Veneman, Twins shut down Rangers

WHITEFISH — Ryan Veneman allowed just a single infield hit and James Sampson-Keck drove in three runs as the Glacier Twins A bounced back from a disappointing end of the weekend to blast the Kootenai Valley Rangers 10-0 at Memorial Park on Tuesday night.

The Twins were upset in the semifinals of the 27th annual Ed Gallo Memorial Wood Bat tournament Sunday, denying the hosts a chance to repeat as tournament champions.

In their first game since then, Veneman was nearly unhittable and, in fact, could have thrown the Twins’ third no-hitter of the season if not for a James Dunn chopper that the Rangers catcher beat out to lead off the second inning. Only three other runners reached base against Veneman, who struck out five.

The right-hander began the year in the Twins’ bullpen but has performed well enough to force his way into a rotation that already includes veterans Jonny Sapa and Tyler Murphy.

“He’s worked hard, he throws hard, he competes and he stays focused,” Twins coach Bob Rupp said of Veneman. “Ryan came out and battled. You can’t ask for anything better than that.”

Glacier took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the second, the last two coming on the first of three Kootenai Valley errors. The Twins added another run in the third and broke the game open when Derek Kastella doubled in a pair with two outs in the fifth to make it 6-0.

Sampson-Keck added a two-run single in the sixth and the game was ended because of the 10-run rule in the seventh when Colten Parker roped one over the head of left fielder Brad Stein to score Veneman from third base.

“The boys are swinging the bat good,” Rupp said. “They’re doing the little things that we want them to; they’re just playing well.”

Sampson-Keck finished 2 for 4, as did Vinny Smith and A.J. Wetsch. Smith and Tristin Steinwand both tripled in the win.

K. Valley 000 000 0 — 0 1 3

Glacier A 031 023 1 — 10 11 0

Mo Henderson, Connor Harmon (6) and James Dunn. Ryan Veneman and Tyler Murphy, Skyler Warner (6). W — Veneman. L — Henderson.

KOOTENAI VALLEY — Dawson Henrie 0-2, Colton Cooper 0-3, Sam Hannay 0-2, Dunn 1-3, Henderson 0-3, Quade Anderson 0-1, Donovan Fornall 0-2, Brad Stein 0-2, Connor Harmon 0-2.

GLACIER — Colten Parker 1-4, Tristin Steinwand 1-3, James Sampson-Keck 2-4, Vinny Smith 2-4, A.J. Wetsch 2-4, Derek Kastella 1-4, Veneman 1-2, Murphy 0-1, Warner 0-0, Jared Reynolds 1-2, Nathan Hader 0-1.

2B — Kastella. 3B — Steinwand, Smith. RBIs — Sampson-Keck 3, Kastella 2, Parker.

Mariners swept in Bitterroot

FLORENCE — Rees LeSoine pitched both halves of a doubleheader to lead the Bitterroot Bucs to a sweep of the Mission Valley Mariners, 11-0 and 4-2, Tuesday evening.

LeSoine threw a complete game in the opener, a contest that was ended by the 10-run rule in the fifth inning. LeSoine started the second game, too, and went the first four innings, leaving with the game tied at two. The Bucs scored in the fifth and sixth innings to finish off the sweep.

The Mariners had seven hits in the second game led by Nyqolas Gillingham, who was 2 for 3. Anthony Jones went 1 for 4 and picked up both Mariners RBIs.

Micah McClure started the second game and pitched well, allowing only two earned runs and striking out five without issuing a walk.

M. Valley 000 00 — 0 4 4

Bitterroot 340 4x — 11 6 1

Bransen Krebs, Walter Wood (4) and Warren Wood. Rees LeSoine and Jacob Sully. W — LeSoine. L — Krebs.

MISSION VALLEY — Kade Schutzmann 1-2, Jacob Harrod 1-2, Wal. Wood 1-2, Anthony Jones 1-2, War. Wood 0-2, Krebs 0-2, Nyqolas Gillingham 0-2, Micah McClure 0-1, Tyson Petticrew 0-2.

BITTERROOT — Bo Zeiler 1-3, Dylan Gavlak 0-3, Jake Finley 2-3, LeSoine 2-2, Liam LeCoure 1-3, Braxton McCullough 0-2, Sully 0-2, Brendan Schneiter 0-1, Brendan Bailey 0-2.

2B — LeCoure. RBIs — LeCoure 3, Finley, LeSoine, McCullough, Sully.

M. Valley 100 010 0 — 2 7 2

Bitterroot 200 011 x — 4 9 1

Micah McClure and Warren Wood. Rees LeSoine, Liam LeCoure (5) and Jacob Sully. W — LeSoine. L — McClure.

