AA Lakers sweep Butte

Ayden Driear hit two doubles, drove in four runs and scored three times in the AA Kalispell Lakers’ 15-5 win over Butte in American Legion baseball at Griffin Field Sunday.

The win completed a doubleheader sweep of the Class A Miners; earlier Sunday the Lakers (7-1) prevailed 10-0.

Driear’s 3-run double was the key blow in a 7-run second inning in the second game for the Lakers, who quickly made up a 2-0 deficit.

Kostya Hoffman added a 2-run double in the fourth as the gap grew to 12-2; after Butte scored three times in the fifth, Kalispell answered with three runs of its own.

Joe Schlegel had an RBI double to score Danny Kernan, and Kernan then came around on a groundout and wild pitch for the 15th and game-ending run. The game was played under a 10-run mercy rule.

Caleb Morgan threw all five innings in the nightcap, scattering four hits and three walks. He allowed two earned and had four strikeouts.

In the first game Schlegel had two hits and scored three runs to back the pitching of Max Holden and Driear, who threw a combined 2-hitter.

Elijah Owens’ two-run triple capped a 4-run third inning for the Lakers. This game ended under the mercy rule with one out in the sixth: Grady Drish, who’d hit a leadoff single, came around on an error on Schlegel’s grounder to short.

Holden gave up both Butte hits, in five innings of work. He allowed two hits and two walks and struck out two.

Second Game

Butte 020 03 - 5 4 1

Lakers AA 070 53 - 15 10 3

Hunter Hotalen, Eyston Lakkala (4) and Rye Doherty, Aidan Lee. Caleb Morgan and Kael Willis.

BUTTE - Rylan Richards 1-3, Eagan Lester 0-3, Kian O’Neill 1-3, Reece Cox 0-3, Hunter Hotalen 1-1, Eyston Lakkala 0-1, Evan Starr 0-3, Rye Doherty 1-2, Aidan Lee 0-1, Max Demaris 0-0, Hunter Salcido 0-1.

LAKERS AA - Ethan Diede 2-4, Gage Brink 1-3, Kael Willis 1-3, Ayden Driear 2-2, Danny Kernan 1-1, Joseph Schlegel 1-4, Kostya Koffman 0-1, Max Holden 1-2, Carver Van Aken 0-1, Elijah Owens 0-1, Owen Schilling 1-1.

2B - O’Neill, Hotalen, Driear 2, Holden, Schlegel. RBIs - Hotalen, Demaris, Hunter Salcido, Driear 4, Schilling 3, Schlegel 2, Diede 2, Holden.

First game

Butte 000 000 - 0 2 6

Lakers AA 124 021 - 10 7 2

Cox and Lakkal. Holden, Driear (6) and Grady Drish.

BUTTE - Richards 0-3, Lester 1-3, Hart 0-3, O’Neill 1-3, Lee 0-2, Coyote Stajcar 0-2, Cox 0-1, Lakkala 0-2, Ethan Cunningham 0-1.

LAKERS AA - Diede 1-2, Brink 0-4, Willis 0-3, Kernan 0-0, Driear 0-2, Schlegel 2-3, Van Aken 1-2, Owens 2-2, Wallack 0-3, Drish 1-3.

2B - Van Aken. 3B - Owens. RBI - Owens 3, Willis, Wallack.