Mariners split two doubleheaders

MISSOULA — The Mission Valley Mariners had their plates full this past week with two double headers against Class A Bitterroot and AA Kalispell and one more game against the AA Missoula Mavericks.

The Mariners started by splitting close games with the Bitterroot Red Sox.

In the first game, short stop Tim Rausch started a trend that would continue the rest of the weekend - whacking the snot out of the baseball.

He went 2-4 with a 3-run homer and double to help his team get the 10-9 win.

“Tim’s just on fire right now,” Mariners coach Jami Hanson said, adding that Rausch hit a homer in three of the week’s games.

But his early hitting didn’t end things. It was Xavier Morigeau who gave the team the 10-9 lead in the top of the seventh with a solo home run.

Finishing things off from the mound was Josh Rustad. Rustad pitched the final two innings and sealed the deal for the Pirates, receiving credit for the exciting win.

In the next game, the Mariners lost 6-2. Justin Evans pitched the loss for the Mariners.

Hanson said the doubleheader was a confidence booster for his team, since Bitterroot had a 15-1 record and a reputation as one of the best teams in the league.

“It was good to see that the kids stuck in it,” he said.

Kalispell was another good team to do battle with and this time the Mariners had homefield advantage.

“They’ve got a good pitching staff this year and that will carry you quite a ways,” Hanson said of the AA foe.

In the first game, the Mariners took an early lead with a couple of doubles from Kaileb Gillingham and Rausch and a final RBI single from Matt Detwiler. 

Kalispell scored eight runs early, seven of them in the second inning.

“The wheels fell off and I’m not talking just a car. We’re talking an 18-wheeler,” Hanson explained. 

Rausch homered in the third to bring his team back into it, but Kalispell ended up taking the game 14-6.  

The Mariners rallied to win the second game 15-9.

Detwiler went 3-4 with a three-run dinger and Rausch added a home run to boot.

Hanson said Detwiler has come on early this season.

“He’s been swinging the bat pretty well,” he said.

Kyle Bagnell’s two-RBI double in the fourth helped keep an early lead for the Mariners and they added a few more for the lopsided win.

The Mariners played six good innings with the Mavericks after a rough start when Missoula jumped to 10-point lead in the first two innings.

“We get rid of the first two innings and we’re right in the ball game,” Hanson said.

The Mavericks won the game 15-5.

The Mariners put together a string of hits in the seventh for five runs.

Rausch, Tyler Linse, Derrick Rathe and Cole McCarthur were all big contributors in that stanza.

Rathe went 2-for-4 and Linse went 2-for-3 to lead their team.

The Mariners host the Mariner Baseball Camp for kids ages 7-16 and a free coaches clinic from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday then host the Libby Loggers for a double header at 1 p.m. The team also plays at 1 p.m. in Salmon for the first conference games of the season.