AA Lakers battle back, walk off Chargers

Oscar Kallis hit a walk-off single in the seventh as the Kalispell AA Lakers battled back from a five-run deficit to take a 6-5 win over the Great Falls Chargers Saturday at Griffin Field. 

Kallis lined a 3-0 pitch into left field sending Ostyn Brennan home as the Lakers (38-23, 9-15 in AA games) secured a critical sweep of the Chargers to close out the regular season. 

A pair of two-run singles from Noah Banderob and Jackson Maphries helped the Chargers (28-39-1, 6-18 in AA games) take a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning. 

Jackson Heino shut Great Falls down after that, allowing seven hits over five innings of work on the mound. He struck out four. 

Luke Nikunen picked up the win for the Lakers, finishing out the final two innings and allowing just one hit. He fanned one. 

Austin Armstrong started for the Chargers, going 5 1-3 innings and allowing five runs on six hits. He finished with five strikeouts. 

Duece Nichols took the loss, allowing one run on one hit. He fanned three.  

Nikunen got the Lakers on the board in the bottom of the first with an RBI groundout to make it 5-1. 

Great Falls errors contributed to the Kalispell comeback as Hunter Fann capitalized on one in the second. Kaden Drish and Trever Cockerill scored on fielding errors in the fourth to cut the lead to 5-4. 

Drish added an RBI single in the fifth inning, driving Brennan home to tie the game at five. 

Next up for the Lakers is the State AA Legion tournament in Helena, where Kalispell is the No. 7 seed. They will open the tournament Wednesday against the No. 2 seed Helena Senators. 

Great Falls    500    000    0    -    5    8    5 

Kalispell    110    210    1    -    6    7    2

Jackson Heino, Luke Nikunen and Ostyn Brennan. Austin Armstrong, Duece Nichols and Jace Komac. 

GREAT FALLS CHARGERS — Liam Sullivan 1-4, S Klinker 1-4, Carson Hollern 2-4, C Pace 1-4, Noah Banderob 1-3, Rowan Garten 0-2, Jackson Maphries 2-3, W Parsons 0-0, D Cook 0-2, Jaco Komac 1-2. 

KALISPELL AA LAKERS — Ostyn Brennan 2-3, Carter Schlegel 0-4, Luke Nikunen 0-3, Kaden Drish 1-3, Trever Cockerill 0-3, Oscar Kallis 1-4, Hunter Fann 2-3, Bryson Herion 1-2, Colin Leonard 0-3. 

2B — Fann, Sullivan. RBI — Banderob 2, Maphries 2. Nikunen, Drish, Kallis.