Mariners go 3-2 at Dillon tourney

The Mission Valley Mariners played better than .500 ball at the Dillon tourney last week, going 3-2 behind home runs from Brandon Thompson, Tyler Trudeau and John Rausch, with Rausch and Thompson getting two each.

The team started off a little rough, though, losing to an Idaho club in the first game, 6-4. The team issued 12 walks, which ended up being their undoing.

But the team rallied late in the game, after Brandon Thompson hit a 2-run homer, followed by Trudeau and Rausch, with solo shots.

"John swung the bat really well that weekend," said head coach Jami Hanson.

From there, the team faced the Missoula Mavs, and beat them 7-4. Starter Tim Rausch took the mound and pitched well, Hanson said.

"Our bats weren't really productive that game, but we did enough to win the game," he said.

On Friday, the team played the Dillon Cubs, and 10-runned them, 11-1, behind a solid pitching performance from Trudeau, who gave up only one walk in the complete-game performance.

"He gave up only one walk, and that was with two outs, and we got out of the inning. When you string walks together, that's what hurts us, but Tyler did a great job out there," Hanson said.

The team was a little shorthanded Saturday, with some players participating in a football camp, and the Mariners ended up losing 11-9 to Billings. They started out in a hole, but in true Mariners fashion, managed to crawl their way back.

"It took us a while to get going, but it was a little too late," Hanson said.

He said there was a tough call on a play at the plate that stopped their momentum, but the team didn't have anyone to blame but themselves for digging themselves into such a big hole, he noted.

"We had eight errors that game," he said. "But the kids battled back. They still had heart."

Sunday, they faced Belgrade, which Hanson called a "classy baseball program."

Brandon Roy threw 6 2/3 innings, and did really well on the mound, but the team found themselves in a 6-0 hole. The team was down but not out.

"I was turned around, talking to someone, and all the sudden John [Rausch] hits his second home run of the weekend," Hanson said.

Then with two runners on, Thompson hits another home run, making it 6-4. Back-to-back hits by Tim Gauthier and Erick Locke made it 6-5, and the teams swapped runs until it was tied 9-9 in the 7th inning.

Rausch then doubled with Gauthier on second as a pinch runner, scoring the winning run for the team.

"John had a great weekend at the plate," Hanson said. "Good things will happen when you are playing good."

The Mariners travelled to Whitefish for another tourney hosted by the Glacier Twins, which started Wednesday (yesterday). The team faced Kootenai Valley at 11:45 a.m., and then will play the Twins at 1 p.m. in Columbia Falls on Thursday.

On Friday, the Mariners will play against Havre at 9 a.m. in Whitefish, and then will play a Spokane team at 11:45 a.m., again in Whitefish.

Saturday's play will be determined by the prior four days of action, with pool championship games starting at 9 a.m. and going every 2:45 minutes, all day.

"We'd better be playing at 8 p.m. Saturday," Hanson said of the tourney championship.

Next week, the Mariners will kick off their annual Firecracker tourney, which will start on Friday, June 30. A finalized schedule has not been completed, as the Mariners get a finalized list of teams, so check next week's Leader for Mariner game times.

The tourney typically draws teams from all over the western part of the state and the Northwest, and will go through Monday, July 3.