AA Lakers sweep Bucks again
Kalispell Lakers AA's Max Holden (15) slides into third base after hitting a triple in the sixth inning against the Bozeman Bucks at Griffin Field on Tuesday, July 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Kalispell Lakers AA's Ethan Diede (13) connects on a single against the Bozeman Bucks at Griffin Field on Tuesday, July 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Kalispell Lakers AA's Gage Brink (3) connects for a single against the Bozeman Bucks at Griffin Field on Tuesday, July 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Bozeman's Dillon Coleman (15) steals third base ahead of the tag by Lakers AA third baseman Ethan Diede (13) at Griffin Field on Tuesday, July 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Kalispell Lakers AA starting pitcher Kostya Hoffman (4) delivers to a Bozeman Bucks batter at Griffin Field on Tuesday, July 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Ethan Diede hit a walk-off single in the first game, then drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning triple in the nightcap as Kalispell swept Bozeman in a Class AA Legion doubleheader Tuesday at Griffin Field.
The first game, which counted in league, ended 3-2; the Lakers won the second game 7-6.
The sweep gave the Lakers (30-10-1 overall, 7-4 in AA league games) four straight wins over the Bucks (19-28-1, 3-14).
Deide, whose triple scored Gage Brink, who’d doubled with one out, also keyed a 6-run fifth inning. He followed Brink’s RBI triple with a single as Kalispell fought back from a 6-0 hole.
Danny Kernan got the win in the second game with two innings of one-hit relief.
In the first game Diede’s game-winner came after Carver Van Aken walked and moved to second on an errant pickoff throw.
Kalispell scored twice in the second inning on two errors — plating Kael Willis, who’d singled — on Elijah Owens’ grounder, and an RBI groundout by Max Holden.
The Bucks tied it 2-2 in the fifth, executing a double steal that scored Luke Rizzo ahead of Jake Vigen’s RBI double that plated Kellen Harrison.
Kostya Hoffman went the distance for the Lakers, allowing five hits and three walks in seven innings. He struck out three.
First game
Bucks 000 020 0 - 2 5 2
Lakers AA 020 000 1 - 3 8 2
Brady Higgs, Preston Fliehman (7) and Andrew Western. Kostya Hoffman and Grady Drish.
BOZEMAN BUCKS AA — Jake Vigen 2-4, Logan Pailthorpe 0-4, Corbin Holzer 1-2, Fliehman 0-3, Rhett Hays 0-3, Luke Rizzo 0-1, Western 0-3, Kellen Harrison 1-3, Michael Armstrong 0-1, Dillon Coleman 1-1.
KALISPELL LAKERS AA — Carver Van Aken 0-3, Gage Brink 2-2, Ethan Diede 2-3, Danny Kernan 0-3, Kostya Hoffman 0-3, Kael Willis 1-3, Elijah Owens 0-3, Max Holden 2-3, Drish 1-3.
2B — Vigen 2, Coleman. 3B — Holden 2. RBI — Viger, Armstrong, Holden, Diede.
Second game
Bucks 121 020 0 - 6 6 1
Lakers AA 000 061 X - 7 11 3
Fliehman, Hays (5) and Coleman. Ayden Driear, Danny Kernan (6) and
BUCKS AA — Vigen 0-4, Pailthorpe 1-3, Fliehman 1-1, Holzer 1-4, Colmena 1-4, Max Matteucci 1-4, Jackson Burke 1-2, Hays 0-3, Harrison 0-2.
LAKERS AA — Van Aken 1-4, Brink 2-4, Diede 3-4, Kernan 1-4, Hoffman 0-4, Willis 1-2, Owens 1-3, Holden 1-3, Drish 1-2.
2B — Coleman, Max Matteucci, Brink, Drish, Holden. 3B — Brink, Diede, Willis. RBI — Hays 2, Harrison, Vigen, Fliehman, Coleman, Diede 2, Brink, Hoffman, Willis, Owens, Holden.