Lakers A sweep Kootenai Valley doubleheader
The Kalispell Lakers A played 14 solid innings of baseball underneath threatening storm clouds at Griffin Field, sweeping the Kootenai Valley Rangers in an American Legion baseball doubleheader on Thursday night.
The Rangers rode Colton Henrie’s arm to a Game 1 lead, after they scored a run in the top of the fourth to take a 2-1 advantage.
The Lakers would respond in the pivotal inning, scoring three in the bottom half while shutting down Kootenai Valley’s bats to roll to a 4-2 win.
Robert McCarvel led the Lakers with two RBIs in the contest, and teammate Patrick O’Connell had a consistent night at the plate with his 2 for 3 effort.
The Rangers regrouped and threatened early in Game 2, as catcher Garret McNeil’s base hit to left field scored R.J. Glover and Mick Rackley in the top of the second to grab a 2-1 lead.
The Lakers answered the Rangers’ surge immediately.
O’Connell drew a lead-off walk, catcher Tiler Whiteaker followed with a base hit and the rally was on.
Second baseman Quin Barber and right fielder Micah Benson each had RBI singles and center fielder Jayson Combs ripped a double, as Kalispell tallied seven runs in the inning.
“In the doubleheaders we tend to take one and lose a little focus in the second game,” said Lakers interim head coach Dillon Eaves, who was filling in for the absent Travis Krause.
“It was good to get two solid wins in conference. In the second game of doubleheaders we haven’t come through and scored the guys when we needed to, but we came out today and found a way to knock them all in.”
Kalispell would score two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Lukas DeCock had an RBI base hit that scored Barber.
But with Logan DeCock on the mound, it hardly mattered.
The Lakers’ pitcher threw a complete game which featured seven strikeouts in as many innings of work.
He kept the Rangers lineup off-balance throughout the night and didn’t give up a hit after the third inning.
“Logan did a great job,” Eaves said.
“He competed all seven innings. We thought about going to the pen and let them close it, but he kept his pitch count down and got a couple first pitch outs and was able to stay efficient.”
McNeil had three total hits on the night, while teammates Rackley and Dawson Henrie earned the only other hits in the second contest for Kootenai Valley.
The Rangers were led on the mound by Dalton Smith. Aside from the rough second inning, he throughout his appearance, striking out four before he was relieved by Glover in the fifth.
The Lakers will look to ride the momentum of this sweep into Wednesday’s game against Missoula, a 4 p.m. start at Griffin Field.
Game 1
Kootenai Valley 001 100 0 — 2 5 1
Kalispell 100 300 x — 4 5 3
Colton Henrie and Garret McNeil. Tiler Whiteaker and Chris Corpron
W — Tiler Whiteaker L — Colton Henrie.
KOOTENAI VALLEY — Colton Henrie 0-4, Dawson Henrie 0-4, Dalton Smith 1-3, R.J. Glover 0-2, Austin Perez 1-2, Nick Rackley 1-3, Garret McNeil 2-2, Sam Hannay 0-3, James Dunn 0-1.
KALISPELL — Micah Benson 1-4, Chris Corpron 0-3, Leif Erickson 0-3, Jayson Combs 1-3, Patrick O’Connell 2-3, Quin Barber 0-1, Robert McCarvel 1-3, Lukas DeCock 0-2, Logan DeCock 0-2.
2B — Perez, McCarvel. RBIs — Smith, McNeil, McCarvel 2, Lo. Decock.
Game 2
Kootenai Valley 020 000 0 — 2 3 5
Kalispell 170 020 x — 10 7 1
Dalton Smith, R.J. Glover (5) and Garret McNeil. Logan DeCock and Tiler Whiteaker. W — Decock L — Smith.
KOOTENAI VALLEY — Colton Henrie 0-3, Dawson Henrie 1-3, Dalton Smith 0-3, R.J. Glover 0-3, Nick Rackley 1-3, Austin Perez 0-3, Garret McNeil 1-2, Joe Schlarman 0-3, James Dunn 0-3.
KALISPELL — Micah Benson 1-2, Chris Corpron 1-4, Leif Erickson 0-4, Jayson Combs 1-4, Patrick O’Connell 0-3, Tiler Whiteaker 1-3, Quin Barber 2-2, Robert McCarvel 0-1, Lukas DeCock 1-2.
2B — Combs. RBIs — McNeil 2, Corpron, Benson, Erickson 2, Barber, DeCock, Whiteaker.