Baseball: Dukes drill Lakers in Canadian Days tournament opener
It was a rough outing for the Kalispell Lakers on the first day of the Canadian Days baseball tournament Friday at Griffin Field.
Sherwood Park pitcher Reign Letkeman was marvelous, throwing eight strikeouts and allowing just three hits in five innings of shutout baseball, leading the Dukes to a 14-3 win in the tournament opener for both teams. Letkeman, a hard-throwing right-hander, did a fantastic job of keeping the Lakers hitters off balance, never facing more than four batters in an inning.
He had lots of help from the plate, as the Dukes shelled the Lakers pitching. Sherwood Park scored five runs in the first inning, chasing the Lakers starter two outs into the game. The Dukes scored three more runs in the second and six in the fifth, ending the game early.
The Dukes had 15 hits in the game and the Lakers pitchers combined for seven walks.
“The tempo of the game was set early on,” Lakers coach Ryan Malmin said.
“From there we have to learn to compete and chip away and work one pitch at a time. Not look at the outcome and just focus on the process. We kinda get away from that sometimes. We’ll get better.”
The Edmonton Cardinals topped the Calgary Redbirds in the tournament opener, 1-0.
The Lakers will play two games today, starting at 2:30 p.m. with a slate against Calgary. They also play a late game at 7:30 p.m. against Edmonton.
Sherwood Park 530 06 — 14 15 1
Kalispell 000 00 — 0 3 3
Justin Wallace, Luke LaFontaine (1), Chris Sibley (5) and Adam Frandsen, Dillon Matteson (5). Reign Letkeman and Ryan Thrasher.
SHERWOOD PARK — Tanner Kirwer 1-2, Cole Schneider 2-5, Josh Williams 2-4, Travis Ouellet 0-3, Riley Moskaluk 1-3, Thrasher 2-3, Bret Kirkpatrick 1-2, Evan Lacoursiene 2-2, Jake Lonferman 3-4.
2B — Williams 2, Schneider 1, Lacoursiene 1. RBI — Schneider 1, Williams 2, Moskaluk 1, Thrasher 3, Lacoursiene 1, Lonferman 3.
KALISPELL — Chris Combs 1-3, Dillon Matteson 1-3, Dillon Eaves 1-1, Adam Frandsen 0-2, Sean O’Connell 0-1, Charlie Obermiller 0-2, Lucas Leigh 0-2, Hank McLeod 0-2, Jake Barstow 0-0, Colten Wiley 0-1.
Other scores
Edmonton 1, Calgary 0