Lakers AA 3-0 at Sapa-Johnsrud; Twins A 0-3
WHITEFISH — It’s been a good American Legion baseball tournament, so far, for the Kalispell Lakers AA, but a rough one for the Glacier Twins A.
The Lakers improved to 3-0 at the 34th annual Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial Baseball Tournament on Friday by beating the Palouse Patriots AA 6-3 from Pullman, Washington, and the tournament host Twins 6-5. Both games were at Memorial Field.
Also Friday, it was Lethbridge Elks AA 8, Butte Miners AA 0.
Three games are scheduled today, starting with the Lakers and Butte at 2 p.m.
Lethbridge faces Palouse at 4:30 p.m. with the Twins meeting Butte at 7 p.m.
The two teams with the best records will play in the championship game on Sunday at noon.
Kalispell did all of its scoring in three innings — two in the first, fourth and sixth — to top the Twins.
Glacier led 3-2 after one inning and added a run in the fourth and fifth.
Eric Seaman doubled twice for Kalispell and drove in two runs.
Taylor Morton, 3 for 3, also had two RBIs.
Randy Stultz, 2 for 4, had the Lakers other double.
Five different players had one hit each for the Twins.
Logan Siblerud pitched the first four innings for the Lakers with Drew Scherrer finishing up to get the win.
“Our pitchers threw fairly well today,” Lakers coach Ryan Malmin said.
“Defensivley we struggled in Game 2 (Twins), but we found a way to grind it out. Eric Seaman came up big in that game.”
The Lakers had four errors against the Twins.
Earlier in the day, the Lakers did all of their scoring in two innings — two in the fourth and four in the fifth — against Palouse.
Johan Freudenburg picked up the win on the mound, going the final 3 1/3 innings. Dawson Smith went the first 3 2/3.
“Freudenburg also had a great day defensively (in right field),” Malmin said.
The Lakers did not have an error in that outing.
Stultz, 2 for 3, homered and drove in four runs.
The loss for the Twins was their third, and the second in a row by a single run. In the final game on opening day of the tournament on Thursday, Glacier nearly pulled it out thanks to a six-run fourth inning but came up short 9-8 against Lethbridge.
The Elks led 8-2 after three.
Lethbridge’s Nathan Reiter (3 2/3 innings) and Levi Abbott (1 1/3) held the Twins to two hits — a double by Ryan Veneman and a single by Quintin Schriver.
Veneman had two stolen bases along with Coby Clark-Dickenson.
Kalispell Lakers AA 200 202 0 — 6 9 4
Glacier Twins A 300 110 0 — 5 5 2
WP—Drew Scherrer; LP—Coby Clark-Dickenson.
KALISPELL LAKERS AA — Randy Stultz 2-4, Taylor Morton 3-3, Eric Seaman 2-4, Dawson Smith 0-2, AJ Jones 1-4, Johan Freudenburg 0-3, Jonathan Craver 1-4, Sam Elliott 0-2, Brandon Jordan 0-2.
GLACIER TWINS A — Ryan Veneman 1-4, Jack Schwaiger 1-4, Clark-Dickenson 1-4, Terek Bistodeau 0-2, Matt Morrison 0-0, Forrest Kobelt 1-2, Dan Seymour 0-2, Tom Hellwig 0-2, Caleb Meehan 1-3, Quintin Schriver 0-3, Billy Barret 0-0.
2B—Stultz, Seaman (2); RBIs—Stultz, Morton (2), Seaman (2), Jones; Clark-Dickenson, Kobelt, Seymour.
Palouse Patriots AA 101 100 0 — 3 9 5
Kalispell Lakers AA 000 240 x — 6 5 0
WP—John Freudenburg; LP—Parker Huber.
PALOUSE PATROITS AA — Kyle Appel 1-4, Konner Kinkade 0-3, Cal Gregory 1-4, Z. Wilson 2-4, Payton Kallahar 1-3, Huber 0-2, Reece Chadwick 0-2, Chase Hayton 3-3, Parris 1-3.
