Royal Sweep: Lakers walk off Billings 3-2 in final home game

To the list of things Max Holden has done well for the Kalispell Lakers this season, add this: An A-plus helmet toss.

Holden shot a double up the right-center gap in the bottom of the seventh inning Wednesday at Griffin Field, scoring Ostyn Brennan with the winning run in a 3-2, walk-off Legion baseball victory.

He was predictably mobbed after Brennan came across the plate; the Lakers squared their Montana/Alberta Conference record at 9-9 with their three-game sweep of the Royals, who are now 11-9 in league games.

Holden was 1-for-8 against the Royals (31-24) before the game-winner, in the last home game of 2023.

“Max has struggled a little bit with his at-bats, but he was nice and quiet and poised and confident,” Lakers coach Ryan Malmin said. “And he looked for a pitch he was able to drive into right-center. That’s fun when that happens. What a memory that kid has now.”

Tight defense and sterling pitching played big roles in the Lakers’ current five-game winning streak. While an error led to the Royals knotting the score at 2-2 in the fifth, there was a nifty double play turned by Lakers shortstop Carter Schlegel in the sixth inning and Joey Thatcher deftly handled a liner to left field in the seventh, after the Royals had two on with two out on reliever Oscar Kallis.

“I thought last night we played solid defense,” Malmin said. “Today was a little bit sketchy but the kids stuck to the process and played for each other and picked each other up on those mistakes.”

It was Brennan who pitched Wednesday, going six solid innings and allowing three hits, three walks and one earned run. He fanned six.

“I was throwing my slider a lot,” Brennan said. “The slider was buckling them. Then I just tried to dot my fastball.”

Brennen drew a walk to lead off the seventh, and took second on Adam Nikunen’s bunt. The rest is history: Game-winning hits, set up by strong pitching and stellar D.

“Especially yesterday,” Brennan said, noting the Lakers’ doubleheader sweep on Tuesday. “I was at short and I had like eight ground balls and no errors. It was a great day, yesterday.”

Wednesday wasn’t bad. The Lakers now head on the road to play three games against the Billings Scarlets Friday and Saturday. They finish the regular season at Great Falls with three games against the Chargers, on Monday and Tuesday.

The State AA tournament is July 22-26 in Missoula.

The Royals, having played nine straight games away from Billings, got on the road quickly: They open a home series against the Bozeman Bucks Thursday.

The Lakers recently had 10 road games in 11 days, going 5-5. But something sparked at the Minot tournament on July 1: They’re 7-2 this month, starting with a 5-3 win over Mandan, North Dakota in which Oscar Kallis pitched a complete game.

“Things just started clicking for us a little bit,” Malmin said. “Those trips, even though they’re long, are a great opportunity for the team to bond a little bit. It’s not just baseball all the time, it’s hanging out together, having fun and getting to know each other.”

Royals 000 110 0 - 2 4 2

Lakers 101 000 1 - 3 6 4

Hunter Solheim, Peyton Wasko (7) and Ryan Denowh. Ostyn Brennan, Oscar Kallis (7) and Nate Skonard.

BILLINGS ROYALS — Davis Chakos 0-2, Kayden Keith 0-3, Davis Mosier 0-3, Carson Jenkins 0-2, Sy Waldron 0-1, Denowh 1-3, Ethan Chaney 1-3, Nathan Kojetin 0-3, Alexander Brown 1-2, Solheim 1-1, Wasko 0-0.

KALISPELL AA LAKERS — Ostyn Brennan 0-2, Adam Nikunen 1-2, Max Holden 1-4, Kallis 2-3, Carter Schlegel 1-3, Andre Cephers 0-2, Skonard 0-3, Kane Morisaki 0-3, Timmy Glanville 1-3.

2B — Holden. 3B — Kallis. RBIs — Solheim, Schlegel, Holden.