Legion baseball: Mariners third, Loggers sixth at Firecracker

by The Daily Inter Lake
| July 5, 2015 11:13 PM

POLSON — Tournament baseball is different — setting time limits on games guarantees a smooth schedule for every team involved, but it also allows for some unjust endings.

So, rather than a tie-breaking coin toss, the Polson Firecracker tournament settles tie games with a bunt-off, where each team gets three chances to land their bunts closest to targets down the first and third baseline.

After losing a bunt-off to the Livingston Braves on Saturday that would have sent them to the title game, the Mission Valley Mariners come through in the clutch, winning a bunt-off against the Glacier Twins B to break a 6-6 tie and win the third-place trophy at the Firecracker tournament on Sunday.

The Mariners pushed two runs across the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning to force the tie-breaker.

Derek Peel went 2 for 3 for Mission Valley, both hits going for triples.

Nyqolas Gillingham finished 2 for 4 from the plate and Bransen Krebs finished 1 for 3 with two RBIs.

James Sampson-Keck and Bryce Fagerland each went 2 for 4 with an RBI from the plate for Glacier. Dan Seymour also added an RBI for the Twins B on a 3 for 3 effort.

The Libby Loggers piled up four runs in the top of the sixth to take a 14-10 lead over the Deerlodge Wranglers in the fifth-place game, but Deerlodge answered with five runs in the bottom half for the walk-off victory.

Oliver Grupenhoff, who went 3 for 4 with a double and four RBIs, led the sixth-place Loggers at the plate.

Jared Winslow tallied three RBIs in the contest. Luke Haggerty tripled for Libby.

While Deerlodge rallied for the dramatic win, the Kootenai Valley Rangers came up just short in the seventh-place matchup against the Missoula Pioneers.

Missoula scored six runs in the top of the sixth for a 13-7 advantage.

The Rangers scored five runs in their final at-bats, nearly erasing the deficit, settling for eighth place.

Garret McNeil was 3 for 3 with two RBIs.

CJ Henrie managed two hits, a pair of triples while finishing 2 for 3 from the plate.

The Livingston Braves took the title, defeating the Helena Reps, 11-6.

The Glacier Babe Ruth All-Star teams cleaned up at the event, sweeping the 13, 14 and 15-year-old tournaments.

The 13u All-Stars took down Helena, 7-4 for the championship. The 14u All-Stars beat Medicine Hat 19-8 for first-place. The 15u All-Stars beat Kalispell 9-5 for the championship.

Polson Firecracker Tournament

Championship

Livingston Braves 11, Helena Reps 6

Livingston 001 540 1 — 11 13 5

Helena 021 100 2 — 6 8 4

WP — John Becker. LP — Talon Burchard.

LIVINGSTON — Sterrling Lay 1-1. Zander Petrich 1-5, Buck Spallone 3-5, Nolan Darr 3-5, Jordan Darr 0-2, Mitch King 2-3, John Becker 0-2, Sheldon Smoth 1-1, Brock Peterson 1-3, Tristan Jenkins 1-3.

HELENA — Eamonn Byrne 1-3, Ryan Anderson 0-4, Ray Moore Jr. 0-0, Seth Schneider 1-1, Robert McCarvel 1-4, Colin Sassano 1-4, Tanner McMahon 1-4, Carter Wald 2-3, Brett Jacobs 0-1, Andrew Rosston 1-4, Austin Whitehouse 0-2, Isaiah Meza 0-1, Kellan Edler 0-0.

2B — Spallone 2, Jenkins; Schneider. HR — N. Darr; McCarvel. RBIs — Lay, Spallone, N. Darr 2, Smith 2, Peterson 2, Jenkins; Byrne, McCarvel 2, Wald.

3rd Place

Mission Valley Mariners 7,

Glacier Twins B 6

Glacier B 220 020 — 6 9 3

Mission Valley 101 202 — 7 10 1

WP — Kade Schutzman. LP — Derek Kastela.

GLACIER B — James Sampson-Keck 2-4, Bryce Fagerland 2-4, Ryan Veneman 0-4, Derek Kastela 1-2, Dan Seymour 3-3, Kaleb Veneman 0-4, Ryley Nahrang 0-2, Jared Reynolds 1-2, Zach Flickinger 0-2.

MISSION VALLEY — Derek Peel 2-3, Jacob Harrod 0-2, Bransen Krebs 1-3, Micah McClure 0-3, Jonah Burke 2-2, AJ Jones 1-4, Nyqolas Gillingham 2-4, Justin Young 1-2, Tyson Petticrew 0-1, Kade Schutzmann 1-3.

3B — Peel 2. RBIs — Sampson-Keck, Fagerland, Seymour, Nahrang, Reynolds; Krebs 2, Jones, Young.

5th Place

Deerlodge Wranlgers 15,

Libby Loggers 14

Libby 102 74 — 14 12 6

Deerlodge 008 25 — 15 11 4

WP — Chase Steyh. LP — Luke Haggerty.

LIBBY — Collin Johnson 1-4, Luke Haggerty 1-3, Jared Winslow 1-2, Oliver Grupenhoff 3-4, Trace Tamarro 1-2, Erik Lauer 1-4, Braydan Thom 1-3, Quncy Grupenhoff 1-1, Taylor Wisdom 1-2, Mason Chapel 1-3.

DEERLODGE — Logan Danforth 1-3, Kaehl Lowery 2-3, Dakota Crowe 1-3, Taylor Stone 2-3, Shledon Danforth 1-2, Derek Walker 1-3, Todd Goss 0-0, Porter Strubble 1-2, Evan Starr 0-2, Chase Steyh 2-2, Michael Heisdork 0-2, Ethan Perrault 0-0.

2B — Lauer, O. Grupenhoff, Winslow; Stone. 3B — Haggerty; Crowe. RBIs — Johnson, Winslow 3, O. Grupenhoff 4, Tamarro 3, Lauer 2; Danforth, Lowery, Crowe 2, Stone, Strubble 3, Starr 2, Steyh, Heisdorf 2.

7th Place

Missoula Pioneers 13,

Kootenai Valley Rangers 12

Missoula 105 16 — 13 8 6

Kootenai Valley 420 15 — 12 11 8

WP — Sean Henry. LP — Hank Dunn.

MISSOULA — Carter Baughman 1-4, Case Aaron 0-4, Koahl Deshazer 3-4, Ryan Nagel 1-2, Drue Barkley 1-2, Ceaton Oliver 1-4, Britt Richter 1-3, Levi Janacaro 0-2, Ethan Pyron 0-3.

KOOTENAI VALLEY — Dawson Henrie 0-2, Nikko Basilla 1-1, Connor Harmon 1-3, CJ Henrie 2-3, Garret McNeil 3-3, Timmy Carvey 1-2, Moe Henderson 0-1, Sam Hanna 1-2, James Dunn 1-1, Donovan Fornall 0-2, Quade Anderson 1-3, Jacob Nowakowski 0-2.

2B — C. Henrie. 3B — C. Henrie. RBIs — Baughman, Aaron, Deshazer, Barkley, Oliver, Janacaro, Pyron; C. Henrie 2, McNeil 2, Carvey, Henerson, Hanna, J. Dunn, Fornall, Anderson 2.