Bozeman Bucks oust Lakers from State AA
MISSOULA — It wasn’t supposed to end this quickly for the Kalispell Lakers, whose pitching was built to last at the State AA Legion tournament.
Instead the Bozeman Bucks broke a 1-1 tie with four runs in the fifth inning and ousted the Lakers Sunday, 5-2 at Lindborg-Cregg Field.
Dylon Poulin’s two-out, two-run double was the key blow for the Bucks. Then the next hitter, Joe Starner, reached on an error that scored Quinn Pershing, who had walked, and Poulin.
A walk and two hit batters gave the Lakers a bases-loaded situation with two outs in the seventh. But after Pershing came on for starter Bryce Hampton and issued a wild pitch — scoring Ostyn Brennan with Kalispell’s second run — he got the next batter to ground out to end it.
The Lakers, getting solid pitching from Brennan and Carter Schlegel, ended up 34-23. They dropped a 1-0 decision to the Billings Scarlets Saturday.
“Three earned runs allowed at the state tournament, one would assume we are moving on,” Lakers coach Ryan Malmin said. “We were rock solid on the mound, made two mistakes out of 36 outs where each team we played was able to take advantage.”
Brennan went 4 1-3 innings, allowing five hits, four walks and two earned runs. He fanned four.
On Saturday Max Holden threw a six-inning gem at the Scarlets, who on Sunday beat the Great Falls Chargers 17-3.
On Sunday Hampton went 6 2-3 innings for the Bucks (26-33), allowing four hits and three walks. He struck out one Laker. He also hit five of them, including three in the first inning, but Kalispell didn’t capitalize.
“As games went on it felt like we had to be perfect and pressed a bit at the plate, instead of allowing the game to happen as we had been doing,” Malmin said. “We had opportunities to score today but didn’t cash in.”
Adam Nikunen had the Lakers’ lone RBI. Nate Skonard scored on Nikunen’s single in the second inning, giving Kalispell a short-lived 1-0 lead.
Malmin was philosophical: the Lakers didn’t return a lot of experience from 2022, when they finished third a state.
“The end result doesn’t portray the tremendous growth from start to finish, and the unity of this team,” he said. “This group was so much fun — the grind of the season just flew.
“The support from the Lakers’ family, friends, fans and community was fantastic. We had the largest fan base outside of the Mavs. That local support was greatly appreciated by our program and the kids.”
Lakers AA 010 000 1 - 2 4 2
Bucks 010 040 x - 5 7 0
Ostyn Brennan, Carter Schlegel (5) and Nate Skonard. Bryce Hampton, Quinn Pershing (7) and Jadin Frandsen, Dylan Poulin and Jarrett Herz.
KALISPELL AA LAKERS — Brennan 0-2, Adam Nikunen 1-4, Max Holden 0-3, Oscar Kallis 0-3, Schlegel 2-3, Kaden Drish 0-3, Joey Thatcher 0-3, Skonard 0-2, Timmy Glanville 1-1.
BOZEMAN BUCKS — Luke Rizzo 1-4, Cole Smith 0-4, Hampton 2-4, Joshua Woodberry 3-3, Pershing 0-1, Austin Cooper 0-2, Frandsen 0-1, Poulin 1-2, Joe Starner 0-3, Hertz 0-2.
2B — Poulin. RBIs — Nikunen, Poulin 2, Rizzo.