Lakers struggle in State AA opening loss

BOZEMAN — The Kalispell Lakers got off to a rough start at the Montana-Alberta American Baseball Legion Class AA state tournament on Wednesday, losing to the Helena Senators 7-3 in the opening round of play.

The Lakers fell behind early, fumbling a routine double-play ball in the first inning that allowed the Senators to extend the inning and put a runner in scoring position with one out. After a short fly ball, Helena loaded the bases, then scored a pair of runs on a single through the left side of the infield to take a 2-0 lead.

“We didn’t execute and that kind of set the tone a little bit. We had to work from behind,” Lakers manager Ryan Malmin said.

For its own part, Kalispell loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning but couldn’t push any runs across, grounding into an inning-ending double play. The Lakers struggled to get their first batter of the inning on base, starting each frame from the third through the eighth with one out. On top of that, their bad luck continued with runners on, again grounding into an inning-ending double play in the fourth inning and flying out harmlessly with a with runners in scoring position in the sixth and eighth innings.

“We struggled to get the leadoff guy on base all day,” Malmin said.

“Sam (Elliott) was great, once again, on the mound. He did a great job for us. We need to be more consistent in making plays behind our guys and do a better job of getting the leadoff guy on, have a better approach and be on time for the fastball.”

While the Lakers couldn’t score, Helena added runs after errors in the third and sixth innings, then another in the eighth with two outs to build its lead to 7-0.

“The goal is to get 27 outs and, unfortunately, we gave them 30,” Malmin said. “That accounted for four of their seven runs.”

Kalispell opened the ninth inning with a double from Dawson Smith, who scored two batters later on a single from Johan Freudenberg. A double from Jonas Nyman scored two more runs, and a single in the next at-bat had two runners on base with one out and a rally building. A pop out and a strikeout ended those dreams, however, and dropped the Lakers to loser-out play today.

Elliott was good on the mound for the Lakers, inducing a lot of ground ball, striking out four batters and walking just two while giving up only two earned runs.

Kalispell will play top-seeded Bozeman at 12:30 p.m. for a chance to extend its season. There is still a chance, if the Lakers win their next three games, to play for the championship for a second straight season.

Bozeman, which is hosting the tournament, lost to No. 8 seed Billings Scarlets 11-5 in the final game of the first round. The Lakers split games with the Bucks this season.

In another upset, seventh-seeded Lethbridge beat No. 2 Billings Royals 10-9. No. 3 seed Missoula is the top seed in the unbeaten bracket after beating Great Falls 6-2 in the opening round’s other contest.

“It’s a new day, it’s a new opportunity to extend the season,” Malmin said. “The kids need to embrace that. We just need to play clean baseball, throw strikes and execute offensively.”

Helena 201 003 010 — 7 12 2

Kalispell 000 000 003 — 3 9 2

WP—Keaton Ralston. LP—Sam Elliott.

HELENA — Connor McCarvel 0-4, Colin Sassano 3-5, Kienan Stief 2-5, Ray Moore 0-5, Payton Pappas 2-2, Andrew Rosston 1-5, Carter Pappas 3-5, Ryan Arnston 0-4, Eammon Bryne 1-4.

KALISPELL — Jonas Nyman 2-5, Eric Seaman 2-5, Patrick O’Connell 2-5, Haydn Schlepp 1-4, Torin Bowden 0-3, Dawson Smith 1-3, Ryan Symmes 0-2, Randy Stultz 0-0, Spencer Pisk 0-2, Johan Freudenberg 1-1, Keaden Morisaki 0-4.

2B—Smith, Nyman. RBIs—Sassano, C. Pappas, Rosston 2, P. Pappas. Nyman 2, Freudenberg.