Baseball: Red Sox rip Twins in Western A District title game
FLORENCE — The Bitterroot Red Sox scored early, and often, to drill the Glacier Twins 23-2 in the championship game of the Western District A American Legion baseball tournament on Sunday afternoon.
Bitterroot opened with a nine-run first and did all of its scoring in the first four innings.
Glacier scored a run in both the sixth and seventh innings.
Both teams advance to the state tournament, which begins Thursday in Great Falls.
Glacier (36-22 overall) was playing in its third-straight district title contest.
The Red Sox edged the Twins (41-15) last year in the final 6-3.
Glacier, however, did not compete at state as the second seed from the district went to the tournament host, which was Kalispell. The Red Sox advanced to state as the top seed.
The Mission Valley Mariners beat the Glacier Twins (32-20-1) 12-8 in the 2014 district championship game. The Twins won state that year, downing the Laurel Dodgers 8-4 in the final.
On Sunday, the Red Sox outhit Glacier 16-8.
Hunter Omlid, 3 for 4, had five RBIs while Tylor Nixon, 3 for 5, drove in three runs for the Red Sox. Omlid tripled, Nixon had two doubles and Austin Ray, 2 for 4, homered and drove in four runs.
Jesse Walburn, 3 for 3, and A.J. Wetsch, 2 for 4, were Glacier’s leading hitters. Both players had a double.
Tom Hellwig had the lone RBI for Glacier.
Glacier advanced to the championship game with a 11-10 loser-out victory earlier in the day over Flathead Valley rival Kalispell Lakers.
Kalispell held an early 4-0 lead, but the Twins tied it with a four-run third inning. A three-run fifth put the Twins up 7-4, but Kalispell pushed six runs across the plate in the top half of the seventh for a 10-7 edge. The Twins came right back in the bottom half of the inning with four runs to complete the scoring.
Tristin Steinwand, 3 for 5, homered, scored three times and drove in two runs.
James Sampson-Keck, 4 for 5, also scored three times. He doubled along with Ryan Veneman.
Wetsch, 2 for 4, drive in three runs.
Walburn had two RBIs.
Clayton Jaques, 2 for 4, had two doubles for Kalispell and three RBIs.
Jaryon Venturini, 2 for 4, doubled and drove in two runs.
Prior to this contest in Florence, Kalispell had won three of its four one-run games.
Western A District Tournament
Sunday
At Florence
Championship game
Glacier Twins 000 001 1 — 2 8 4
Bitterroot Red Sox 945 500 x — 23 16 1
Ryan Veneman, Skylar Warner (2), Max Smyley (3), Tom Hellwig (5) and Nathan Hader; Kyle Norman, Garrick Richardson (7) and Austin Ray. W – Norman. L – Veneman.
GLACIER — Tristin Steinwand 1-4, A.J. Wetsch 2-4, James Sampson-Keck 0-3, Jonny Sapa 0-1, Jesse Walburn 3-3, Smyley 0-1, Terek Bistodeau 0-1, Veneman 0-1, Warner 0-2, Hellwig 1-3, Jared Reynolds 0-3, Hader 1-3.
BITTERROOT — Ray 2-4, Matt Brown 1-2, Nate Loranger 2-4, Tylor Nixon 3-5, Jon Ringer 0-5, Justin Horvath 1-1, Joe Johnson 1-1, Camron Rothie 1-1, Hunter Omlid 3-4, Chase Conner 1-4, K. Crossman 1-3, Norman 1-1.
2B—Walburn, Wetsch; Nixon (2), Horvath,Conner; 3B—Omlid; HR—Ray; RBIs—Hellwig; Ray (4), Brown, Loranger, Nixon (3), Horvath, Johnson, Omlid (5), Conner, Cossman (2).
Loser out
Kalispell Lakers 400 000 600 — 10 13 2
Glacier Twins 004 030 40x — 11 15 2
Drew Scherrer, Brady Peiffer (4), Sam Elliott (5) and na; AJ Wetsch, Jesse Walburn (7), Colten Parker (7), Vinny Smith (8) and na. W – Parker. L – Elliott.
KALISPELL — Ryan Symmes 2-5, Keaden Morisaki 0-2, Peiffer 1-2, Randy Stultz 1-5, Eric Seaman 2-5, Elliott 1-5, Jaycob Serrano 0-2, Clayton Jaques 2-4, Jaryon Venturini 2-4, Tyler Kitch 1-5, Drew Scherrer 0-0.
GLACIER — Colten Parker 1-5, Steinwand 3-5, Sampson-Keck 4-5, Smith 1-4, Walburn 0-3, Wetsch 2-4, Smyley 1-4, Veneman 2-4, Greyson Bistodeau 0-3.
2B—Jaques (2), Venturini; Veneman, Sampson-Keck; HR—Steinwand; RBIs—Symmes, Elliott (3), Jaques (3), Venturini (2); Steinwand (2), Smith, Walburn (2), Wetsch (3), Smyley, Veneman.