Mariners on a roll

Mission Valley streaks to Maybelle Arthur Tournament

championship

DILLON — Some baseball teams hit a stretch of the season and they catch fire.

The Mission Valley Mariners, on the other hand, have apparently doused themselves in lighter fluid and struck a match.

The A team has reeled off seven straight wins since June 14 including the Maybelle Arthur Tournament championship in Dillon last weekend.

“I feel like this was huge for our momentum heading into conference play,” Mission Valley Mariners catcher Jack Humphreys said. “It showed us that we can win, and we expect to win. We used six pitchers in five games, with four of our premier pitchers still on the bench. It was great to see some kids step up and perform. It feels like this is just the beginning of something great.”

Now 17-13 on the season, perhaps the most important thing about last week was not the number of games that Mariners won but rather how they won them.

“They played with heart and pride, and they were there to compete,” Mariners manager Jami Hanson said.

Hanson saw his team execute well, and they committed fewer errors than the teams they faced in all seven wins. The pitching, like Humphreys said, likely means that the Mariners’ conference foes will face Mission Valley’s best and freshest arms.

“Our pitchers at the tournament would go deep in innings and they got the job done,” Hanson said.

The Mariners’ next opponents, not including tournament play, are all conference matchups and they’ll all determine seeding in the divisional tournament. The Mariners, who have already earned an automatic state berth for hosting the Legion State Tournament, certainly aren’t playing like they’re guaranteed a spot.

“Our motto is ‘take what is given to you and earn what isn’t,’” Hanson said. “We want to earn it.”

Mariners 9, Missoula Pioneers 2 (Championship Game)

Kellen Hoyt took the mound on a Father’s Day that no doubt held particularly special meaning. He dedicated his pitching performance to his late father, Chris Hoyt, who drowned accidentally in 2009, and his stepfather Dave Evertz.

“What was going on in my mind was that there is no one better then me going out there and that I could win this for my team and my dad,” Hoyt said.

And it was a performance certainly worthy of a championship. Hoyt allowed just one earned run and struck out four. He went the complete game and Mission won the tournament championship 9-2.

“I just kept throwing my hardest and when they hit the ball my defense was always right there to get my back,” Hoyt said.

At the plate, Chris Clary went off, again, going 2-for-3 with four RBIs and afterwards was named defensive player of the tournament for his impressive offensive numbers.

“The kid is hitting the ball really well and it’s starting to get contagious,” Hanson said.

Mission Valley jumped out early and held onto the lead behind the pitching of Hoyt.

A five-run second inning put the Mariners up 6-0, and they scored three more insurance runs the rest of the way. Missoula was handcuffed and could only muster a single run in the bottom of the third and seventh.

Mariners 4, Mountain Home Royals 3

With a berth to the tournament championship game on the line, the Mariners did a curious thing. Mission Valley had just one hit, a single by Kevin Hagedorn in the top of the second, but came away with the 4-3 victory.

“That’s doing the little things right,” Hanson said.

While the bats weren’t there, everything else was.

The Mariners didn’t commit a single error and worked around the bases manufacturing runs. Humphreys, who is usually behind the plate, started the game as a pitcher and allowed just one earned run in two innings and also struck out one.

“It was my first time pitching since last year, I was pretty excited, it was a new experience,” Humphreys said. “It’s something I’ll look back on and just smile about the fact that Jami gave me the opportunity to pitch.”

Jacob Young, who has played lockdown defense at second base, finished the final five innings on the mound with a shut out, struck out four and allowed just three hits.

“Our pitching staff really stepped it up this weekend,” Humphreys said. “Everyone was feeling a little under the weather and us being able to save Josh [Rustad]. Justin [Evertz], Dalton [Mohlzon] and Austin [Von Tom] for conference play really helped out. Our pitching was, in my opinion, the highlight of the tournament.”

Mission Valley took the early 2-0 lead through two innings but Mountain Home took the 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third frame. Both teams would be scoreless for the next three innings before Mission Valley pushed two runs across the plate in typical small-ball fashion. Mountain Home was iced in the bottom of the seventh and the Mariners headed to the championship game.

Mariners 6, Dillon Cubs 5

Robbie Gauthier almost did it all against the host Dillon Cubs. He pitched a complete game for the Mariners, striking out seven and not allowing a single earned run. At the plate he went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a home run.

Mission Valley was down 3-0, before scoring three of their own runs in the bottom of the second, and scored two more to keep pace with the Cubs.

