Mariners A sweep Missoula

POLSON — For the second time this season, Mission Valley Mariners’ catcher Jack Humphreys ended a game with the swing of his bat and helped clinch another doubleheader sweep by the M’s on Sunday. Mission Valley swept its conference foe Missoula by scores of 3-2 and 11-1.

POLSON — For the second time this season, Mission Valley Mariners’ catcher Jack Humphreys ended a game with the swing of his bat and helped clinch another doubleheader sweep by the M’s on Sunday. Mission Valley swept its conference foe Missoula by scores of 3-2 and 11-1.

“Right now the kids are playing very well,” manager Jami Hanson said. “They play loose and even though there was that 3-2 game, which is the kind of game I hate playing because anything can happen and you can get a loss, you’ve got to be in those types of tight games.”

Hanson said that the team played stellar defense in the doubleheader, and the team committed just one error while trying to get someone out at second base.

Justin Evertz hit a home run in the first game to power Mission Valley to the 3-2 victory while Austin Von Tom held the Mavs in check on the mound. In the second game, the Mariners scored nine runs in the first inning and in the top of the fifth, a Humphreys single with two baserunners caused the 10-run rule to be enforced in the 11-1 victory.

Mission Valley now has a season record of 10-2 and has won 10 games in a row. Humphreys also notched an RBI single that caused the 10-run rule to be enforced on May 5 against the Class AA Glacier Twins in a 12-2 win. In other words, a transmission shop around the Mission Valley might think about making him their spokesman because Humphreys is clutch.

The doubleheader on Sunday got off to a slow start in the first game, as the Mavs notched three hits and two runs in the top of the first inning. However, after that, Von Tom would allow just one hit in the next six innings.

“That was a great game,” Hanson said. “I thought Austin threw very well. He made the adjustments and settled in the rest of the way.”

Meanwhile, the Mariners had to scratch for every one of their runs. A baulk brought Zeke Webster-Yaqui home for the Mariners’ first score in the bottom of the first. In the bottom of the fourth, Justin Evertz crushed a ball over the left field fence to leadoff the inning and tie the game up 2-2.

In the bottom of bottom of the sixth, Dalton Molzhon drove in the go-ahead run and then Von Tom retired the final three batters on groundouts in the top of the seventh for his second victory of the season.

Molzhon and Bradley Pichler finished the game with two hits apiece while Chris Clary and Von Tom also had a hit for the Mariners to go along with Evertz’s home run.

In the second game, Hanson sent pitcher Kellen Hoyt to the mound and the future Army National Guardsman threw five innings, allowing just four hits and striking out six in the 11-1 victory. He got his third pitching victory of the season and has become the workhorse for the M’s on the mound, pitching a team high 20 1/3 innings so far this season.

“It was nice to see him adjust to the different situations in the game,” Hanson said. “He keeps the ball down and he’s been working on his offspeed stuff. It was fun to watch him warm up in the bullpen, he’s got a lot of good movement. Every pitch he throws you can see the movement. That’s what makes him tough to hit.”

Meanwhile, the Mariners got their bats going early with nine runs in the first inning. Mission Valley got RBIs by Robbie Gauthier and Von Tom, while Jake Young and Dalton Molzhon drove in two runs apiece in the inning and Zeke Webster Yaqui plated a game-high three RBIs.

“You can go up and down the lineup, I thought everyone did really well,” Hanson said. “We also didn’t strike out much.”

In the top of the second, Missoula loaded the bases and eked a run across the plate as Hoyt hit a batter. However, the pitcher ended the inning with a strikeout and Mission Valley got the run back in the bottom of the frame with a Young RBI single.

Hoyt worked out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the fifth, and Humphreys plated the walkoff run in the bottom of the frame. The baserunner that scored on the play? None other than Hoyt himself, who reached base after getting hit by a pitch and showed impressive speed on the basepaths all game.

Hanson added that his pitchers have done a good job staying below their pitch counts. In seven games this season, the Mariners have gotten complete games from their pitchers. Hoyt also came in during the first inning of one game and proceeded to pitch all seven innings in Kalispell on May 6.

“We’re not dipping into their final pitch count,” Hanson said. “When Austin has a nine-pitch or an eight-pitch inning, that’s crucial. That’s what helps you finish the game. Kellen, in his game, had a stretch of 26 pitches in three innings. That’s big.”

He was also impressed with the defense of both his pitchers.

“How many pitcher to first base outs did we have? They’re doing well,” Hanson said. “I think Austin has three or four outs like that.”

Mission Valley will play a doubleheader on the road against the Kalispell Lakers on Friday.

“I feel very good,” Hanson said. “We’re playing well and the kids have been playing well on the road.”

MVM A 3, MAVS 2

M - 200 - 000 - 0 - 2

MV - 100 - 101 - x - 3

Missoula - 4 hits, 2 errors. MV - 7 hits, 0 errors

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 0-4, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 0-2, Robbie Gauthier 0-3, Chris Clary 1-1, Justin Evertz 1-2, Austin Von Tom 1-3, Jacob Young 0-2, Brad Pichler 2-3, Dalton Molzhon 2-3. 2B - Molzhon HR - Evertz. RBIs - Evertz, Von Tom, Molzhon.

M Pitching - Von Tom (7IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 6K)

MVM A 11, MAVS 1

M - 010 - 000 - 0 - 1

MV - 910 - 010 - x - 11

Missoula - 4 hits, 1 error. MV - 11 hits, 1 error

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 2-4, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 3-3, Robbie Gauthier 1-3, Chris Clary 0-2, Justin Evertz 0-0, Austin Von Tom 1-2, Jacob Young 2-3, Kellen Hoyt 0-2, Dalton Molzhon 2-3. 2B—Webster-Yaqui, Young; RBIs—Humphreys, Webster-Yaqui 3, Gauthier, Von Tom, Young 3, Molzhon 2.

M Pitching - Hoyt (5IP, 1 run, 6K)