Mariners go 3-0 over the weekend

The weather was soggy but spirits were high as the Mission Valley Mariners won all three games last weekend, picking up two wins over Bitterroot and one over the Loggers.

The Mission Valley Mariners traveled to Florence Saturday afternoon with a shortened roster due to graduation weekend. The Mariners were missing players Terry Lundeen, Mac Gordon, Robert Wallace, Shane Perry, and Joe Locke —all graduating — and also Eric Locke and Will Gordon due to graduation obligations.

But the rest of the team showed up ready to play.

"The young bucks came to play," said head coach Jami Hanson.

The Mariners swept the two games on Saturday, highlighted by a seventh-inning home run by Brandon Thompson—the first of three for "Moose" on the weekend.

On Sunday the Libby Loggers came to town for what was supposed to be a double header but was shortened to one game due to rain. Game one saw a good pitching performance from Tyler Trudeau, who was backed up by good defense.

"We were defensively sound. You do that and you should be able to win," said Hanson.

The Mariners struck first when Thompson blasted an opposite-field, two-run homer in the first. The Mariners unloaded again in the fourth when Steve Larson ripped an RBI double. Max Willet had two runners on and cleared the bases with a two-RBI single. The inning still wasn't done when Willet was standing on third and Chris Brown hit a sacrifice fly to bring him in for another run.

The fifth inning saw the bats still flowing as Terry Lundeen ripped a two-RBI double to right center field. Up to the plate came Thompson, who drilled home run number two for the day over the left field fence.

"Thompson had three home runs in five at-bats. That was a big help this weekend," said Hanson.

The Mariners closed out the game due to the 10-run rule when Larson singled to left. Willet came up with another RBI chance and came through with a single to center, scoring Larson. Brown came to the plate with the chance to end the game when he hit a rope to right center that got to the fence. Willet chugged all the way from first base to score the final run, making the score 15-5.

The Mariners head to Canada this weekend for the Lethbridge Minor Tournament. The tourney starts Friday night and ends Sunday afternoon. Then they come home and play a nine-inning game on Tuesday, taking on the Missoula Mavs. Game time is 4 p.m.