Mariners sweep Kalispell, go 2-2 in Florence tourney

Zach Urness

Leader Staff

The Mission Valley Mariners' winning streak reached 10 games this weekend with dominating doubleheader wins over Kalispell A, but ended with a loss to Dillon in the first round of a forgettable tournament performance in Florence.

"We played very well against Kalispell," said head coach Jami Hanson, "but we kind of fell apart in Florence this weekend."

Of course, "fell apart," is a relative team as the Mariners did earn two wins in four games and moved to 17-5 overall on the season.

Mariners 11, Kalispell 2

The Moose got loose early in the first game as Brandon Thompson smacked a double to the fence that scored three during a five-run second inning. The M's added six runs in the third and fourth innings thanks to RBIs from John Rausch, Tim Rausch and Cubby Pierre, who went 2-for-4 for the game to continue his hot hitting. Poor defense from Kalispell also benefited Mission Valley, who had four unearned runs gift-wrapped for them in the first game.

Eric Locke continued to pitch well, tossing four innings before handing the ball to Spencer Trawick in the fifth. Trawick picked up his first win of the season with three shut out innings and gave up just one hit.

Tim Rausch and Cubby Pierre led the aggressive Mariner attack on the base paths, each stealing two bases to highlight a game in which the M's swiped six bases.

"We're an agressive team and that's the way we want to play," commented Hanson. "We want to bring the game to the other team and force them to make mistakes."

Mariners 18, Kalispell 7

The second game of the doubleheader stayed close until Mission Valley had back-to-back "Mariner" innings, as Hanson calls them, scoring 12 runs between the fifth and sixth to enact the mercy rule and take a emphatic victory.

Tyler Linse and Chris Alfiero got things started in the fifth, each smacking a two-run base hit to give the M's a 11-4 lead. The pair, who bat 7 and 8 in the lineup, combined for three hits and five RBIs in the game.

The barrage of runs got even worse for Kalispell in the sixth inning as the M's sent 12 batters to the plate to tally seven runs and take an 18-4 lead. John Rausch was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs. Eric Locke had two RBIs on one hit and Will Gordon and Joe McCarthy each went 2-or-3 with one RBI a piece.

The Mariners scored in every inning except the third and outhit Kalispell 18 to 7 while stealing three bases. Cubby Pierre started the game on the mound and pitched four innings, giving up four hits while striking out seven. Kyle Bagnell took over in the fifth inning and gave up three runs in two innings, but earned his first victory of the season.

Rasmussen Classic

FLORENCE — The red-hot M's finally found out what it is like to struggle this weekend, as they went 2-2 for they tourney.

"Overall it was a rough weekend," said Hanson. "Things just didn't go that well. Our pitchers were throwing balls and that makes it tough to win."

While the Mariners did have a tough tournament, it was by no means a failure, and was highlighted by Eric Locke, who won offensive MVP honors with a 8-for-12, eight RBI performance.

"We saw some things we liked and some things we didn't like," said Hanson. "We had some of our youngsters swing the stick and we showed some character battling back even when we were down."

Mariners 7, Dillon 13

Mission Valley put themselves in a hole right away in the first game of the tournament on Friday. The usually steady Craig Bagnell gave up seven runs in the first inning. The Mariners rallied back for five runs in the first and second innings and stayed within striking distance until the bottom of the sixth, when Dillon scored five runs to put the game away.

Locke led the M's on offense, collecting two doubles and two RBIs.

"They are a solid squad," said Hanson of Dillon. "If you make mistakes they're going to make you pay for it."

Mariners 16, Lewistown 11

The Mariners came back on Saturday and got the best of Lewistown in an offensive extravaganza. The M's grabbed an early lead but Lewistown continued to rally until Mission Valley put them away in the late innings.

"We were a little wild on the mound and had a lot of errors," said Hanson, "but we did get the win."

Mariners 2, Havre 6

The M's lost the second game of the tournament in their first game on Sunday. In an unusual display of offensive ineptitude Mission Valley was held to four hits and two runs by Havre's Sean Peterson, who pitched the whole game for the North Stars.

The only runs for the Mariners came in the third and seventh innings. "Our bats just were not there," said Hanson. "We also had some base-running errors that hurt us."

Eric Locke started the game and gave up five runs through five innings. Brandon Roy took over on the mound in the fifth inning and allowed one run in two innings, but the lack of offense gave the Mariners their fifth loss of the season.

Mariners 12, Bozeman 11

Mission Valley once again put themselves in a hole, giving up six runs in the first inning. In typical Mariner fashion, however, they rallied for six runs over the second and third innings to square the game at 6-6. Both teams continued to score over the final three innings, but the M's scored five runs in the fifth and sixth innings, and that ended up being the difference. The Mariners also out hit Bozeman 11-10.

"It was good to see us come back against Bozeman," noted Hanson.

The Mariners were in action against Kootanai Valley on Tuesday, June 12 as the Leader went to press.

They will be in Dillon's Maybelle Tournament beginning today (June 14-17) and will finish off the week at Deer Lodge on Monday. However, their next home game isn't until June 25, when they host Salmon.