BASEBALL: Lakers A rally to stun Twins A in Legion thriller

The Kalispell Lakers A scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and wiggled out of a major jam in the top of the ninth to edge the Glacier Twins A 4-3 Wednesday night at Griffin Field in the second game of a home-and-home series against their cross-Valley rivals.

The Twins beat the Lakers 4-2 in Whitefish on Tuesday.

Wednesday’s game looked like it was going to the Twins, too, especially after Glacier scored a run in the top of the seventh to take a 3-1 lead. The Twins still led, 3-2, with two outs in the eighth before the Lakers mounted the winning rally.

In the Kalispell eighth, following a walk and a single, Jaryon Venturini cracked a double to drive in Keaden Morisaki and Adam Joy with the go-ahead runs.

Things weren’t any easier for the Lakers in the ninth after A.J. Wetsch doubled to lead off the inning and the Twins put runners at first and third with no one out. After a grounder back to the pitcher put runners at second and third with one away, Ryan Veneman hit a ground ball to first and the Lakers threw home in time to get Wetsch at the plate. Wetsch was ejected after colliding hard with Morisaki, Kalispell’s catcher, who held on the ball despite the impact.

Sam Elliott went the distance to earn the win for the Lakers, allowing six hits and throwing 104 pitches. Elliott walked two and struck out five.

Tyler Murphy started for the Twins and was solid for six innings, allowing one run on five hits. Greyson Bistodeau came on in relief and was tagged with the loss.

Ryan Symmes and Randy Stultz each had two hits to lead the Lakers’ offense. Wetsch and Vinny Smith had a pair of hits each for Glacier.

Glacier 010 010 100 — 3 6 0

Kalispell 000 010 12x — 4 9 3

Tyler Murphy, Greyson Bistodeau (7) and Ryan Veneman. Sam Elliott and Keaden Morisaki. W — Elliott. L — Bistodeau.

GLACIER — Colten Parker 1-3, Tristin Steinwand 0-4, James Sampson-Keck 0-4, Vinny Smith 2-4, Max Smyley 0-3, A.J. Wetsch 2-4, Terek Bistodeau 0-3, Skylar Warner 1-4, Veneman 0-2.

KALISPELL — Ryan Symmes 2-3, Randy Stultz 2-4, Eric Seaman 1-4, Jaycob Serrano 0-3, Morisaki 1-3, Adam Joy 1-3, Jaryon Venturini 1-4, Brady Peiffer 1-2, Tyler Kitch 0-2.

2B — Parker, Wetsch, Warner; Venturini. 3B — Wetsch. RBIs — Parker, Wetsch, Veneman; Venturini 2, Stultz.

Loggers sweep Rangers

EUREKA — Seth and Brady Bateman pitched and hit Libby to an impressive road sweep of Kootenai Valley, winning 6-4 and 11-3 in a pair of seven-inning games.

The Loggers pulled out a tight game in the opener with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to break a 4-4 tie. Brady Bateman scored the winning run in the sixth thanks to a pair of errors. His brother, Seth, went 3 for 5 from the leadoff spot to pace an eight-hit attack.

Brady Bateman went the distance on the mound in game two, allowing just two hits. He also added a pair of hits at the plate and scored three runs. Seth drove in two in the nightcap giving him four RBIs on the day.

Braydan Thom and Collin Johnson also had two RBIs in the second game for Libby.

Libby 031 001 1 — 6 8 0

K. Valley 101 110 0 — 4 7 3

Dylon Lane, Erik Lauer (5) and Brady Bateman. Mo Henderson and Quade Anderson. W — Lauer. L — Henderson.

LIBBY — Seth Bateman 3-5, Lane 0-4, B. Bateman 1-3, Lauer 2-5, Tim Carvey 1-2, Shayne Walker 0-2, Braydan Thom 1-3, Collin Johnson 0-2, Tanner Wood 0-3.

KOOTENAI VALLEY — Connor Harmon 0-2, Colten Cooper 1-3, Dawson Henrie 1-5, Sam Hannay 1-1, Anderson 1-3, Henderson 1-3, Donovan Fornall 0-3, Brad Stein 1-3, Daymond Baney 1-3.

2B — Lauer, S. Bateman, B. Bateman; Henderson. RBIs — S. Bateman 2, Walker, Thom, Johnson; Hannay 2, Henderson, Stein.

Libby 200 213 3 — 11 6 2

K. Valley 010 020 0 — 3 2 4

Brady Bateman and Dylon Lane. Sam Hannay, Dawson Henrie (6) and Quade Anderson. W — Bateman. L — Hannay.

LIBBY — Seth Bateman 1-5, Lane 0-3, B. Bateman 2-3, Erik Lauer 1-3, Tim Carvey 1-4, Braydan Thom 0-3, Shayne Walker 0-1, Tanner Schatz 0-0, Collin Johnson 1-2, Tanner Wood 0-4.

KOOTENAI VALLEY — Connor Harmon 0-2, Colten Cooper 0-4, Henrie 1-4, Hannay 1-3, Anderson 0-3, Donovan Fornall 0-2, Brad Stein 0-3, Daymond Baney 0-3, Mo Henderson 0-1.

2B — B. Bateman; Henrie. RBIs — S. Bateman 2, Thom 2, Johnson 2; Henrie, Anderson, Henderson.