A Lakers 3-0 at Harp Memorial tourney
Two wins Saturday gave the Kalispell A Lakers a heck of a start to their John R Harp Memorial Legion baseball tournament, held at Griffin Field and Archie Roe.
On Friday the Lakers (28-21) beat the Cherokee Trail 16U out of Colorado 7-6; on Saturday they edged the Moscow (Idaho) Mojo 17U 9-8 in nine innings.
They then beat the Fort Macleod Royals 17-2 late Saturday, making them one of four 3-0 teams at the tournament. They’ll play another, the Calgary Cubs, at 12:30 p.m. Sunday on Griffin Field.
The other two unbeaten teams, the Prairie Cardinals and Tri-County Cardinals, will meet at 3 p.m. on the same field.
Lakers 9, Mojo 8
Liam Rech’s RBI single scored Wyatt Sharp with the winning run with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
A single, error and fielder’s choice gave Moscow an 8-7 lead in the top of the inning, before ghost runner Bransen Holzer scored the tying run on a wild pitch in the Lakers’ half of the frame. Sharp had bunted with Holzer on third, but was allowed to reach; he moved to third when the next two batters reached via hit by pitch and walk.
Tait Orme had two hits, including a double, and drove in three runs; Rech had a double among his three hits and drove in two.
Holzer and Cale Brink scored two runs each, and Brink got the win with four innings of relief. He allowed three hits, two walks and one run, striking out two.
Lakers 7, CT Navy 6 (Friday)
The Lakers didn’t need extra innings Friday, and Sharp’s RBI single pushed across the game-winning run — George Schwan, who’d singled — with nobody out in the seventh.
Schwan hit an RBI double and Bryce Quinnell followed with a two-run double in the Lakers’ four-run fifth inning. That put them up 6-4, but Cherokee Trail tied the game in the sixth thanks in part to an error and wild pitch.
Quinnell had two hits and drove in three runs; Tanner Vojta, who hit a triple against Moscow on Saturday, drew three walks and scored three times.
Lakers 17, Royals 2
Brink had three hits, including two doubles, and scored four times as the Lakers took care of business in four innings. The game ended then under the mercy rule.
Brady Buckmaster had three hits, including a double, scored three times and drove in two runs for the Lakers. Quinnell and Holzer had three hits each: Holzer had a two-run double and finished with three RBIs; Quinnell scored twice and drove in a run.
Dillon Wink had two hits and an RBI and finally, Rech had four RBIs, including a three-run double that put the Lakers up 15-2 in the fourth inning. Two batters later Rech scored the game-ending run.
Max Schara threw all four innings on the hill, allowing three hits, five walks and one earned run. He struck out three.
John R Harp Memorial
Friday’s Scores
Mission Valley Mariners 8, Badrock 2
Prairie Cardinals 11, Lakers Red 2
Tri County Cardinals 10, Badrock 9
Calgary Cubs 12, Moscow Mojo 7
Tri-County Cardinals 10, Fort MacLeod Royals 2
Kalispell Lakers A 7, Cherokee Trail Navy 6
Saturday’s Scores
Prairie Cardinals 12, Mission Valley Mariners 3
Badrock Baseball 10, Moscow Mojo 4
Calgary Cubs 15, Lakers Red 4
Kalispell A Lakers 9, Moscow Mojo 8
Prairie Cardinals 12, Fort MacLeod 4
Tri-County Cardinals 14, Lakers Red 0
Calgary Cubs 9, Cherokee Trail Navy 3
Kalispell A Lakers 17, Fort MacLeod 2
Sunday’s Games
Lakers Red vs. Fort MacLeod, 10 a.m.
Cherokee Trail vs. Moscow, 10 a.m.
Mission Valley vs. Badrock, 12:30 p.m.
Kalispell A Lakers vs. Calgary, 12:30 p.m.
Prairie vs. Tri-County, 3 p.m.