Legion baseball: Experienced Lakers open season Sunday
With an experienced group of returning players both in the field and on the mound, expectations are high for the Kalispell Lakers as they look to improve on last season’s fourth-place finish in the Western AA conference.
The Lakers return four of their top five hitters and three of their top four pitchers from last year’s team, including all-conference right-hander Dillon Eaves.
“We’ve got a great returning corps with our AA kids, so our leadership has been tremendous,” Lakers coach Ryan Malmin said. “We’re going to have good depth with our pitching staff and that’s going to play a huge role, especially when we get into conference play.”
The Lakers have a tradition of strong pitching, having placed one pitcher on the all-state team each of the last four years. Former ace Joe Pistorese was a three-time all-state selection with the Lakers and is currently a Friday starter in the Pac-12 for Washington State. Matt McClean was an all-state pitcher a year ago and Eaves has a good chance to continue that streak this season.
“I think he’s going to have a great year on the mound for us,” Malmin said. “I think he’s one of the top pitchers in the state.
“He’s very savvy, he’s very poised and he’s very consistent with his command of his pitches.”
The Lakers also have depth behind Eaves. Right-handers Hank McCloud and Justin Wallace were stalwarts of last year’s rotation and Robert Reaser joins the Lakers after playing for the Glacier Twins’ A team last season.
“I’m really excited and confident about what our pitching staff will do,” Malmin said.
“I think we’ve got as good a depth as we’ve had.”
Dillon Matteson, a four-year starter in the outfield, and Sean O’Connell, a three-year starter at third base, return to anchor the offense. Charlie Obermiller will man second base again and Adam Fransden will move to catcher after starting at first base last season.
“Adam loves the game of baseball,” Malmin said. “He’s a competitor and he’s willing to work at it. He puts in a lot of extra practice time for us and I have no worries about what he’s going to do for us behind the plate.”
Malmin said newcomer Jake Barstow is poised to make an impact in center field with his speed and instincts.
“We’re not a power team,” Malmin said. “Our focus needs to be that we have great quality at bats. I’d like to be a little more aggressive on the bases this year with our improved speed.”
The Glacier Twins — Kalispell’s main rival — and Butte folded their AA programs due to lack of enrollment, decisions that will force the Lakers to do more traveling. Instead of attending the the Glacier Twins Memorial Tournament (formerly the Sapa-Johnsrud Tournament) in Whitefish, the Lakers will attend the wood-bat Spokane Fourth of July Tournament July 4-7. They will also make a trip to Billings to play doubleheaders against the Scarlets and Royals. Bozeman and Helena will travel to Kalispell for conference games.
The Lakers will continue to play four conference games against each of their Western Division opponents and eight of the nine AA teams will qualify for the state tournament July 31-Aug. 4 in Billings.
The Lakers went 13-12 in conference play and 29-22 overall last season. They open this season Sunday with a nonconference doubleheader against Kootanai Valley at Griffin Field beginning at 2 p.m.