Mariners: SWEET SWEEP!

KALISPELL — The Class A Kalispell Lakers couldn’t muster a run against the Mission Valley Mariners last Friday. Heck, they couldn’t muster a hit against Mariners’ flamethrower Nick Crawford, who looked like the next coming of Pedro Martinez as Mission Valley pulled off the doubleheader sweep against their conference opponent with scores of 3-0 and 14-0.

KALISPELL — The Class A Kalispell Lakers couldn’t muster a run against the Mission Valley Mariners last Friday. Heck, they couldn’t muster a hit against Mariners’ flamethrower Nick Crawford, who looked like the next coming of Pedro Martinez as Mission Valley pulled off the doubleheader sweep against their conference opponent with scores of 3-0 and 14-0.

“Nick is coming along really well,” Mariners manager Jami Hanson said. “He’s one of those pitchers that’s been working on things and has lots of movement with his fastball. He’s been throwing the breaking ball and continues to work on his mechanics.”

The Mariners have now won 12 in a row, have an overall record of 12-2 and a conference record of 4-0. The two donuts put up for the Lakers mean that Mission Valley has posted five shutouts this year, and Crawford’s no-hitter was the third of the season for the M’s. All three no hitters have come from different pitchers.

“I wish that would happen every week,” Hanson said. “I don’t know what to say it doesn’t happen very often and it’s not like they’re playing lesser competition. The kids are just throwing the ball really well.”

Mission Valley, which also swept the Kalispell Lakers AA team in a doubleheader earlier this season, started the doubleheader off with a well-played defensive pitcher’s duel that resulted in a 3-0 win.

“I just like the fact that the kids believe and they’re expecting to win these close games,” Hanson said. “That says a lot, they’re playing with confidence.”

Those three runs by the Mariners may have well been 10 runs as starting M’s pitcher Justin Evertz challenged the Lakers’ lineup and allowed just two hits while striking out 11.

“Justin and Nick both threw great games,” Hanson said. “They did wonderful, they threw it where they needed it to be and the defense was there to make it easier on them.”

Except for one double, that ball hardly left the infield against Evertz.

Mission Valley got two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Master of karate and friendship Austin “Dayman” Von Tom drove in Evertz, who had reached on a double and moved to third base on an error. It was his 13th RBI of the season.

Bradley Pichler, who always seems to make good contact with runners on base, drove in Jake Young later in the inning to make it 2-0.

“Jake had a bunch of RBIs,” Hanson said. “Brad did very well and Justin swung the bat well.”

The Mariners scored another run in the top of the fifth. Zeke “Magic” Webster-Yaqui reached on a single, stole second base, moved to third on a Chris Clary single and came home on a passed ball.

“Zeke did a good job with a couple of those opposite field hits,” Hanson said. “It’s good to see Chris doing what he’s doing.”

In the second game of the twinbill, the Mariners put Crawford on the mound for the sweep attempt. The bats came alive with 14 hits, while Kalispell committed six errors in the 14-0 loss. However, the offense wasn’t needed as Crawford struck out nine and didn’t let a ball get to the outfield.

Mission Valley got on the board early, with an error in the top of the first allowing catcher Jack Humphreys to score. Two more errors would plate third baseman Robbie Gauthier and Clary in the inning as the M’s took the 3-0 lead.

In the top of the third, Evertz smacked a ball that got lost in the lights and dropped for a triple, bringing home Clary. Later in the inning, Young drove home Evertz and an error allowed Von Tom to score. A passed ball allowed Young to come home, and later a Webster Yaqui single brought home Humphreys for the 8-0 lead.

Young drove home two more runs in the fourth and Dalton Molzhon plated another in the fourth as the Mariners got into 10-run rule territory. In the bottom of the fourth, Gauthier saved the no-hitter for Crawford, diving for a hard hit ball between third and second and making a great web gem play to record the out.

In the top of the fifth, Young tripled to bring home two more runs and then Mike Bournstein drove him home the next at bat to make it 14-0. Young finished the game 3-for-4 with five RBIs, while Webster-Yaqui was 3-for-4 as well.

Crawford finished the game in fantastic fashion in the fifth, striking out the side for the no-hitter, the win and the sweep.

Mission Valley will travel to Missoula this Saturday to play the Class AA Mavs. The Mavs handed the Mariners their only two losses at the beginning of the season, but the M’s were also missing Evertz and Clary when the two teams played.

“The big thing is that the kids keep competing and doing everything they can to score runs,” Hanson said. “Now, in the second game they had everything going for them but in the first game, they didn’t score as many runs but they got the job done.”

MEET THE MARINERS

The Mariners will be hosting their fourth annual “Meet the Mariners” event at O’Malley Field on Friday, June 1 at 6 p.m.

The M’s will have a skill demonstration, home run derby and a barbeque dinner of pulled pork, cole slaw, baked beans and rolls. It should be a good evening of baseball and fun for all. Come out and meet the players!

For more information about the event, please contact Robin Wallace at 270-2396.

MV A 3, KALI. 0

MV - 000 - 210 - 0 - 3

K - 000 - 000 - 0 - 0

MV - 6 hit, 1 errors. Kalispell - 2 hits, 2 errors

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 1-4, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 1-4, Robbie Gauthier 0-3, Chris Clary 1-3, Justin Evertz 1-3, Austin Von Tom 0-3, Jake Young 1-2, Bradley Pichler 1-3, Dalton Molzhon 0-3. 2B - Evertz. RBIs - Von Tom, Pichler. M Pitching - Justin Evertz (7IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 11K)

MV A 14, KALI. 0

MV - 305 - 33 - 14

K - 000 - 00 - 0

MV - 14 hits, 0 errors. Kalispell - 0 hits, 6 errors

Mariners batting - Jack Humphreys 0-1, Zeke

Webster-Yaqui 3-4, Robbie Gauthier 0-3, Chris Clary 2-3, Justin Evertz 2-3, Austin Von Tom 2-2, Jake Young 3-4, Bradley Pichler 1-2, Dalton Molzhon 1-3, Mike Bournstein 0-1, Cole McArthur 0-1.

M Pitching - Nick Crawford (5IP, 0 hits, 9K)