Tied 5-5 heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Mariners scored the go-ahead run thanks to a single by Dalton Molhzon.

Mariners 8, Bitterroot Bucs 7

In their second game of the tournament, Mission Valley found themselves in a dogfight against the Bitterroot Bucs. The M’s were trailing 7-3 going into the bottom of the sixth before exploding for four runs to tie things up. They got the walk-off win in the bottom of the seventh when Clary hit a double to lead off the inning.

Then, Gauthier made contact on the ball to cause a Bucs error and allow Clary to score the winning run. Von Tom and Clary both drove in two runs in the game. Clary pitched five innings and was relived by Pichler, who, again, finished the game.

This time he went two innings and struck out four to keep the game within reach of the bats.

Mariners 18, Missoula Pioneers 7

The bats were of high caliber in Mission Valley’s tournament opener against the defending Senior Babe Ruth state champions. The M’s thumped them 18-7 last Thursday.

The M’s collected 20 hits, including a home run from Gauthier. He also went 3-for-4 with a double and drove in two runs. The Pioneers actually had the 5-4 lead going into the top of the fifth but Mission Valley scored five in that frame, two more in the sixth and had a seven-run rally in the top of the seventh.

Four different Mariners had a multiple RBIs in the game, while the Pioneers committed 11 errors in the game.

On the mound Cole McArthur went 6 and 2/3 innings for the win while Bradley Pichler finished the game with the final out.

Mariners 15, Bitterroot Bucs 3 (Monday, June 20)

Mission Valley won its third conference game of the season with a convincing 15-3 victory over the Bitterroot Bucs and it was shortened in seven innings due to the 10-run rule.

The offense just continued to roll as “Clubber” Clary crushed a three-run dinger in the bottom of the third inning to help the Mariners take a 4-0 lead. After the Bucs answered back to make it 4-3, Mission Valley scored 11 runs in the fifth inning. In that frame, Justin Evertz led things off with a solo home run, Clary scored on an error, Rustad plated a run, a passed ball allowed Young to score and Humphreys drove in a run.

With two outs, the Mariners continued to score, Evertz bunted to score Dalton Molhzon and Clary singled to drive home Humphreys. Gauthier hit a three-run homer of his own to really open things up and then Rustad capped the scoring off by plating Young again for the 15-3 lead.

Von Tom went the entire game and struck out four.

Mariners 8, Hamilton Red Sox 5 (Tuesday, June 14)

The winning streak started on Tuesday, June 14 against the Hamilton Red Sox. The Mariners were able to take a tense 8-5 victory over the visiting team behind balanced hitting. Mission Valley pitcher Josh Rustad picked up his third victory of the season by going seven innings and striking out three.

The Mariners jumped out to a 7-1 lead through five innings before Hamilton was able to score four runs in the sixth and seventh inning to pull within 7-5. Justin Evertz came in to pitch two scoreless innings and strike out three, while the Mariners scored an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh.

Kevin Hagedorn led the way for Mission Valley at the plate, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Chris Clary also continued to produce runs, by going 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Austin Von Tom also had a double.

Seven different Mariners got hits in the game. Hamilton didn’t do any favors for itself, committing six errors in the contest while the M’s didn’t have a single one.

Mariners B team update

The Mission Valley Mariners B team had a tall order against a tough Libby Loggers squad last Friday in a doubleheader.

Libby collected 22 hits and swept the doubleheader, but a very promising sign for the M’s was their ability to cut down on the errors. In previous games this season the B team had seen errors hurt them in vital innings but against the Loggers they kept mistakes to a minimum committing just one error in the first game and two in the second.

Libby won the first game 10-0 in seven innings and Chris Herbig held the M’s to four hits. Zeke Webster-Yaqui threw five innings for Mission Valley before Jarod Young took over in the fifth. Webster Yaqui shut out the Loggers in both the first and third innings. In the second game, the Loggers jumped ahead 3-0 in the top of the first before Mission Valley answered with a run in the bottom of the frame.

Libby went on to score 15 more runs, while Mission Valley was held to just two hits. The B team will play in the Deer Lodge Tourney this weekend.

MV A 8, RED SOX 5

H - 000 - 102 - 200 - 5

M - 202 - 030 - 10x - 8

Hamilton - 8 hits, 6 errors. MV - 8 hits, 0 errors

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 1-5, Austin Von Tom 1-5, Justin Evertz 1-3, Chris Clary 1-3, Robbie Gauthier 1-3, Cole McArthur 1-3, Kevin Hagedorn 2-4, Dalton Molzhon 0-4, Jack Young 0-4. Doubles - Von Tom, Evertz. RBIs - Clary 2, Hagedorn 2, Evertz, Gauthier, McArthur.

