Keeping Score: All-American honors, Shrine game heroes, and big weeks on the diamond

Welcome back everybody to another episode of the Keeping Score podcast presented by Corwin Motors, this week we have updates on a Flathead Braves athlete that continues to set milestones, getting you up to speed on American Legion baseball and the West vs East football shrine game so without further ado, let’s get into some highlights you might have missed.  

William Hollensteiner was named an All-American after finishing in sixth place in the boys 400 meters at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Oregon. Coming off a record-setting performance at the State AA meet in Kalispell in late May, Hollensteiner ran in the sixth of seven heats at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. He won the heat in 47.30 seconds and ended up behind five athletes from the seventh and final heat.   

William followed up his All-America showing on Saturday with a victory at the Nike Outdoor Nationals on Sunday, in the Emerging Elite 400-meter hurdles, finishing the race in 52.12 seconds — nearly two seconds ahead of second place Jaydan Martinez out of Colorado. The Emerging Elite distinction implies a slower field than the Championship final, which ran right after which Hollensteiner’s time would have placed seventh in that race as well.  

Whitefish’s Simon Douglas placed 73rd in the Emerging Elite 1-mile, in 4 minutes, 28.99 seconds. There were 88 competitors; the winning time was 4:12.47.   

Douglas ran a personal record 1:54.39 while finishing 14th in Saturday’s Emerging Elite 800. Glacier’s Owen Thiel won the first heat of the Championship 1-mile Sunday, finishing in 4:11.32. He was 11th after one lap, seventh after two and then took the lead on lap three. Thiel ended up 18th overall. 

Switching over to baseball, the Kalispell AA Lakers beat the Kootenai Valley Rangers 13-0 before dropping back-to-back games against the Missoula Mavericks, 6-5 and 9-1. 

Jackson Heino drove in two runs as the Lakers scored early and often in a 13-0 victory over the Rangers. After opening the frame with a double, Cale Brink scored on an error to make it 2-0. Heino made it 4-0 with a two-run single to left that brought in Kyler Croft and Andre Cephers. An Ostyn Brennan single and a fielder’s choice capped off the five-run frame for Kalispell. 

Rylan Davis singled in the bottom of the eighth of game one to help the Mavericks sweep the Lakers. Davis’s walk-off winner came after the Lakers pulled back a 5-0 deficit in the fifth inning. 

Ostyn Brennan got the Lakers (23-13) on the board in the fifth with an RBI single to right that scored Bryce Buckmaster. Later in the inning, Luke Nikunen made it a 5-3 game with a single to center, scoring Hunter Fann and Brennan. The Lakers then tied it on an Oscar Kallis single that brough home Nikunen and Carter Schlegel. 

In game two, Davis singled in the second inning to put the Mavericks up 2-0, bringing in Fairchild. Easton Reimers busted the game open with a fourth inning triple that drove home three. Reimers finished with four RBIs in the game. Nikunen scored the lone run for the Lakers, coming home on an error. The Lakers still have a great record on the season, sitting at 23-13.  

Liam Rech tripled twice and drove in two runs against the Renton Rebels as the Kalispell A Lakers split a pair of games at the Palouse Summer Series Friday. In the first game Kalispell took a 6-2 decision over Renton, while in game two the Lakers fell Merchants Baseball 3-2. 

Rech’s first triple came in his first at-bat, driving in Beau Schultz and giving Kalispell a 1-0 lead. His second made it a 3-1 game in the top of the third as Schultz came home again. Next batter, Dillon Wink brought Rech home with a single to grow the advantage to 4-1. Max Schara went the distance on the mound, striking out four and allowing six hits. 

In game two, Wyatt Sharp got the Lakers on the board in the bottom of the first to tie the game at one. After Merchants took the lead 2-1, George Schwan tied the game again with an RBI single in the sixth. Merchants had just enough offense though as they added another run in the seventh and the Lakers left a runner stranded on first to end the game. The Lakers now sit at 23-20.  

The Libby Loggers picked up a pair of wins over the Glacier Twins, 9-4 and 6-2. After the game was tied at 4, the Loggers plated four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and added another in the sixth to extend their lead to 9-4. 

Aidan Rose and Bransen Holzer each collected two hits and drove in a run while Boe Miles scored three times.  

Nolan Amerman led the Twins with two hits and two runs scored, West Amerman drove in two. 

In their second game, Holzer was lights out on the mound, pitching a complete game allowing one earned run and fanning four. Miles collected two more hits, and Elijah Foulke had a multi-hit game with an RBI. Nolan Amerman led all hitters with three hits. 

The wins brought the Loggers record to 12-20 and dropped the Twins to 2-16.  

Moving on to football, Merek Mihelish hit Helena Capital teammate Dylan Almquist with a 26-yard touchdown pass late in the first half, Florence’s Mason Arlington made a goal-line interception late and the West defeated the East 14-7 in the 78th East-West Shrine Game. 

It was the West’s fifth straight win in the series, which raises money for the Spokane Shriner’s Hospital.    

The West team was stocked with area athletes: running back Kobe Dorcheus, safety Carson Baker, receiver Bridger Smith and tackle Ben Winters from Glacier; defensive end Scotty Dalen and safety Carson Gulick of Whitefish and guard Lane Voermans of Columbia Falls. 

That is going to wrap up this week’s episode of the Keeping Score podcast presented by Corwin Motors. Thank you to all who tuned in, and we will see you all on our next episode. Until then, take care.

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