Rockies have close battles with Legion teams

EUREKA - The Mission Valley Rockies saw their first action of

the season against teams that had a few weeks of playing time under

their belt, and did just fine. While they went 0-3 they certainly

gave the teams they played a run for their money.

EUREKA - The Mission Valley Rockies saw their first action of the season against teams that had a few weeks of playing time under their belt, and did just fine. While they went 0-3 they certainly gave the teams they played a run for their money.

"I was very happy, we played well," Rockies' manager Alan Anderson said. "We just have to get past giving up that one big inning."

In their first game against the Kalispell Lakers, Mission Valley led 4-2 until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Lakers exploded for five runs. Rockies pitcher Jeremiah Crawford pitched over five innings of ball and allowed just two earned runs.

Five errors cost the Rockies those five runs, and Mission Valley couldn't answer in the next frame as Kalispell won 7-4.

"We started off hot with our bats then it was a pitchers dual until the end there," Anderson said.

Arlee's Kurt Sidel was 1-for-2 with two RBIs to lead the Rockies offensively and Eneas Inmee went 1-for-4 with an RBI as well.

In their first game again the Glacier Twins on Sunday, Mission Valley found themselves in an early hole as the Twins jumped out to an 8-1 lead through two innings.

The Rockies bounced back and scored three runs in the top of the third to make it 8-4 and that's how it would stay until the bottom of the six when Glacier scored four runs to take a commanding lead. Mission Valley scored a run in the top of the seventh but their rally fell short in the 12-5 defeat.

"We left too many baserunners stranded," Anderson said. "For the entire weekend we left 21 guys on base and 16 of those were in scoring position. We have a ton of guys that can get a hit but we just couldn't get them in."

Riley Whitworth was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a double, while Justin Hoel went 1-for-4 with an RBI and Crawford went 2-for-4 with a triple and scored two runs for the Rockies.

"We were a lot more consistent but we kind of dug ourselves in a hole that was hard to get out of," Anderson said.

Then in its second game on Sunday, Mission Valley mounted a late comeback against the Kootenai Valley Rangers but couldn't quite pull it off and fell 8-4.

The Rangers took the 8-0 lead through four innings before the Rockies struck back with a run in the top of the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh.

"That game was kind of a flip-flop of the others," Anderson said. "I was proud of them, usually your players are pretty tired in the last game of the tournament and to finish strong like that made me happy."

Crawford pitched the past two innings and didn't give up an earned run while the Rockies tried to make their move.

Sidel again drove in a key run for the Rockies, going 1-for-2, and Hoel drove in a run for Mission Valley as well. Eneas Inmee went 1-for-4 at the plate. As a team, the Rockies drew

nine walks.

"We had quit few walks," Anderson said. "They were seeing the ball well."

Overall, Anderson said he liked how the team was doing at the starting point of the season.

"We've really moved forward since last year," Anderson said. "It's just going to get better from here on out."

He also had compliments about the fielding abilities of his outfielders.

"The outfield played really well and made some fantastic catches out there," he said.