagedorn 2-3, Dalton Molzhon 1-4, Jake Young 1-4.

2B - Clary 2, Gauthier, Rathe 2, Von Tom 2. HR - Hagedorn. RBI - Gauthier 2, Rathe, Von Tom 2, Hagdorn 4,Young 2.

Libby - Justin Wicka 0-4, Jared Winslow 1-3, Chris Herbig 3-4, Alex Cislo 0-4, Micah Germany 1-4, Alex Bluhm 0-4, Justyn Mack 1-2, Andrew Haggerty 0-3, Will Reichel 0-3, Matt Willis 0-1, Luke Haggerty 0-1, Gunner Bradeen 0-1.

2B - Germany. RBI - Germany, Bluhm, Mack.

Great Falls 15,

Laurel 14

POLSON - The Great Falls Electrics had home runs from Scott Held and Jayse McLean and powered their way to a 15-14 lead over Laurel in the Class A State Tournament.

The Electrics scored five runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a commanding 13-5 lead, but Laurel scored six in the top of the ninth to nearly rally for the win.

Laurel's David Swecker hit a three-run homer (his fourth of the tournament) in the top of the ninth and Cody King doubled to score three more runs but the comeback sputtered after that.

For Great Falls, Held finished the game 3 for 5 with a home run, double and five RBIs. McLean was 4 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. They also got seven innings from starting pitcher Dalton Cook, who struck out seven.

The result of this game means that Great Falls will play Mission Valley at noon today, and the winner of that game will play Laurel in the 4 p.m. championship game.

Laurel 030 020 027 - 14182

Great Falls 300 551 01x- 15151

Kenny Nilles, Zach Cortese (4), Anthony Panella (6) and Kyler Worden. Information not available for Great Falls.

Laurel - Kenny Nilles 4-5, Justin Linse 1-4, Zach Cortese 1-6, Jay Dempster 1-4, Cole Dooper 3-5, David Swecker 3-5, Jordan Henke 0-3, Kyler Worden 0-5, Ryan Caron 2-3, Cody King 2-2, Anthony Panella 0-1, Dakota Cortese 1-1.

2B - Linse, Zach Cortese, Dooper, King. HR - Swecker. RBI - Nilles 2, Dooper, Swecker 3, Henke, Worden, Caron, King 3.

Great Falls - Anthony Bonilla 1-5, Tanner Lee 1-5, Dalton Cook 2-4, Scott Held 3-5, Justin Pfennigs 1-5, Sam Wingerter 1-4, Jayse McLean 4-4, Tyler Pfennigs 1-3, Derik Powell 1-4.