Kalispell AA ends Lethbridge trip with a win

LETHBRIDGE, Alberta — The Kalispell Lakers finished up a three-game American Legion baseball weekend with Western AA foe Lethbridge Spitz Elks Sunday afternoon with a 9-5 come-from-behind victory.

The Lakers dropped the earlier game Sunday 7-2 and Saturday night fell one-run short in a 4-3 loss.

Kalispell trailed Lethbridge 5-3 after six innings in the finale. Cody Dopps tied it a 5-all with his two-run triple in the seventh.

Kalispell took the lead for good in the eighth on an Adam Frandsen two-run double.

Jake Johnson drove in two insurance runs in the ninth with a single.

“Our two rookie pitchers — Hank McLeod and Justin Wallace — both threw very well,” Lakers coach Ryan Malmin said.

“Justin in relief ... Hank went the distance today, got the W.”

The Lakers continue with league play on Wednesday with a short trip north to face the Glacier Twins for a single game starting at 8 p.m.

Redbirds 12, Loggers 2

LIBBY — The Calgary Redbirds defeated the Libby Loggers in the Big Bucks Tournament championship game.

The Redbirds, up 3-0 after two innings, put the game out a reach with a seven run third inning.

Libby (15-14) finished the four-day tournament with a 3-1 record.

“We got walloped a little bit,” Libby coach Kelly Morford said in the tournament finale.

The Redbirds outhit the Loggers 9-3.

Libby also had three costly errors.

Libby won this tournament in 2009 and 2007.

“I was proud of the way the kids played,” Morford said.

“We had three 1-run ballgames to start with and they competed really well in those.

“The big win for us was against Mission Valley (7-6 late Saturday). We always like playing those guys.”

Libby is back in action Tuesday for a league contest at the Kalispell Lakers A.

The doubleheader starts at 5 p.m.

In other tournament play Sunday, it was Moscow 15, Tri-County 4; Mission Valley 12, Lewiston 2; and Kootenai Valley 12, Rainier 2.

Libby Loggers 000 20 — 2 3 3

Calgary Redbirds 037 20 — 12 9 1

Luke Haggerty, Cameron Burkes (3), Oliver Gruphenhoff (3) and Micah Germany; Nolon Bumstead and Matt Zanutto. W — Bumstead. L — Haggerty.

LIBBY — L. Haggerty 1-3, Will Reichel 0-2, Jared Winslow 0-2, Germany 0-1, Gruphenhoff 1-2, Andrew Haggerty 1-2, Matt Willis 0-2, Burkes 0-1, Josh Foote 0-1, Colin Johnson 0-2.

CALGARY — Tyson Zarowney 1-3, Ted Higa 2-2, Bumstead 1-2, Wylie Johnston 1-3, Alex Bishop 1-2, Zanutto 1-4, Jeremy Mcthee 2-4, Colin Feenstra 0-0, Trey Grant 0-2, Kristjon Kostiuea 0-1.

RBIs—A. Haggerty; Higa (2), Bumstead (4), Johnston, Bishop, Zanutto, Mcthee, Kostiuea.

Late Saturday

Mission Valley 102 010 2 — 6 6 1

Libby 001 042 x — 7 5 3

Jack Humphreys, Robbie Gauthier (5) and Gauthier, Humphreys; Reichel, A. Haggerty (3), Germany (7) and Gruphenhoff. W — Germany. L — Gauthier.

MISSION VALLEY — Humphreys 0-2, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 2-3, Justin Evertz 0-0, Chris Clary 1-2, Gauthier 1-4, Mike Bournstein 0-4, Jacob Young 0-4, Bradley Pichler 1-3, Dalton Molzhon 1-3.

LIBBY — L. Haggerty 0-2, Reichel 1-4, Winslow 1-2, Germany 1-4, Gruphenhoff 1-4, A. Haggerty 0-1, Nic Robertson 0-2, Willis 1-3, Foote 0-2.

RBIs—Evertz, Clary (2), Gauthier (4); Reichel, Gruphenhoff (2), Robertson (2), Foote.

Rangers 12, Rainier 2

LIBBY — Ryan Holder, 3-for-3, led off the third inning with a solo home run to left center and Dalton Smith, 3-for-3 also had a perfect day at the plate as the Kootenai Valley Rangers whipped Rainier Baseball Club from Seattle on the final day of the Big Bucks Tournament.

Holder and Kade Davis, 2-for-3, both scored three times for the Rangers (20-12).

The home run was the fifth of the season for Holder. Bryton Guckenberg and Davis led the Rangers in round-trippers with six each.

