A Lakers split pair with Cranbrook

The Cranbrook Bandits plated three runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take the lead and break open the game 9-5 before downing the Kalispell A Lakers 9-6 in the first game of the doubleheader. 

The Lakers took game two of the series, 15-9. 

In game one, the Lakers were down 2-0 after the top half of the first inning before Tait Orme doubled home a run and Miles Arrowsmith’s single drove home two to take a 3-2 lead. After the Bandits tied it up in the third inning, the Lakers took a 5-3 lead, capitalizing on a 2-run error. 

Hunter Willard hit a 2-run single in the fifth inning for the Bandits (12-14), before three Lakers errors in the sixth inning plated three more to build the lead 9-5. Jake Hale hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to trim the lead by one, but the errors proved costly. 

Beau McEwen took the bump for the Lakers (14-13), allowing three earned runs, five hits and striking out three across four innings. Liam Rech led the team with two hits. 

A huge second inning where they plated eight runs and added five more in the fifth inning was all the offense the A Lakers needed to take game two of the doubleheader. 

Beau Schultz set the tone at the leadoff spot, going 2-for-5 with three runs scored, three RBIs; two of them coming in the huge second inning. Dillon Wink also drove in three runs out of the cleanup spot, with a double and two runs scored. 

The 1-through-4 hitters did most of the damage for the Lakers. Including Shultz and Wink, they combined to go 8-for-19 with two doubles, eight runs scored, and eight RBIs. Rech and Orme each picked up two hits, with Rech scoring twice.  

The Bandits attempted to stage a comeback in the fifth inning where they plated five runs to tie the game at nine before the Lakers plated five runs of their own to retake the lead, highlighted by RBI singles from Schultz, Wink and Fischer Lee who finished with two runs scored out of the nine spot.