Guckenberg's grand slam, 3 HRs help Rangers beat Red Sox twice
EUREKA — Going deep was something Bryton Guckenberg did quite often Saturday afternoon.
The Kootenai Valley standout hit three home runs, including a grand slam in the fifth inning of the opener that soared over the left-field fence and eventually came to rest on state land property approximately 440 feet from home plate, as the Rangers swept the Bitterroot Red Sox 12-4 and 13-3 in Class A American Legion baseball play on Saturday.
Guckenberg, who will play baseball at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point next year, homered in the third inning of the first game to straight-away center.
In the finale, his round-tripper came in the second inning with one runner on. That shot was to left center.
Guckenberg just missed out on another one in the fourth inning of the second game with a hit that bounced high off the wall. He was held to a single on that one.
For the day, Guckenberg finished 6 for 8 and had eight RBIs.
Kade Davis, 2 for 3, and Guckenberg both had five RBIs in the first game.
Davis matched Guckenberg in hits in the second game, going 3 for 4.
The doubleheader began 45 minutes late after the Ranger players, coaches and volunteers spent three hours prepping the field following 1.4 inches of rain the night before.
Kootenai Valley (28-21 overall and 10-8 league) wraps up regular season play today at 1 p.m. with a league doubleheader with the Kalispell Lakers.
Bitterroot 010 120 0 — 4 5 1
Kootenai Valley 102 450 x — 12 12 3
Jake Capko, Nate Loranger (4), K. Crossman (6) and Nick Swietzer; Dalton Smith and Kade Davis. W — Smith (3-3). L — Capko.
BITTERROOT RED SOX — Tanner Lehr 0-2, Steven Troutwien 2-4, Chris Combs 0-4, Capko 1-2, Jackson Olson 0-3, Cody Lane 1-3, David McCoy 1-3, Swietzer 0-1, Burnham 0-3, Loranger 0-1.
KOOTENAI VALLEY — CJ Henrie 1-4, Bryton Guckenberg 3-4, Ryan Holder 1-3, Davis 2-3, Smith 2-3, Nick Rackley 2-3, RJ Glover 1-4, Mark Good 0-2, Sullivan 0-3.
2B—Troutwien, Capko; Davis; 3B—Holder; HRs—Guckenberg (2); RBIs—Troutwien, Olson; Guckenberg (5), Davis (5), Smith, Rackley.
Bitterroot 102 00 — 3 5 0
Kootenai Valley 450 31 — 13 14 0
Lehr, McCoy (2), Combs (3), Tuff Price (4) and Swietzer; Glover, Davis (1) and Sullivan. W — Davis (3-5). L — Lehr.
BITTERROOT RED SOX — Combs 2-3, Troutwien 0-2, Capko 1-1, Olson 0-0, McCoy 0-2, Lane 0-3, Loranger 0-2, Swietzer 1-2, Burnham 0-2, Price 1-1.
KOOTENAI VALLEY — Henrie 0-1, Guckenberg 3-4, Holder 2-4, Davis 3-4, Smith 1-3, Rackley 1-2, Glover 1-2, Austin Perez 2-3, Sullivan 1-3.
2B—Combs, Capko; Davis, Perez, Sullivan; HRs—Guckenberg; RBIs—Capko, Olson, McCoy; Guckenberg (3), Davis, Smith, Glover, Perez (4); Sullivan (2).
Libby A 7, Kalispell A 2
LIBBY — Libby bounced back from a late doubleheader home loss to the Bitterroot Red Sox on Friday that ended at 11 p.m. to down the Kalispell Lakers Saturday morning.
Oliver Gruphenhoff and Nic Robertson both had two RBIs to lead the Loggers offense against Kalispell.
Libby pushed six runs across the plate in the third inning to take command.
On Friday, Bitterroot topped the Loggers 7-3 and 19-3.
Libby 006 01 — 7 8 0
Kalispell 011 00 — 2 4 0
Luke Haggerty, Oliver Gruphenhoff (4) and Micah Germany; Chris Sibley and Skylar Brown. W —Haggerty. L — Sibley.
LIBBY — L. Haggerty 0-3, Will Reichel 1-2, Jared Winslow 0-1, Germany 1-1, Gruphenhoff 2-3, Andrew Haggerty 1-2, Nic Robertson 1-3, Josh Foote 1-3, Cameron Burkes 1-3.
KALISPELL — Brown 0-3, Tucker Rauthe 0-1, Dalton Meredith 0-3, Colten Gove 1-1, Luke LaFontaine 1-2, Colten Wiley 1-3, Dan Satterfield 1-1, Nate Brown 0-0, Dylan Torgerson 0-1.
RBIs—Germany, Gruphenhoff (2), A. Haggerty , Robertson (2); LaFontaine, Wiley.
Bitterroot 000 005 2 — 7 7 3
Libby 110 100 0 — 3 6 4
Tuff Price, Tanner Lehr (6) and Nick Swietzer; Germany and Gruphenhoff. W — Lehr. L — Germany.
BITTERROOT RED SOX — Chris Combs 1-4, Steven Troutwien 1-2, Jake Capko 2-4, Price 0-3, Lehr 0-1, David McCoy 0-3, Cody Lane 1-4, Nate Loranger 0-2, Swietzer 0-2, Dylan Burnham 2-3.
LIBBY — L. Haggerty 2-4, Reichel 1-4, Winslow 0-3, Germany 1-3, Gruphenhoff 2-4, A. Haggerty 0-3, Robertson 0-2, Matt Willis 0-1, Collin Johnson 0-1, Foote 0-2.
RBIs—Capko, Lane, Loranger (2), Burnham (2); Gruphenhoff.
Bitterroot 614 80 — 19 11 0
Libby 010 11 — 3 7 3
Lehr, Clark Lund (3) and Swietzer; A. Haggerty, Robertson (2), Burkes (4), Gruphenhoff (4) and Gruphenhoff, Germany (4). W — Lehr. L — A. Haggerty.
BITTERROOT — Combs 3-5, Troutwien 0-3, Capko 0-2, Jackson Olson 1-2, McCoy 2-2, Lane 2-5, Loranger 0-3, Swietzer 1-4, Burnham 2-3, Price 0-0.
LIBBY — L. Haggerty 0-3, Reichel 1-3, Winslow 0-3, Germany 1-2, Gruphenhoff 2-3, A. Haggerty 0-2, Robertson 1-1, Isaac Jones 1-2, Foote 0-2, Burkes 1-1, Johnson 0-0.
RBIs—Combs (2), Troutwien, Capko, Olson (2), McCoy (2), Lane (4), Loranger, Swietzer, Burnham, Price; Gruphenhoff, A. Haggerty, Robertson.