Legion Baseball Mission Valley advances to West A District title game

LIBBY — Gabe Mergenthaler tossed a 2-hitter, Trevor Lake, 2 for 3, drove in four runs and Eric Dolence, 1 for 3, drove in three for the Mission Valley Mariners in an 11-0 victory over top seed Bitterroot Red Sox on Saturday at the West A District American Legion baseball tournament at Lee Gehring Field.

Mission Valley and Bitterroot were the only two unbeaten teams after two days of play.

Mergenthaler was brilliant on the mound. He allowed two singles and struck out two. He threw 76 pitches of which 51 were strikes.

Bitterroot, on the other hand, used four pitchers.

Espn Fisher was the other leading hitter for Mission Valley. He was 2 for 2 with one RBI. He scored three times.

Dolence and Lake both doubled.

Mission Valley, the sixth seed, tallied seven runs in the third inning to take a commanding 9-0 lead. The Mariners added two more runs in the sixth.

Bitterroot had lost just four times in league play during the regular season.

Mission Valley, which was 7-13 in league action, has won three district games to improve to 24-19 overall.

The Mariners advance to today’s championship game at 1 p.m.

The West A District winner advances to the state tournament in Florence, hosted by the Bitterroot Bucs, July 27-31.

The Bitterroot Red Sox (36-10) are still alive in the double-elimination tournament with a loser-out game today at 10 a.m. versus the Glacier Twins.

Mission Valley Mariners 027 002 — 11 7 0

Bitterroot Red Sox 000 000 — 0 2 0

WP—Gabe Mergenthaler; LP—Nick Draper.

MISSION VALLEY — Izyk Gillingham 0-3, Mergenthaler 1-4, Eric Dolence 1-3, Corbin Davis 0-2, Keyan Dalbey 0-3, Espn Fisher 2-3, Dawson Dumont 1-3, Trevor Lake 2-3, James Bennett 0-3.

BITTERROOT — Tyler Davis 0-3, Dillon Pilkerton 0-3, Tucker Jones 1-2, Mitchell Spinetta 0-3, Draper 0-2, Tyson Rostad 0-2, Bridon Bowman 0-1, Bridger Huxtable 0-2, Tristan Lewis 1-2.

2B—Dolence, Lake; RBIs—Gillingham, Dolence (3), Fisher, Dumont, Lake (4), Bennett.

Loser Out

Twins 4, Loggers 1

LIBBY — Corbin Hurst tossed a 2-hitter and Coby Clark-Dickinson, 2 for 2, homered and drove in two runs as the Glacier Twins eliminated the Libby Loggers.

Glacier had a pair of two-run innings, first and sixth, while Libby punched in a run in the second inning.

Libby loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the seventh, but failed to score.

Jack Schwaiger, 2 for 4, and Jay Tyree, 2 for 3, were Glacier’s other top hitters. Schwaiger drove in one run.

Hurst pitched 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked three batters.

Zach Veneman earned the save.

Glacier moves on to play the Bitterroot Red Sox today at 10 a.m. That winner advances to the title game against unbeaten Mission Valley at 1 p.m.

Libby Loggers 010 000 0 — 1 2 1

Glacier Twins 200 002 x — 4 8 1

WP—Corbin Hurst; LP—Shayne Walker.

LIBBY — Tripp Zhang 0-2, Quade Anderson 0-2, Walker 0-3, Caden Williams 1-3, Aydan Williamson 1-3, Jeff Offenbecher 0-2, Tucker Masters 0-2, Moxley Roesler-Bagalke 0-3, Alex Svendsbye 0-2.

GLACIER — Jack Schwaiger 2-4, Zach Veneman 1-4, Coby Clark-Dickinson 2-4, Austyn Andrachick 0-3, Stevyn Andrachick 0-1, Forrest Kobelt 0-3, Nathan Hader 1-3, Jay Tyree 2-3, Jack Price 0-2.

HR—Clark-Dickinson; RBIs — Schwaiger, Clark-Dickinson (2), Price.

Twins 6, Bandits 3

LIBBY — Chad Queen pitched the final six innings and Schwaiger, 2 for 3, doubled and drove in two runs to push the second seeded Glacier Twins past the Cranbrook Bandits.

Clark-Dickinson, 2 for 2, doubled twice and drove in a run.

Glacier jumped in front 5-1 after two innings.

Clark-Dickinson was on the mound for the first inning with Queen going the final six, striking out four, walking three and allowing seven hits to get the win.

Cameron Reid and Greg Rebagliati were both 2 for 3 for Cranbrook.

Cranbrook Bandits 100 011 0 — 3 8 3

Glacier Twins 230 100 x — 6 7 2

WP—Chad Queen; LP—Greg Rebagliati.

CRANBROOK — Cameron Reid 2-3, Quinn Grist 1-4, Parker Thomson 0-3, Rebgliati 2-3, Carter Marlow 2-4, Carson Meggison 0-3, Ryley Ducharme 1-3, Allison Schroder 0-1, Hayden Mastel 0-0, Carter White 0-3.

GLACIER — Jack Schwaiger 2-3, Zach Veneman 0-3, Coby Clark-Dickinson 2-2, Austyn Andrachick 0-2, Stevyn Andrachick 0-2, Forrest Kobelt 1-3, Nathan hader 1-3, Queen 0-2, Jack Price 1-3.

2B—Ducharme; Schwaiger, Clark-Dickinson (2); RBIs—Reid, Rebagliati, Marlow; Schwaiger (2), Clark-Dickinson (2), Kobelt, Hader, Price.

Loggers 6, Mavericks 3

LIBBY — Quade Anderson went six innings to get the win and Shayne Walker, 1 for 3, doubled and drove in three runs to help the Libby Loggers knock off the Missoula Mavericks.

Anderson struck out three, walked one and allowed seven hits. Jeff Offenbecher pitched the final inning.

Libby, trailing 3-2 after five innings, scored four in the bottom of the sixth to win it.

Ian Finch, 2 for 3, was the leading hitter for Missoula. He also had the team’s lone extra-base hit, a double.

Missoula Mavericks 100 020 0 — 3 8 1

Libby Loggers 200 004 x — 6 5 2

WP—Quad Anderson; LP—Charles Kirgan.

MISSOULA — Adam Jones 1-3, Skye Palmer 1-4, Charles Kirgan 1-2, Connor Jordan 0-4, Ian Finch 2-3, Marcus Stobb 1-4, Turner McCullough 1-3, Cooper Elliott 0-3, Henry Gibbs 1-3.

LIBBY — Tripp Zhang 1-2, Anderson 0-2, Shayne Walker 1-3, Caden Williams 0-3, Jeff Offenbecher 1-4, Donovan Fornall 0-2, Aydan Williamson 0-0, Tucker Masters 0-0, Moxley Roesler-Bagalke 1-3, Trey Thompson 1-2, Alex Svensbye 0-2.

2B—Finch; Walker; RBIs—Jordan, Finch, Stobb; Anderson, Walker (3),Williams, Offenbecher.