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News you can use
Seamus Sullivan of the Great Falls Chargers fields a fly ball against the Mission Valley Mariners at Legion Field Thurday. The game between the Chargers and Mariners was one of four games Thursday to open the State A tournament.
While many local baseball fans gathered at Legion Field Thursday to watch the Havre Northstars American Legion baseball club play in the State A tournament, there were several other games throughout the day. These games saw the best teams, too, in the state compete for a win to start the State A tournament and to avoid the loser's bracket early.
The tournament started Thursday morning with a matchup between the East District champions Glendive Blue Devils and the South District runner-ups Gallatin Valley Outlaws. While the Devils had been playing hot to secure a spot in the tournament, the Outlaws cooled them down to win 8-2.
The Outlaws took the lead in the top of the second inning with a walk with the bases loaded. Logan Vasarella then grounded out into a fielder's choice to get another runner home to make their lead 2-0.
Gallatin Valley took firm control of the game in the top of the fifth with four more runs. Brody Ayers got the scoring going with an RBI single. Bo Hays followed him up with a single of his own to get two more runners home. The Outlaws then made the score 6-0 with a Glendive error.
The Outlaws scored another pair of runs in the top of the seventh to make their lead 8-0. Glendive attempted a late rally with two runs in the bottom of the seventh but they could not make it a game before the final out. Gallatin Valley will next play today at 4 p.m. against the Mission Valley Mariners. Glendive played in an elimination game this morning against the Great Falls Chargers.
Thursday afternoon started with a matchup between the South District champions Belgrade Bandits and the East District runner-ups Laurel Dodgers. Belgrade came out of the game hot as they took a 4-0 lead halfway through the game. However, Laurel pulled it together and scored six straight runs to win it 6-4.
The Bandits took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI triple from Brody Jacksha. In the bottom of the third, Keaton Carter extended their lead to 2-0 when he scored on a sacrifice bunt from Coby Richards. Belgrade's lead expanded to 4-0 when Mason Jacobson and Aidan Kulbeck scored on the same error in the bottom of the fourth.
The Dodgers' comeback started in the top of the fifth when Richie Cortese hit a triple that got two runners home to cut their deficit in half. In the top of the sixth, the Bandits scored on a wild pitch and a passed ball to tie the game. Laurel then took the lead thanks to another wild pitch and an RBI single from Ian Bauer pushed their lead to 6-4. Laurel held on to win the game to earn the chance to play the Glacier Twins tonight at 7 p.m. Belgrade played in an elimination game against the Havre Northstars this afternoon.
Later Thursday afternoon, the North District champions Great Falls Chargers and West District runner-ups Mission Valley Mariners competed against one another. Even though the Chargers had been playing their best baseball this season to qualify for the state tournament, Mission Valley jumped on them early to win 11-2.
The Mariners took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Xavier Fisher scored on a sacrifice fly. They then got the bats going in the top of the third to take a 3-0 lead. With the bases loaded Dawson DuMont took advantage with a triple to clear the bases. Eric Dolence then got another runner home with an RBI single to make the score 5-0.
Mission Valley's offense remained consistent throughout the game as they scored six runs across the last four innings. Great Falls managed to score a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth but that was all they could muster. Mission Valley will next play tonight at 4 p.m. against the Gallatin Valley Outlaws and Great Falls played in an elimination game this morning against Glendive.
Gallatin Valley 8, Glendive 2
GVO 0 2 0 0 4 0 2 - 8 9 1
GLE 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 2 4 2
Gallatin Valley Batting - Brady Jones 1-4, Trevor Doud 1-4, Issac Richardson 1-3, Cyrus Richardson 1-3, Brody Ayers 2-3, Bo Hays 2-3, Josh Wisecarver 0-4, Patrick Dietz 1-3, Logan Vasarella 0-4.
Glendive Batting - Austin Berry 0-3, Casey Rounseville 1-4, Matt Dufner 0-4, Rhett Hoffer 0-3, Riley Basta 2-2, Parker Buckley 0-3, Brodie Echert 0-2, Axton Franks 1-2, Tegan Wahl 0-2.
Laurel 6, Belgrade 4
LAU 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 - 6 6 3
BEL 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 - 4 8 3
Laurel Batting - Jaxton Wittmayer 1-3, Evan Caton 0-2, Richie Cortese 1-3, Ian Bauer 1-4, Braeden Foos 0-3, Ricky Temporal 1-3, Reece Dolechek 0-3, JD Ketterling 1-4, Maverick Hoppman 1-4.
Belgrade Batting - Lane Neil 2-4, Keaton Carter 1-4, Kash Fike 0-4, Coby Richards 0-1, Connor Reid 0-3, Cooper Vanluchene 0-1, Payton Burman 0-3, Gavin Waters 0-1, Aidan Kulbeck 2-3, Brody Jacksha 2-2, Mason Jacobson 1-1.
Mission Valley 11, Great Falls 2
MV 1 0 4 2 0 1 3 - 11 8 1
GF 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 - 2 3 1
Mission Valley Batting - Xavier Fisher 1-3, Alex Muzquiz 0-1, Dawson DuMont 1-2, Espn Fisher 1-3, Eric Dolence 1-3, Dylan Davis 1-4, James Bennett 1-2, Darian Williams 0-2, Daniel Kelsch 2-4, Etan McCauley 0-2, Bryson Fisher 0-2.
Great Falls Batting - Seamus Sullivan 0-3, Austin Armstrong 1-3, Mason Davis 0-3, Joshua Stimac 0-2, Lane Seim 0-2, Scotty Klinker 1-3, AJ Sloan 0-2, Logan Sloan 0-3, Ian Anderson 1-2.
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