AA Lakers sweep 4 from Pullman
You can’t say all the Kalispell Legion baseball teams do is win, but it’s been pretty close in 2023.
With two doubleheader sweeps over the Pullman Patriots this weekend at Griffin Field, the Class AA Lakers ran their win streak to nine games and improved to 18-2 on the season.
The weekend — which also saw the A Lakers run their record to 20-2 — ended with the Lakers’
Andre Cephers and Carter Schlegel combining on a five-inning no-hitter in an 11-0 win.
The Lakers won the first game Sunday 9-7, and on Saturday they beat the Patriots 11-1 and 14-0.
Sunday’s finale saw Cephers throw three innings, allowing one walk and striking out three; Schlegel got the final six outs with no walks or strikeouts.
The Lakers’ offense got going early with nine first-inning runs. Oscar Kallis started the scoring with a two-run double, and made it 9-0 with an RBI single. Fourteen Lakers came to the plate: Kane Morisaki had an RBI double among their seven hits in the frame (to go with two hit batsmen, a walk and a Patriot error).
Kallis ended with three RBIs; Kaden Drish, Schlegel and catcher Nate Skonard all scored twice.
The first win on Sunday came a little tougher: Timmy Glanville had an RBI triple that cut the Pirates’ lead to 5-3 in the fourth, and his two-run single put the Lakers up 7-6 in the fifth inning.
Max Holden tripled to spark a two-run sixth inning for a 9-6 lead.
Kallis worked around two hits, including an RBI triple by Cade Hill in the seventh, to pick up a two-inning save. Colin Leonard, who relieved starting pitcher Brennan in the fourth inning, picked up the win with two solid innings of work.
Kalispell opened the weekend set with an 11-1 win, getting a double, triple and five RBIs from Kallis. Joey Thatcher scored three times in the game, which was notable for the Lakers working three Pullman pitchers for 13 walks and a hit batter. Kallis had two of his team’s three hits.
Holden went the distance on the hill, allowing four hits and three walks in five innings. He fanned four.
Saturday’s 14-0 also ended early under the mercy rule. Brennan and Schlegel each had three hits and scored twice, with Schlegel smacking a double and a triple to lead a 17-hit attack.
Thatcher added two hits and scored three times out of the No. 9 spot in the order in the win.
On the bump, Adam Nikunen threw four innings of two-hit ball, with no walks and a strikeout. Josh Close worked around a hit and two walks in the fifth to finish the shutout.
The wins came after theLakers cruised through their own Canadian Days Tournament May 19-21. Their 4-0 run included a 9-1 win over the Spokane Bandits in a finale that lasted — you guessed it — five innings.
An 8-run mercy rule was applied, and the Lakers scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to end the game with one out.
Brennan pitched and allowed four.hits, three walks and one run in five innings, striking out five. He also had three hits from the leadoff spot, including a double, and scored twice while driving in two. It was his ground ball that misplayed for an error, allowing Glanville to score the game-ender in the fifth.
Leonard also doubled in that game; Schlegel tripled and scored twice.
The AA Lakers’ next action is Wednesday: A single 9-inning home game with Class A Mission Valley, at 5 p.m.
Sunday
First game
Patriots 023 010 1 - 7 8 0
Lakers AA 101 322 x - 9 14 1
C Heusser, B Randall (5) and B. Plummer. Ostyn Brennan, Colin Leonard (4), Oscar Kallis (6) and Nate Skonard.
PULLMAN PATRIOTS — J Peterson 0-3, B Doumit 0-2, M McCloy 1-3, Plumber 1-4, K Schroader 1-3, C HIll 4-4, Randall 1-3, B Hathaway 0-3, Heusser 0-2.
KALISPELL AA LAKERS — Brennan 1-4, Adam Nikunen 0-2, Max Holden 2-3, Kallis 2-2, Carter Schlegel 3-4, Kaden Drish2-3, Leonard 1-2, Skonard 1-1, Timmy Glanville 2-3.
2B — Hill, Schroeder, Brennan. 3B — Hill, Holden, Glanville. RBIs — Hill 4, Plummer, Randall, Glanville 3, Holden 2, Brennan, Schlegel, Drish.
Second game
Patriots 000 00 - 0 0 2
Lakers AA 900 2x - 11 8 2
Hill, Hathaway and Schroeder. Cephers, Schlegel (4) and Skonard.
PATRIOTS — Pearson 0-2, Doumit 0-1, McCloy 0-2, Plummer 0-2, Scroeder 0-2, Hill 0-2, Hathwaay 0-1, Randall 0-2, Focht 0-1, Orfe 0-1.
LAKERS AA — Drish 2-2, Nikunen 1-3, Holden 1-3, Kallils 2-3, Schlegel 0-2, Cephers 0-2, Kane Morisaki 1-3, Skonard 1-2, Glanville 0-1, Thatcher 0-1.
2B — Kallis, Morisaki. RBIs — Kallis 3, Morisaki 2, Skonard 2, Nikunen, Holden, Schlegel.
Saturday
First game
Patriots 000 10 - 1 4 1
Lakers AA 001 73 - 11 3 1
Plummer, Bodey (4), B Doumit (4) and D Bell. Max Holden and Nate Skonard.
PATRIOTS — J Peterson 0-2, Doumit 1-3, M McCloy 1-3, Plummer 0-0, Bodey 0-1, Hill 0-3, Bell 0-2, W Focht 1-1, C Heusser 0-2, L Orfe 1-2.
LAKERS AA — Brennan 0-0, Nikunen 0-3, Holden 0-2, Kallis 2-3, Schlegel 0-2, Cephers 0-0, Leonard 0-0, Morisaki 0-3, Skonard 0-1, Thatcher 1-2.
2B — Doumit, Kallis. 3B — Kallis. RBIs — Peterson, Kallis 5, Nikunen 3, Holden.
Second game
Patriots 000 00 - 0 3 4
Lakers AA 351 5x - 14 17 0
McCloy, Orfe (4) and Randall. Nikunen, Close (5) and Cephers.
PATRIOTS — Peterson 0-3, Doumit 1-2, McCloy 0-02, Orfe 0-0, Plummer 1-2, Schreoder 0-1, Bodey 0-2, Bell 0-1, Hathaway 1-2, Randall 0-2.
LAKERS AA — Brennan 3-4, Nikunen 2-3, Close 0-1, Holden 0-2, Morisaki 0-0, Kallis 1-2, Leonard 2-3, Schlegel 3-4, Drish 3-3, Cephers 0-2, Thatcher 2-3, Glanville 1-2.
2B — Schlegel. 3B — Schlegel. RBIs — Nikunen 2, Holden 2, Schlegel 2, Drish 2, Kallis, Leonard, Thatcher, Glanville.