Mariners B down defending state champions

Chris Drebes draws game-winning walk to down Pioneers

POLSON - It was one of those games with plenty of tense, emotion-filled moments that had both sides of the diamonds cheering and groaning at every pitch. The Mission Valley fans did just a little more cheering.

Chris Drebes drew a walk with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Mariners B team a walk-off 5-4 win against the defending Senior Babe Ruth state champion Missoula Pioneers.

"That was probably the high point of the season," Mariners B manager Chris Brown said. "The Pioneers are a very talented baseball team."

Drebes was the one who brought home Davin "The Pride of St. Ignatius" Sorrell, but it was Nick Crawford who kept the Pioneers at bay for most of the game.

"He pitched an absolutely phenomenal game," Brown said. "He battled through a couple defensive issues. That's probably the best B team performance I've seen thrown in the three years coaching the team."

Crawford flustered the Pioneers' loaded lineup and went the complete game with a gutsy, gritty performance worthy of a big league pitcher.

"It felt like I was throwing hard," Crawford said.

Crawford went eight innings and struck out seven. He had a no-hitter going through four innings and a shutout through five.

"It felt fine during the game, it wasn't sore at all," Crawford said. "But afterwards my arm was pretty stiff."

Mission Valley, meanwhile, took the 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Bradley Pichler reached on an error and was able to drive home Zeke Webster-Yaqui.

The Missoula Pioneers would strike in the top of the sixth with three runs off a single and a passed ball. However, the Mariners answered right back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. Alex Killian drove in a run with a single, Kellen Hoyt plated one off an error and Drebes had an RBI thanks to a fielder's choice.

That put the Mariners up 4-3, but a balk in the top of the seventh tied things up and a quick three-up, three-down by Mission Valley took it into extra innings.

The M's walk in the bottom of the eighth ended it and gave them a win in their second game of the Firecracker tournament.

"You don't necessarily plan to win with a walk, but if they're going to give you it with the bases loaded, you're going to take it," Brown said. "That shows a lot of discipline by Chris to take the walk on a full count."

They outhit the Pioneers 9-4 in the game while both teams committed two errors.

Crawford was very appreciative of the support for pitching coaches Eric Locke and Kyle Bagnell after the game. Overall the signature win for the Mariners B team showed what a season worth of learning can do for a young team.

"They made some great improvements through the season," Brown said. "We played really good baseball this weekend."

They were the only B team in the tournament, going up against A teams with older kids and more experience. However, that didn't deter the Mariners at all.

They played the Class A Kalispell Lakers in their tournament opener and only fell 8-7 on Thursday. On Friday was their win over the Pioneers, and on Saturday Mission Valley faced the Glacier Twins.

The Twins won 11-3, but the majority of their scoring was in the first inning when they made a five-run rally. On Sunday, the Mariners fell to Deer Lodge 7-5 in a close game where Zeke-Webster Yaqui capped off the Firecracker Tournament with an impressive 17-for-19 batting performance on the weekend.

"Glacier is a good team and the Wranglers finished third in the tournament, so it was good to see how we played," Brown said.

Four of the Mission Valley B team players already suited up for both the A and B teams. Bradley Pichler, Thomas Wallace,

Davin Sorrell and Kellen Hoyt will continue to play for the A team this season.

Mike Bournstein and David Cleveland will move up to the A team after the coaching staff made the decision based on their work ethic and attitude.

MVB 5, MISSOULA 4

P - 000 - 003 - 10 - 4

M - 100 - 003 - 01 - 5

Missoula - 4 hits, 2 errors. MV - 7 hits, 6 errors

Mariners batting - Mike Bournstein 0-4, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 2-4, Bradley Pichler 1-3, Thomas Wallace 2-2, Davin Sorrell 1-3, Alex Killian 2-4, Kellen Hoyt 0-2, Chris Drebes 1-3, David Cleveland 0-3, Jarod Young 0-1.

RBIs - Pichler, Killian, Drebes.

M Pitching - Nick Crawford (8 IP, 7K).