Lakers AA rally past Billings Royals
The Daily Inter Lake
Different day, same result.
In a game suspended from Tuesday night due to a lighting issue at Griffin Field, the Kalispell Lakers AA exploded for seven runs in the sixth inning and beat the Billings Royals 8-4 on Thursday afternoon.
The Lakers previously were credited with a 1-0 win in five innings Tuesday. In the sixth inning, with Billings leading 2-1, lights on two poles down the first-base line burned out. The umpires elected to call the game, and the score reverted to the result of the last complete inning.
The Royals’ offense added two insurance runs on just one hit when the game resumed Thursday in the top of the sixth inning.
Kalispell’s Johan Freudenberg surrendered a two-run, two-out single to pinch-hitter Cameron Maciel.
“We’ve got to do a better job of limiting the extra opportunities for teams, whether that’s a free pass or an extra out,” Lakers manager Ryan Malmin said.
The Lakers’ offense, however, did more than enough to pick up its pitcher and defense in the bottom half of the inning.
Maciel, Billings’ starting pitcher, returned to the mound Thursday but was unable to replicate his success from Tuesday, when he held Kalispell to four hits and one run in five innings.
The Lakers sent 12 men to the plate and seven of them came around to score in the bottom of the sixth.
Patrick O’Connell and Torin Bowden each singled to lead off the inning, and Hayden Schlepp loaded the bases with a walk. Eric Seaman pulled Kalispell within a run with a two-RBI single, and Freudenberg helped his cause with a game-tying triple.
Freudenberg was the first of five consecutive Lakers to reach base, and four of them came around to score to provide Kalispell with plenty of insurance.
The offensive outburst came from all parts of the lineup, as every Laker in the starting lineup either scored or drove at least one run.
O’Connell and Seaman led the way with two RBIs and one run scored apiece.
“The kids didn’t flinch,” Malmin said. “They had a systemic approach at the plate, were confident and competed.
“It’s fun to see that quality in a team.”
The Lakers will return to action in Spokane on Saturday, the first day of the two-day Spokane Expos Bash.
Billings 000 004 0 — 4 5 1
Kalispell 010 007 x — 8 10 3
Cameron Maciel, Jake Orvis (6) and Jarret Leinwand. Sam Elliott, Johan Freudenberg (6) and Haydn Schlepp. W—Freudenberg. L—Orvis.
ROYALS — Connor Polkowske 1-3, Orvis 0-3, Pearce Kurth 0-4, Leinwand 1-4, Sam Evenson 1-3, Atticus Bryan 1-3, Cole Miller 0-1, Maciel 1-1, Carson Jones 0-2, Brooks Zimmer 0-0, Carson Klompien 0-3.
LAKERS AA — Randy Stultz 0-3, Ryan Symmes 0-2, Patrick O’Connell 2-4, Torin Bowden 3-4, Schlepp 1-2, Dawson Smith 1-3, Eric Seaman 2-3, Spencer Pisk 0-3, Freudenberg 1-2.
3B—Freudenberg. RBIs—Maciel 2. O’Connell 2, Bowden, Smith, Seaman 2, Pisk, Freudenberg.