KALISELL LAKERS AA — Randy Stultz 2-3, Taylor Morton 1-4, Eric Seaman 0-1, Dawson Smith 0-2, AJ Jones 0-4, Logan Siblerud 0-2, Freudenburg 0-1, Sam Elliott 1-3, Jonathan Craver 1-3, Brandon Jordan 0-2.
2B—Wilson, Appel; HR—Stultz; RBIs—Appel, Wilson (2); Stultz (4), Jordan.
Late Thursday
Lethbridge Elks AA 305 10 — 9 11 4
Glacier Twins A 101 60 — 8 2 3
WP—Nathan Reiter; LP—Nathan Hader
LETHBRIDGE ELKS AA — Thomas Little 1-2, Torrin Vaselenak 1-2, Zach Trempner 1-2, No. 17 1-3, Liam Leech 2-3, Ty Penner 1-2, Wyatt Tomalty 0-1, No. 19 1-3, Blake Braun 1-2, Levi Abbott 0-1, No. 20 1-3, Reiter 1-2.
GLACIER TWINS A — Ryan Veneman 1-4, Jack Schwaiger 0-4, Coby Clark-Dickenson 0-0, Terek Bistodeau 0-2, Matt Morrison 0-0, Dan Seymour 0-2,, Trenton Tyree 0-0, Tom Hellwig 0-3, Caleb Meehan 0-3, Quintin Schriver 1-2, Billy Barret 0-0.
2B—No. 17, Leech, Little, Trempner; Veneman; RBIs—Vaselenak, Trempner (2), No. 17, Leech, No. 19, Penner; Veneman.
Thursday’s Other Score
Palouse Patriots 10, Butte Miners AA 6
John R. Harp Tournament
Kalispell Lakers A 14,
Vauxhall Spurs A 2
Ben Corriveau and Connor Drish both had two hits and drove in four runs to power the Lakers to a first-round victory at Griffin Field.
Corriveau and Nate Kelly doubled for Kalispell, which put the game away with an eight-run sixth inning.
Chad Queen also had two hits for Kalispell.
Corriveau, Thomas O’Connell, Kelly, Payton Davisson, Drish and Jack Corriveau all scored twice.
Ryan McDonald went the distance on the mound (six innings) to claim the win. He allowed six hits, walked three batters and fanned one.
The Mission Valley Mariners A crushed the Fort Macleod Royals A 20-1 in the other contest. Results from that game were not available.
Kalispell Lakers A 032 108 — 14 10 2
Vauxhall A 020 000 — 2 6 3
WP—Ryan McDonald; LP—Brady Howg.
KALISPELL LAKERS A — Ben Corriveau 2-4, Luke Halland 1-5, Thomas O’Connell 0-2, Nate Kelly 1-3, Payton Davisson 1-3, Chad Queen 2-4, Connor Drish 2-3, Grant Marsh 0-4, Jaydon Dillon 1-3, Jack Corriveau 0-0.
VAUXHALL A — Brant Mack 0-3, Carson Becker 1-2, Dax Wandler 2-3, Brett Gray 0-3, Hunter Johnson 0-3, Bryden Sillito 0-2, Jayder Bexte 1-3, Carson Troidi 2-3, Kole Fujita 0-1.
2B—B. Corriveau, Kelly; RBIs—B. Corriveau (4), O’Connell (2),Kelly, Davisson, Drish (4), Marsh, Dillon; Bexte.
Today’s Schedule
10 a.m. — Mission Valley Mariners A vs. Medicine Hat Knights A
12:30 p.m. — Vauxhall Spurs A vs. Fort Macleod Royals A
3 p.m. — Kalispell Lakers A vs. Mission Valley Mariners A
5:30 p.m. — Medicine Hat Knights A vs. Vauxhall Spurs A
8 p.m. — Kalispell Lakers A vs. Fort Macleod Royals A
Sunday’s Schedule
10 a.m. — Medicine Hat Knights A vs. Fort Macleod Royals A
12:30 p.m. — Vauxhall Spurs A vs. Mission Valley Mariners A
3 p.m. — Medicine Hat Knights A vs. Kalispell Lakers A