“We capped off just a great weekend,” Rangers coach Brent Holder said.

“The kids are playing amazing ball. This was another Washington AA team (Rainier).”

The Rangers had 12 hits by seven different players versus Rainier. CJ Henrie doubled for Kootenai Valley and Davis had the other extra base hit — a triple.

Up next for the Rangers is the Firecracker Tournament in Polson. Their first game is Wednesday at 6 p.m. with the Mission Valley B Mariners.

Rainier Baseball Club 000 200 — 2 8 3

Kootenai Valley 304 212 — 12 12 3

C. Cartwright, C. Whitemarsh (4), T. Holland (6) and T. Campbell; RJ Glover, Mark Good (5) and Gallen Sullivan. W — Glover (3-2). L — Cartwright.

RAINIER BASEBALL CLUB — M. Reed 0-4, T. Sousley 3-3, R. Smolko 1-3, Cartwright 0-3, Campbell 1-2, J. Mathney 2-3, Holland 0-2, C. Davis-White 0-2, C. Maez 1-2, Whitemarsh 0-0.

KOOTENAI VALLEY — CJ Henrie 1-3, Bryton Guckenberg 1-4, Ryan Holder 3-3, Kade Davis 2-3, Dalton Smith 3-3, Glover 0-2, Sullivan 1-1, Good 1-3, Mason Haidle 0-1, Brandon Conard 0-1, Austin Perez 0-0, Tyler Cummings 0-1, Jamie Soderling 0-0.

2B—Henrie; 3B—Davis; HR—Holder; RBIs—Mathney; Henrie, Holder, Davis, Smith (2), Glover, Good (2).

Savages 6, Lakers 5 (8)

Lakers 4, Twins 2

WHITEFISH — St. Mary’s (Idaho) Savages capitalized on a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie it with two outs and then came back with a run in the eighth to edge the Kalispell Lakers in the championship game of the Ed Gallo Tournament.

Dalton Meredith, 2-for-3, and Nathan Brown, 2-for-3, both doubled for the Lakers. Colton Gove and Marcus Venturini had two RBIs each.

The Lakers started the day with a 2-hit pitching gem by Luke LaFontaine in the victory over the Glacier Twins. That game was originally scheduled for Saturday night, but was rained out.

Skylar Brown and Meredith led the Lakers attack with two hits each. Venturini drove in two runs.

“It was a good day,” Lakers coach Tim Severson said. “The team played really hard.

“I was really pleased with how well we hit the ball this weekend,” he added.

“We also had some great pitching.”

The Lakers (14-14, 6-5) host Libby on Tuesday for a league doubleheader starting at 5 p.m.

Kalispell Lakers 101 002 0 — 4 4 0

Glacier Twins 100 000 1 — 2 2 2

Luke LaFontaine and Skylar Brown; Lucas Lee, Robert Reiser (6) and Zach Darling. W — LaFontaine. W — Lee.

KALISPELL — Jake Barstow 0-4, S. Brown 2-4, Dalton Meredith 2-3, Jonathon Centner 1-3, Colton Gove 1-2, Colton Wiley 0-3, Nathan Brown 0-1, Marcus Venturini 0-2, LaFonatine 0-3.

GLACIER — Jayce Fagerland 0-2, Nakia Alexander 0-2, Reiser 1-3, Lee 0-2, Darling 0-3, Austin 1-3, B. Nathan 0-2, Colton Wild 0-0, James Raflaw 0-3, T. Hauck 0-1.

RBIs—Centner, Gove, Venturini (2); Reiser, Austin.

Championship Game

Kalispell Lakers 300 020 00 — 5 8 4

St. Mary’s 100 021 11 — 6 12 2

Daniel Satterfield, Dylan Torgerson (5), LaFontaine (6) and S. Brown; Stephenson, Begefrly (6) and Walters. W — Begefrly. L — LaFontaine.

KALISPELl — LaFontaine 0-4, S.Brown 0-4, Meredith 2-2, Centner 1-3, Gove 0-2, N. Brown 2-3, Venturini 1-4, Wiley 1-3, Barstow 1-4.

ST. MARY’S — Mickan 2-5, Guibry 2-4, Stephenson 0-5, Begefrly 4-5, Staphton 3-5, Truescott 0-3, Walters 0-3, Sullison 1-4, Miner 0-4.

2B—Meredith, N. Brown; Mickan, Guibry, Begefrly (2); RBIs—Gove (2), N. Brown, Venturini (2); Mickan, Begefrly (3), Staphton (2).