M Pitching - Josh Rustad (7 IP, 3K), Evertz (2 IP, 3K)

MV A 18, PIO. 7

M - 101 - 252 - 7 - 18

P - 002 - 300 - 2 - 7

MV - 20 hits, 5 errors. Missoula - 7 hits, 11 errors

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 2-5, Austin Von Tom 3-6, Justin Evertz 2-6, Chris Clary 1-4, Robbie Gauthier 3-4, Jake Young 2-5, Josh Rustad 1-4, Kevin Hagedorn 3-5, Dalton Molzhon 3-4. Doubles - Von Tom 2, Gauthier, Rustad, Hagedorn. HRs - Gauthier. RBIs - Von Tom 2, Gauthier 2, Hagedorn 2, Molzhon 2, Humphreys, Evertz, Clary, Young, Rustad.

M Pitching - McArthur (6 2/3 IP, 3K), Bradley Pichler (1/3 IP)

MV A 8, BUCS 7

B - 110 - 032 - 0 - 7

M - 012 - 004 - 1 - 8

Bitterroot - 8 hits, 4 errors. MV - 10 hits, 2 errors

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 2-3, Austin Von Tom 1-4, Justin Evertz 1-4, Chris Clary 2-4. Robbie Gauthier 1-4, Jake Young 1-3, Josh Rustad 1-3, Kevin Hagedorn 0-3, Bradley Pichler 1-1, Dalton Molhzon 0-2. Doubles - Evertz, Clary, Gauthier. RBIs - Von Tom 2, Clary 2, Rustad

M Pitching - Clary (5 IP, 1K), Pichler (2IP, 4K)

MV A 6, DILLON 5

D - 121 - 000 - 0 - 5

M - 031 - 101 - x - 6

Dillon - 4 hits, 3 errors. MV - 6 hits, 1 error.

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 0-4, Austin Von Tom 0-2, Justin Evertz 0-1, Chris Clary 1-2, Robbie Gauthier 2-3, Jake Young 0-3, Josh Rustad 1-2, Kevin Hagedorn 1-2, Dalton Molzhon 1-3. Doubles - Clary. HR - Gauthier. RBIs - Clary 2, Hagedorn, Molzhon.

M Pitching - Gauthier (7 IP, 7K)

MV A 4, MH 3

MV - 110 - 000 - 2 - 4

MH - 030 - 000 - 0 - 3

MV - 1 hit, 0 errors. MH - 6 hits, 3 errors

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 0-1, Austin Von Tom 0-3, Justin Evertz 0-4, Chris Clary 0-3, Robbie Gauthier 0-3, Jake Young 0-3, Cole McArthur 0-1, Kevin Hagedorn 1-2, Dalton Molzhon 0-3. RBIs - Molzhon.

M Pitching - Humphreys (2 IP, 1K), Young (5 IP, 4K)

MV A 9, PIO. 2

M - 151 - 002 - 0 - 9

P - 001 - 000 - 1 - 2

MV - 6 hits, 4 errors. Missoula - 7 hits, 5 errors

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 1-3, Austin Von Tom 0-4, Justin Evertz 1-3, Chris Clary 2-3, Robbie Gauthier 1-3, Jake Young 1-4, Josh Rustad 1-4, Kevin Hagedorn 0-2, Dalton Molzhon 0-2. RBIs - Clary 4, Gauthier 2, Humphreys 1

M Pitching - Kellen Hoyt (7 IP, 5K)

MV A 15, BUCS 3

B - 000 - 300 - 0 - 3

M - 103 - 0(11)0 - x - 15

Bitterroot - 7 hits, 1 error. MV - 19 hits, 1 error

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 2-5, Austin Von Tom 0-3, Justin Evertz 4-4, Chris Clary 3-4, Robbie Gauthier 2-5, Jake Young 2-4, Josh Rustad 1-3, Kevin Hagedorn 2-2, Cole McArthur 1-3. Doubles - Rustad, McArthur. HR - Evertz, Clary, Gauthier. RBIs - Clary 4, Gauthier 4, Evertz 2, Rustad 2, Humphreys 1, McArthur 1.

M Pitching - Von Tom (7 IP, 4K)