MISSION VALLEY — Kade Schutzmann 0-3, Jacob Harrod 1-3, Walter Wood 1-2, Anthony Jones 1-4, War. Wood 1-2, Bransen Krebs 0-3, Nyqolas Gillingham 2-3, Tyler Kelsch 0-2, Tyson Petticrew 1-3.

BITTERROOT — Bo Zeiler 3-4, Dylan Gavlak 0-3, Jake Finley 2-4, LeSoine 1-2, LeCoure 0-3, Braxton McCullough 1-3, Sully 1-2, Brendan Schneiter 0-1, Alex Gavlak 1-3.

2B — Gillingham, Harrod. RBIs — Jones 2; Zeiler, LeSoine, LeCoure, McCullough.

Lakers AA drop series

LETHBRIDGE, Alberta — The Kalispell Lakers AA dropped two of three conference games north of the border against the Lethbridge Elks on Sunday and Monday.

The two teams split a pair of seven-inning games Sunday, with the Elks winning game one 10-6 before the Lakers bounced back to win the nightcap 6-2 behind a strong six-inning pitching performance from Leif Ericksen.

Monday, the Elks took the rubber game 10-5.

Patrick O’Connell went 4 for 5 with three RBIs on Sunday to lead the Lakers offense. Joe Broughton was 2 for 5 with a double in Monday’s loss.

Sunday

Kalispell 120 000 3 — 6 6 4

Lethbridge 102 700 x — 10 8 4

Logan DeCock, Jonas Nyman (4) and Tiler Whiteaker, Haydn Schlepp (6). Bryce Oklold-Fraser, Kale Penner (5) and Kyle Bloor, Eric Davies (6). W — Okold-Fraser. L — DeCock.

KALISPELL — Schlepp 0-4, Whiteaker 1-4, Patrick O’Connell 1-2, Andrew Schleusner 1-4, Leif Ericksen 1-3, Spencer Pisk 0-2, Joe Broughton 0-2, Nyman 0-3, Micah Benson 1-3, Jayson Combs 1-3.

LETHBRIDGE — Davies 1-2, Tevin Hall 0-2, Shawn Grandmont 2-2, Penner 1-3, Torrin Vaselenak 1-1, Raleigh Ferby 0-1, Bloor 0-3, Josh Luchanski 1-3, Jay Katkas 1-3, Wyatt Tamalty 1-2.

2B — Schleusner; Luchanski. 3B — Vaselenak. RBIs — O’Connell 2, Schlepp, Pisk, Benson; Grandmont 2, Vaselenak 2, Davies, Hall.

Kalispell 001 005 0 — 6 10 1

Lethbridge 001 001 0 — 2 3 0

Leif Ericksen, Andrew Schleusner (7) and Tiler Whiteaker. Kyle Bloor, Raleigh Ferby (6) and Eric Davies. W — Ericksen. L — Bloor.

KALISPELL — Haydn Schlepp 0-2, Jonas Nyman 0-1, Jake Halland 1-1, Whiteaker 1-4, Patrick O’Connell 3-3, Schleusner 1-4, Ericksen 0-4, Spencer Pisk 1-3, Joe Broughton 1-3, Micah Benson 1-3, Jayson Combs 1-3.

LETHBRIDGE — Davies 1-3, Tevin Hall 1-3, Shawn Grandmont 0-4, Kale Penner 0-2, Torrin Vaselenak 1-3, Bloor 0-2, Josh Luchanski 0-2, Liam Leech 0-3, Wyatt Tamalty 0-1.

2B — Schleusner, Whiteaker. HR — Vaselenak. RBIs — Whiteaker 2, Halland, O’Connell, Schleusner, Combs; Grandmont, Vaselenak.

Monday

Kalispell 101 100 200 — 5 7 5

Lethbridge 331 002 01x — 10 8 4

Dawson Smith, Tiler Whiteaker (4), Micah Benson (8) and Andrew Schleusner. Tevin Hall, Shawn Grandmont (7) and Kyle Bloor. W — Hall. L — Smith.

KALISPELL — Haydn Schlepp 0-5, Jake Halland 1-4, Patrick O’Connell 0-4, Schleusner 2-4, Leif Ericksen 1-3, Whiteaker 0-5, Spencer Pisk 0-4, Joe Broughton 2-5, Jayson Combs 1-4.

LETHBRIDGE — Eric Davies 0-3, Hall 1-4, Raleigh Ferby 0-0, Grandmont 2-3, Kale Penner 1-5, Torrin Vaselenak 1-4, Bloor 1-1, Josh Luchanski 0-4, Jay Katkas 1-3, Wyatt Tamalty 1-4.

2B — Broughton; Penner, Katkas, Hall. 3B — Grandmont. RBIs — Schlepp, Ericksen, Pisk; Grandmont 3, Hall 2, Vaselenak 2, Penner, Katkas.