Baseball: Lakers at their best entering Class AA American Legion state tournament
The word ‘best’ sums up the current state of affairs for the Kalispell Lakers.
The AA American Legion team is playing its best baseball of the season at the appropriate, or best, time.
“The kids continued to work on their game and make adjustments to game situations,” Lakers manager Ryan Malmin said.
“They share in a great attitude and bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to practice and games.”
Those intangibles have allowed the Lakers to win eight of their last 11 games heading into the Montana/Alberta state tournament this week in Helena at Kindrick Legion Field.
“I thought we’ve been pretty consistent all year long,” Malmin said.
“The kids are playing well, they’re relaxed. I like where they are at, their mentality, their approach at the plate. Everything seems to be where it needs to be at this stage of the game.”
The Lakers will face the Missoula Mavericks on Wednesday in the first round at state. The other matchups have Bozeman (30-27-1) vs. Lethbridge, Alberta, (33-11) at 9 a.m., Billings Royals (46-12) vs. Medicine Hat, Alberta, (23-18) at 4 p.m. and the Billings Scarlets (47-14) vs. Helena (33-28) at 7.
The double-elimination tournament ends Aug. 2. The winner moves on to the regional tournament in Eugene, Oregon, Aug. 6-10.
The AA American Legion World Series is Aug. 14-18 in Shelby, North Carolina.
The Scarlets and Royals both finished league play 16-6, but a tie-breaker gave the Scarlets the top seed. Lethbridge, 14-8, is the third seed with Missoula, 14-8 the fourth.
Kalispell, at 12-10, is fifth and followed by Bozeman, 12-10, sixth, Medicine Hat, 11-11, seventh and the Senators, 7-15, eighth.
“There is great parity in the state this season,” Malmin said.
“So at this point, it doesn’t matter (who you play). You have to compete and win.”
Butte, 5-17 (14-33-1), and Great Falls, 3-19 (15-40), missed out on state.
The winner of the Kalispell/Missoula contest will face the winner of Billings Scarlets/Helena on Thursday at 7 p.m. The losers from those two games play earlier at 12:30 p.m.
Kalispell and Missoula split their four-game series during the regular season.
“They have a solid pitching staff,” Malmin said of the Mavs.
“They have the typical Missoula team — they hit the ball really well. It will be up to us to produce some runs.”
Malmin said Robert Reaser or Sam Crompton will start on the mound.
Reaser has a team-best 1.61 ERA. He has pitched 35.33 innings.
Walker Malmin and Brandon Maassen will also see time on the hill. Walker Malmin has a 3.16 ERA after 75.33 innings. He has allowed just 20 walks.
Maassen has the most wins with eight.
The opposition is hitting .260 against the Lakers staff.
“They pitch to contact and give the defense a chance to make plays behind them.” Ryan Malmin said.
“Our pitching staff and defense have been solid and will keep us in games.”
Offensively, the Lakers have five players who have led the way.
Patrick O’Connell is hitting .387 with 17 doubles, five triples, one home run and 43 runs batted in.
Andrew Schleusner has a .366 batting average. He has 20 doubles and 32 RBI.
Leif Ericksen has 41 RBI and scored 25 runs, Tiler Whiteaker has scored 49 times and stolen 23 bases in 24 attempts and Walker Walker Malmin has scored 30 times and has 34 RBI.
As a team, the Lakers are hitting .345 with runners in scoring position. The team has stolen 89 bases in 96 attempts.
“It has been a lot of fun to watch this group grow and an entertaining group to watch play,” Ryan Malmin said.
“When it is all said and done, this team will be missed. But for right now, we will compete with confidence and focus on the process that has made us successful this summer.”