Mariners baseball: MOUNT EVERTZ

It took three pitches in the bottom of the first and the Mission Valley Mariners had a 2-0 lead over the Class A Glacier Twins last Saturday.

That’s all they would need.

Mariners’ pitching prodigy and enemy of all things in a batter box, Justin Evertz, notched a no-hitter for the M’s and struck out 10 along the way for a 10-victory. It was the second no-hitter thrown by a Mariners’ pitcher — Kellen Hoyt did it three weeks ago against Libby — and it was the eighth straight win by Mission Valley. The M’s are now 8-2 on the season.

It took three pitches in the bottom of the first and the Mission Valley Mariners had a 2-0 lead over the Class A Glacier Twins last Saturday.

That’s all they would need.

Mariners’ pitching prodigy and enemy of all things in a batter box, Justin Evertz, notched a no-hitter for the M’s and struck out 10 along the way for a 10-victory. It was the second no-hitter thrown by a Mariners’ pitcher — Kellen Hoyt did it three weeks ago against Libby — and it was the eighth straight win by Mission Valley. The M’s are now 8-2 on the season.

“Justin threw very well,” Mariners manager Jami Hanson said. “He just became very overwhelming for the kids he was facing. He used his fastball, changeup and curveball well.”

Hanson also added he liked the way catcher Jack Humphreys called the pitches and performed behind the plate. While Evertz was taking care of business on the mound, Robbie Gauthier got it done at the plate for the M’s. After a Zeke Yaqui single, Gauthier air-mailed a ball over the outfield fence on the first pitch he saw to give the Mariners the 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, an error allowed Evertz to score, then another error brought home Austin Von Tom.

While Glacier’s pitcher had thrown just 14 times, he found himself down 4-0 after one inning of play. It didn’t get better for the Twins. In the bottom of the second, Gauthier had a monster at-bat where he fouled off five pitches before tripling to bring home Yaqui again.

Yaqui, who’s been seeing the ball really well the past couple of weeks, tore the stitches off the balls he made contact with and went 3-for-3 with a walk.

“Zeke swung the bat well,” Hanson said. “It’s nice to have a lefty in the lineup. He did a good job putting the pressure on.”

Hanson added that Yaqui getting on base sets up RBI opportunities for the middle of the lineup nicely.

The Mariners led 6-0 after two innings and added another run in the bottom of the fourth after another Twins’ error allowed Yaqui to score from third base.

Thats how things would stay until Mission Valley’s baserunning out-did Glacier in the bottom of the sixth. After singles by Chris Clary and Evertz, Von Tom reached on an error and brought Clary home. Then the Mariners executed an aggressive baserunning play and Glacier couldn’t react correctly, giving Evertz the opportunity to score.

“Our kids have got that Mariners attitude where they believe and expect to win,” Hanson said. “That’s something that we keep passing down from team to team. The attitude was great in the game. They manufactured runs because of their work ethic and that’s great to see.”

Then Jake Young singled, and distracted the Glacier infielder by trying to take second base, meanwhile Von Tom had a clear line to home. His score enacted the 10-run rule and gave Mission Valley the victory.

“We’re going to get into those tight games where you have to find a way to manufacture runs,” Hanson said. “We were aggressive on the basepaths. I’ve given them that freedom and I think they’ve done a great job, we haven’t made many mistakes running.”

It was a fitting end for Mother’s Day, as a packed ballpark was treated to a ceremony between the A and B team games. All the mothers of the players on both teams were called out onto the field and handed carnations.

The Mariners have been doing this tradition since the early 1990s.

“It was great to look out and see all the people in the stands and then look out on the hill and see all the cars parked and watching the games,” Hanson said. “It was awesome.”

MV A 10, GLACIER 0

G - 000 - 000 - 0

M - 420 - 103 - 10

Glacier - 0 hits, 8 errors. MV - 14 hits, 1 error

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 0-4, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 3-3, Robbie Gauthier 2-3, Chris Clary 1-3, Evertz 2-3, Austin Von Tom 1-3, Jacob Young 2-4, Bradley Pichler 1-3, Dalton Molzhon 2-3.Doubles - Evertz. 3B - Gauthier. RBIs - Gauthier 3, Young. MV Pitching - Evertz (2-0) no hitter, 10K