Pitching is premium: Mariners shine in Eureka

EUREKA — Kellen Hoyt’s no-hitter against district opponent Libby at the Eureka Round Robin last Saturday highlighted a great weekend of pitching and hitting by the Mission Valley Mariners A team, which improved its record to 3-2 on the season.

EUREKA — Kellen Hoyt’s no-hitter against district opponent Libby at the Eureka Round Robin last Saturday highlighted a great weekend of pitching and hitting by the Mission Valley Mariners A team, which improved its record to 3-2 on the season.

“I feel really good about our team,” Mariners manager Jami Hanson said. “The kids look good defensively, have been pitching very well and they hit the ball.”

The Mariners just didn’t win games, but won them against teams that should be major players in the baseball season this summer. They started things off with a 6-3 victory over the defending Senior Babe Ruth State Champion, the Missoula Pioneers.

First baseman and destroyer of baseballs, Chris “Clubber” Clary, didn’t waste any time after missing the first doubleheader of the season last week. In his first swing of the season, Clary knocked out a three-run homer.

“The first swing and he tattooes the ball over the outfield fence,” Hanson said.

He would finish the game 4-for-4 and had a double as well. Meanwhile, Mariners’ starting pitcher Zeke Webster-Yaqui held the Pioneers, who have a knack for roughing up pitchers, to just three runs in 3 1/3 innings of work. He struck out seven of their batters.

Webster-Yaqui went 2-for-4 while batting and had a double in the game. Bradley Pichler came in to finish out the game and pitched 3 2/3 perfect innings, retiring all 11 of the batters he faced, while notching five strikeouts.

Mission Valley got two hits from Dalton Molzhon and another hit from Justin Evertz, who just returned from playing for MSU-Billings’ baseball team. After disposing of a state champion, the Mariners set their sights on last year’s district champion, the Libby Loggers, and promptly downed them 14-0 behind a no-hitter by Hoyt.

“It was a phenomenal game by Kellen,” Hanson said. “He threw very well and he was consistently throwing the ball. He located the ball well near the knees or at the bottom of the knee caps. He threw a no-hitter with 63 pitches. That’s awesome. I can never ask for more than that.”

The masterful performance by Hoyt on the mound complemented the big bats for Mission Valley, which racked up an impressive 14 hits in the game. They jumped out to an early 9-0 lead in the first inning, scored one run in the second and three more in the bottom of the third. A run in the bottom of the fourth followed by Hoyt shutting the Loggers down in the top of the fifth enforced the 10-run margin rule and the Mariners evened their season record at .500.

Jack Humphreys, Webster Yaqui, Clary, Evertz, Austin Von Tom and Jacob Young all had multi-hit games for the Mariners.

“Mission is a good team that swings the bat really well. We’re going to have to go to work. Hopefully we can compete better with them down the road,” Libby manager Kelly Morford told the Daily Inter Lake.

Young finished the game with a double and three RBIs, while Clary, Webster-Yaqui and Mike Bournstein finished two runs batted in. Webster Yaqui, Von Tom and Robbie Gauthier also had doubles.

On Sunday, Mission Valley faced an opponent that started the season hot. Kootenai Valley started the season 6-0 going into its matchup against the Mariners. Their bats hit a brick wall in the form of Mission Valley pitcher Nick Crawford, as the Mariners would go on to win 7-0.

“The pitching staff did a great job and that was nice to see,” Hanson said. “They threw strikes and pitched to contact.”

Using just four pitchers was great, according to Hanson, considering his pitchers are still on regulatory pitch counts this early in the season.

“It’s very impressive espercially when they are on pitch counts,” Hanson said. “They all stayed within their pitch counts and let the offensive players put the ball in play. If it was a strikeout, it was three pitches or if it was a hit ball to a fielder it was one or two pitches. That’s nice to see.”

Crawford started the season two weeks ago by striking out three of the first four batters he faced from the Class AA Missoula Mavs. Last Sunday? He held the Rangers to just three hits over six innings and struck out eight along the way.

Kootenai Valley head coach Brent Holder told the Daily Inter Lake that his team couldn’t string any hits together against Crawford’s pitching. The left side of the infield was also outstanding with Gauthier and Evertz. Hanson was happy with the way his outfield and infield played.

“Robbie was a vacuum cleaner at third base and Justin made plays at shortstop,” Hanson said. “Dalton Molzhon in the outfield made a great diving catch and also relayed a ball and got a kid out at second base during the weekend.”

Mission Valley was extremely efficient with their offense, earning seven runs off five hits and six errors by the Rangers. After scoring a run in the first inning, the Mariners added three more in the top of the third.

“In the third inning, they got guys on base with three bunts in a row,” Holder told the Inter Lake. “We covered it horribly. We had three errors in a row and they scored a run each time.”

Mission Valley added two more in the fourth inning and the final run in the fifth. Von Tom finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Clary had an RBI while Gauthier and Pichler both had hits.

Now at 3-2, the M’s will host the Class AA Glacier Twins in a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m, then they’ll travel to Kalispell on Sunday for a doubleheader against the Class AA Lakers at 1 p.m.

“Those will be tough games but I feel very confident with what we’re doing with these kids,” Hanson said. “Their work ethic is stellar. They’ve given up their weekends to play baseball and they’re still in school right now. I have high expectations for the season.”

MARINERS BASEBALL CAMP

All youth baseball players are invited to the Mariners Baseball Camp this Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at O’Malley Park. Anyone 7-years-old and up can get instruction on the game from Mission Valley players. Youth baseball coaches are also invited as the Mariners coaching staff will also host a coaches clinic during that time as well.

Those who attend the camp are also invited to attend the Mariners A team’s doubleheader against Glacier on Saturday.

MVM A 6, MISS. 3

Mariners - 6

Pioneers - 3

Mariners - 9 hits.

Mariners highlights - Zeke Webster-Yaqui 2-4, Chris Clary 4-4, Justin Evertz 1-4, Dalton Molzhon 2-4. 2B - Webster-Yaqui, Clary, Molzhon. HR - Clary LB Pitching - Webster-Yaqui (3 1/3 IP, 7K) Bradley Pichler (3 /23 IP, 5K)

MVM A 14, LIBBY 0

L - 000 - 00 - 0

M - 913 - 1x - 14

Libby - 0 hits, 3 errors. MV - 14 hits, 1 error

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 2-3, Zeke Yaqui 2-4, Robbie Gauthier 1-3, Chris Clary 2-4, Justin Evertz 2-2, Austin Von Tom 2-3, Jacob Young 2-3, Mike Bournstein 1-4, Dalton Molzhon 0-3. 2B — Gauthier, Von Tom, Young, Webster-Yaqui. RBI — Humphreys, Webster-Yaqui 2, Gauthier, Clary 2, Evertz, Von Tom, Young 3, Bournstein 2, Molhzon 1. M Pitching - Kellen Hoyt pitches no-hitter.

MVM A 7, KV 0

M - 103 - 210 - 7

K - 000 - 000 - 0

MV - 6 hits, 1 error. KV - 4 hits, 6 errors

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 0-1, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 0-4, Robbie Gauthier 1-4, Chris Clary 0-2, J. Evertz 1-3, Austin Von Tom 2-4, Jake Young 0-3, Bradley Pichler 1-3, Dalton Molzhon 1-2, Nick Crawford 0-0

M Pitching - Nick Crawford (6 IP, 8K)