AA Lakers swept by Great Falls
GREAT FALLS — The Kalispell AA Lakers got their offense going Tuesday, but were outscored down the stretch of an 11-8 loss to the Great Falls Chargers, in both Legion teams’ final regular season games.
The loss concluded a tough road trip for the Lakers: They went 1-5, with the win coming Saturday against the Billings Scarlets — their first-round foe at the State AA tournament that begins Saturday in Missoula.
They go in as the No. 7 seed, and the Lakers as No. 2.
Kalispell’s bats were quiet Friday in a doubleheader loss to the Chargers, who ended up the No. 3 seed with a 13-11 mark in Montana/Alberta standings. The 11-1 and 6-0 setbacks, combined with Tuesday’s loss, leave the Lakers 34-21 overall and 10-14 in league.
Chargers 11, AA Lakers 8
Kalispell jumped to leads of 6-1 and 7-5, before the Chargers put up three runs in the fourth and sixth innings.
The key blow was a two-out, bases-loaded triple by Noah Banderob that put Great Falls ahead 11-7 in the sixth.
Kalispell’s Joey Thatcher hit an RBI single in the seventh, and when Ostyn Brennan walked, the bases were loaded with one out — but Banderob then came on in relief and fanned the next two batters.
Oscar Kallis hit a two-run double for Kalispell in the first inning, and Carter Schlegel hit a bases-loaded triple of his own that had the Lakers up 6-1 in the second. Ostyn Brennan hit a sacrifice fly in the third inning as well.
Brennan and Adam Nikunen scored two runs each, and Kaden Drish had three hits. Landon Lockwood had three hits and scored four times for the Chargers (30-26).
Lakers AA 241 000 1 - 8 14 3
Chargers 120 303 x - 11 9 1
Ostyn Brennan, Adam Nikunen (3), Oscar Kallis (6) and Nate Skonard. Shane Jefferson, W Parsons (3), Noah Banderob (7) and Brinkley Evans.
KALISPELL AA LAKERS — Brennan 1-2, Nikunen 2-5, Max Holden 1-4, Kallis 1-3, Carter Schlegel 1-4, Kaden Drish 3-4, Andre Cephers 2-3, Skonard 1-4, Joey Thatcher 2-3.
GREAT FALLS CHARGERS — Liam Sullivan 0-5, Evans 3-4, Trigg Mapes 1-3, Landon Lockwood 3-4, Seamus Sullivan 0-3, Lane Seim 1-2, Mason Davis 0-1, Scott Klinker 0-3, Banderob 1-3.
2B — Kallis, Mapes. 3B — Schlegel, Banderob. RBIs — Schlegel 3, Kallis 2, Thatcher, Brennan, Banderob 3, Lockwood, Seim, Davis, Klinker.
Chargers win 2
Monday was a long one for the Lakers, who managed just 10 hits against Chargers pitchers Scott Klinker and Austin Armstrong.
Klinker fanned five in five innings of work in an 11-1 win and Armstrong fanned six while shutting out Kalispell, 6-0..
Brinkley Evans, meanwhile, drove in three runs in both games for the Chargers; his three-run home run in the fifth inning ended the first game under the mercy rule.
Brennan had two hits for the Lakers, and Kallis’ RBI single in the first inning gave Kalispell a short-lived 1-0 lead.
Max Holden threw for the Lakers in the nightcap, and allowed seven hits, two walks and five earned runs. He struck out four, and also had two of his team’s four hits.
Klinker’s two-run triple made it 3-0 in the second inning.
First game
Lakers AA 100 00 - 1 6 3
Chargers 120 17 - 11 11 0
Cephers and Brennan. Klinker
LAKERS — Brennan 2-3, Nikunen 0-2, Holden 1-2, Kallis 1-2, Schlegel 0-2, Drish 0-2, Cephers 1-2, Thatcher 1-2, Glanville 0-1.
CHARGERS — L.Sullivan 3-4, Evans 1-4, Maps 0-2, Lockwood 0-3, S.Sullivan 2-3, Seim 1-2, Davis 1-3, Pace 1-3, Banderob 2-3.
2B — Kallis. 3B — Brennan, S.Sullivan. HR — Evans. RBIs — Kallis, Evans 3, Sullivan 2, Davis 2, Banderob, Lockwood, S.Sullivan.
Second game
Lakers AA 000 000 0 - 0 4 1
Chargers 130 020 x - 6 7 2
Holden and Skonard. Armstrong and Evans.
LAKERS — Brennan 1-3, Nikunen 1-2, Holden 2-3, Kallis 0-3, Schlegel 0-3, Drish 0-3, Morisaki 0-1, Leonard 0-1, Skonard 0-2, Close 0-1, Vojta 0-2.
CHARGERS — L.Sullivan 2-3, Evas 2-3, Maps 0-3, Lockwood 1-3, S.Sullivan 1-2, Seim 0-2, Davis 0-3, Klinker 1-2, Banderrob 0-1.
3B — Klinker. RBIs — Evans 3, Klinker 2.