B team drops close one to Kootenai Valley

EUREKA - The Mission Valley Rockies B team had to get up at 7

a.m., ride the bus to the Eureka Round Robin Tournament with the A

team and wait for hours just to get their game in against Kootenai

Valley. While they fell 6-4 to the Rangers, there were certainly a

lot of positives.

EUREKA - The Mission Valley Rockies B team had to get up at 7 a.m., ride the bus to the Eureka Round Robin Tournament with the A team and wait for hours just to get their game in against Kootenai Valley. While they fell 6-4 to the Rangers, there were certainly a lot of positives.

"They were sitting in the cold and the wind and to only lose by two, I was impressed," Mariners' manager Chris Brown said. "I think the kids are starting to progress very well. That was a good game for our kids."

The majority of the runs given to the Rangers came in the form of one kid who hit a two home runs.

"You eliminate those and you win the game," Brown said.

Mission Valley jumped out to the 3-2 lead and held it until the bottom of the fourth when Kootenai Valley scored a run to tie things up. They added two more in the bottom of the fifth and one in the bottom of the sixth. The Mariners scored a run in the top of seventh, but it wasn't enough to get the victory.

Chris Drebes went 1-for-2 with a triple in the seventh and scored a run, and Thomas Wallace went 2-for-2 in the game. Mike Bornstein went 0-for-1 with an RBI, and Jared Young went for 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

"They're doing a pretty good job at the plate, it takes a little bit of an adjustment as the kids in Legion ball throw a bit harder," Brown said. "These pitchers hit their corners so they just need to get use to seeing curveballs and changeups."

Another impressive performance for the Mariners wasn't even on the field. Brown said that he and Mariners A manager Jami Hanson got compliments about how well their players carried themselves while waiting for games around the concession stand, even after a 45-minute delay at the grill kept them from getting grub that a hungry baseball player needs.

"The parents said that they were polite and gracious," Brown

said. "To hear other parents tell us things like that says a lot about the character of kids that we have."

KV 6, MVM 4

M - 120 - 000 - 1 - 4

K - 200 - 121 - x - 6

Mariners batting - Mike Bournstein 0-1, Zeke Webster Yaqui 0-3, Davin Sorrell 0-3, Bradley Pichler 0-2, Thomas Wallace 2-2, Chris Drebes 1-2, Kellen Hoyt 0-2, Jared Young 1-3, David Cleveland 0-2, Alex Killian 0-1, Aaron Rasmussen 0-1 3B - Drebes RBI - Bornstein, Young

M Pitching - Nick Crawford (3), Chris Drebes (3)