Legion baseball: Lakers AA blow out Okotoks

The Kalispell Lakers AA racked up 17 hits and four pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter in a 30-2 rout of Okotoks on the opening night of the Canadian Days American Legion baseball tournament on Friday at Griffin Field.

The game got out of hand quickly.

After Kalispell pitcher Sam Crompton shut down the Outlaws in the first inning, the Lakers reached their first six batters in the home half of the frame. They scored 12 runs in the inning, the final three on a double from Leif Ericksen.

Ericksen took over on the mound in the second and recorded four strikeouts and two walks over the next three innings.

In that time, the Lakers scored five of their first six batters in the second inning and six of their first eight in the third. Kalispell scored seven more runs in the fourth inning to put the game on ice.

Ericksen was 2 for 4 from the plate and Brandon Maassen 3 for 4, each with five runs batted in. The Lakers hit around the order in every inning, with every batter scoring at least one run and 13 recording an RBI.

Okotoks got a few runs back in the fifth, reaching their first six batters on walks. One Outlaws player scored on a wild pitch and another on a walk. Even without the shutout, Lakers pitcher Levi Brenneman closed out the inning without allowing a hit to preserve the no-hitter.

“When they got in the batters box, they looked comfortable,” Lakers coach Ryan Malmin said.

“I like that we had quality at-bats. Even our outs were good, solid contact. I’m really excited to see that progression and that confidence as they stepped up to the plate.”

Kalispell will play Sherwood Park and Calgary today.

Calgary will likely throw star pitcher Mike Soroka, a commit to the University of California-Berkeley who is listed by Baseball America as one of the top 100 prospects in baseball for the upcoming MLB draft.

“Both Sherwood and Calgary are quality teams,” Malmin said.

“We need to come out and stay with the same level of focus and be comfortable at the plate like we were tonight.”

Okotoks    000    02    —    2    0    6

Kalispell    (12)56    7x    —    30    17    0

Nick Muncie, Adam Irwin (3) and Shaun Hofman. Sam Crompton, Leif Ericksen (2), Jayson Combs (5), Levi Brenneman (5) and Andrew Schleusner, Keatin Mohl (3). W— Crompton. L— Munroe.

OKOTOKS — Brendon Piercy 0-1, Cale Ens 0-1, Adam Irwin 0-1, Eric McLeod 0-1, Jonathan Headley 0-0, Munroe 0-1, Jeff Speelman 0-2, Joey Little 0-2, Matt Fetinko 0-1, Stephen Clifford 0-1, Beau Dakow 0-1, Hofman 0-1.

KALISPELL — Tiler Whiteaker 2-3, Walker Malmin 0-0, Logan DeCock 1-3, Brandon Maassen 3-4, Schleusner 1-2, Mohl 2-2, Patrick O’Connell 1-3, Quinn Barber 0-2, Leif Ericksen 2-4, Levi Brenneman 1-4, Andy Bemis 0-0, Crompton 2-4, Combs 2-4.

2B— Ericksen, Schleusner, Maassen. 3B— Maassen. RBIs— Headley. Whiteaker 3, Malmin, DeCock, Maassen 5, Schleusner 2, Mohl 3, O’Connell, Ericksen 5, Brenneman 3, Crompton 2.