Kalispell All-Stars start hot

The Kalispell All-Stars beat Wood River (Idaho) 3-1, and Riverton, Wyo., 11-0 on Wednesday in opening-day action at the Pacific Northwest Regional U14 Babe Ruth baseball tournament.

It was a different story, however, for the Glacier All-Stars, the tournament hosts. They had mixed success as they settled for a split, beating Twin Cities (Washington) 5-4, but losing to West Linn, Ore., 11-4.

Pool-play action continues today and Friday. The top two finishers in each pool advance to the championship round on Saturday.

The regional winner moves on to the 14-year-old World Series in Ocala, Fla., Aug. 15-22.

Kalispell, in the National Division, received a strong 5-inning outing from starting pitcher Sam Elliott in the noon opener at Memorial Field in Whitefish with Wood River.

Dawson Smith pitched two shutout innings in relief and had an RBI double in the first inning.

Defensively for Kalispell, center fielder Jackson Pepe and second baseman Conor McCarvel both came up with some big plays for key outs.

In the evening win over Riverton at Sapa Johnsrud Field in Columbia Falls, Brady Peiffer pitched five shutout innings with six strikeouts to pick up the win for Kalispell. He allowed just two hits.

McCarvel went 3 for 3 and scored two runs.

Johan Freundenburg and Keaden Morisaki had two hits each and Jaryon Venturini and Freundenburg had two RBIs apiece.

“The kids played really well,” Kalispell coach Russell McCarvel said.

“It was nice to get two wins.

“We’re looking forward to playing two big games the next two days,” he added.

“I thought we did a good job of taking care of business.”

Glacier, in the American Division, needed a big defensive stop to escape with the win over Twin Cities in a noon opener at Sapa Johnsrud Field in Columbia Falls.

Glacier left fielder Brandon Thomas, in the bottom of the seventh inning, made a big-league diving catch to end the game. Twin Cities had scored four runs in that inning to get within one and had a runner on second with two outs when Thomas came through with his clutch catch.

Hunter Watterud drilled a two-run RBI single to left in the sixth inning to put Glacier on top, 5-1.

Starting pitcher Quintin Schriver pitched no-hit baseball for the first four innings for Glacier. Tom Hellwig pitched the final three.

“I was very happy with the effort I got out of my boys,” Glacier coach Chad Green said of the Twin Cities contest.

Glacier and Kalispell play just one game today and Friday. Today, Glacier faces Calgary, Alberta, at Sapa Johnsrud Field while Kalispell plays Spokane Inland Select at Memorial Field. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

Pacific Northwest Regional

U14 Babe Ruth Tournament

American Division

Glacier; Twins Cities, Wash.; Moses Lake, Wash; Calgary, Alberta; West Linn, Ore.

National Division

Kalispell; Wood River, Idaho; Klamath Falls, Ore.; Spokane Inland Select, Wash.; Riverton, Wyo.

Schedule

Wednesday

Pool Play

At Whitefish

9 a.m. — Klamath Falls 15, Riverton 2

Noon — Kalispell 3, Wood River 1

3 p.m. — Spokane Inland Select 8, Klamath Falls 6

6 p.m. — West Linn 11, Glacier 4

At Columbia Falls

9 a.m. — West Linn 9, Moses Lake 1

Noon — Glacier 5, Twin Cities 4

3 p.m. — Moses Lake 10, Calgary 9

6 p.m. — Kalispell 11, Riverton 0

Today

At Whitefish

Noon — Calgary vs. West Linn

4 p.m. — Twin Cities vs. Moses Lake

7 p.m. — Kalispell vs. Spokane Inland Select

At Columbia Falls

Noon — Spokane Inland Select vs. Riverton

4 p.m. — Wood River vs. Klamath Falls

7 p.m. — Glacier vs. Calgary

Friday

At Whitefish

2 p.m. — Twin Cities vs. Calgary

5 p.m. — Glacier vs. Moses Lake

8 p.m. — Wood River vs. Riverton

At Columbia Falls

2 p.m. — Moses Lake vs. Wood River

5 p.m. — Kalispell vs. Klamath Falls

8 p.m. — Twin Cities vs. West Linn

Saturday

Championship Play

Noon — National Division No. 1 vs. American Division No. 2

3 p.m. — American Division No. 1 vs. National Division No. 2

7 p.m. — Championship game