Mariners third at Cloninger

HELENA — After a rough start to the season, a third place finish for the Mission Valley Mariners at last weekend’s Cloninger Classic may be a sign of good things to come.

The Mariners dropped their first two games of the tournament to the Laurel Dodgers and the Helena Reps before rebounding with a pair of blowout wins to take the bronze.

“It’s just a matter of coming around,” M’s coach Jami Hanson said. “We’ve just got to put things together. We’ve got to find some fire.”

With 26 runs in a pair of wins over the Vauxhall Spurs Saturday and Sunday, the Mariner bats may be that fire.

Alex Killian homered and notched a team-high five hits over the weekend, and Derek Peel and Cole Snyder turned in strong pitching performances in the consolation bracket.

Thursday’s opener against Laurel, which the M’s dropped 3-1, was a winnable game, Hanson said.

“We just didn’t play our best ball by any means,” Hanson said. “It was pretty much even the whole time.”

Bradley Pichler kept Mission Valley in the game after surrendering two first-inning runs, but the bats couldn’t push more than one run across.

Hanson said the early-season struggles aren’t out of the ordinary, especially with off-the-field distractions like graduations and the start of summer vacation. The skipper is confident his team will settle into a winning rhythm.

“If you look back at our early record every year, it’s pretty much the same type of thing,” he said. “A lot of times we end up 12-12 before we get things going. … We ended up 51-20 last year, but if you look back it wasn’t too far off.”

Tuesday’s conference game with Libby was postponed due to rain. No makeup date had been announced at press time.

Cloninger Classic Box Scores

from Thursday

Laurel Dodgers 3, Mission Valley Mariners 1

Laurel 200 010 0 – 3 8 2

MVM 100 000 0 – 1 7 1

WP – Kameron Fisher, LP – Bradley Pichler

LAUREL – Jacob Anderson 1-3, Fisher 0-3, Bridger Haffey 0-4, Carson Hoke 0-0, Bryson McGann 0-2, Trevor Meier 1-4, Mason O’Donnell 2-3, Kade Osborne 2-3, Jacob Worden 2-4.

MISSION VALLEY – Trevor Paro 1-2, Alex Killian 1-3, Bransen Krebs 0-3, Jacob Harrod 2-3, Brennan Andrews 0-2, Ryan Pablo 1-4, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 0-3, Jared Young 1-3, TJ Olson 1-3.

2B – Meier, Killian; RBI – Anderson, O’Donnell, Olson.

from Friday

Helena Reps 6, Mission Valley Mariners 2

MVM 000 010 1 – 2 4 1

Helena 060 000 x – 6 6 3

WP – Payton Pappas, LP – Zeke Webster-Yaqui.

MSNV – Trevor Paro 0-2, Alex Killian 1-3, Bradley Pichler 0-3, Bransen Krebs 1-4, Derek Peel 0-2, Brenan Abromeit 0-2, Webster-Yaqui 0-4, Cole Snyder 1-2, Nyqolas Gillingham 1-3.

HELENA – Ryan Dorvall 2-3, Reilly Leary 0-0, Eamon Byrne 0-2, Payton Pappas 0-2, Carter Pappas 0-2, Henry Bowers 1-2, Keinan Stief 1-3, Ryan Arntson 1-2, Jackson Maynard 1-3, Caleb Jackson 0-3.

2B – Bowers, Arntson; RBI – Stief 2, Dorvall, P. Pappas, C. Pappas.

from Saturday

Mission Valley Mariners 11, Vauxhall 3 (5 inn.)

Vauxhall 002 01 – 3 6 1

MVM 023 42 – 11 9 3

WP – Derek Peel, LP – Jalen Lane.

VAUXHALL – Bolt 1-1, Kaden Fujita 0-2, Gilbertson 0-2, Kress 2-3, Lane 1-3, Marshall 1-3, Wandler 0-3, Dylan Wolosuk 0-1, Wong 1-2.

MSNV – Trevor Paro 1-2, Alex Killian 2-3, Bradley Pichler 1-2, Jacob Harrod 0-1, Brennan Andrews 1-2, Ryan Pablo 0-4, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 2-2, Jared Young 1-3, TJ Olson 1-3.

2B – Webster-Yaqui 2, Young, Wong; HR – Killian; RBI – Webster-Yaqui 2, Killian 2, Olson 2, Lane 2, Andrews.

from Sunday

Third place game

Mission Valley Mariners 15, Vauxhall Spurs 6 (5 inn.)

Vauxhall 401 10 - 6 2 7

MVM 373 2x - 15 5 4

WP - Cole Snyder, LP - Hunter Johnson

VAUXHALL - Nick Bolt 1-2, Kaden Fujita 0-3, Nolan Gilbertson 0-2, Adam Kress 0-2, Ryan Marshall 0-1, Reed Odland 0-2, Matt Perin 1-3, Jaydon Wandler 0-2, Jason Wong 0-1.

MVM - Ryan Pablo 1-3, Cole Snyder 1-1, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 0-0, Brenan Abromoit 0-1, Alex Killian 1-3, TJ Olson 0-3, Bradley Pichler 0-3, Warren Wood 0-2, Jacob Harrod 1-1, Trevor Paro 0-1, Brennan Andrews 0-0.

2B - Killian; RBI - Pablo 2, Perin 2, Webster-Yaqui, Killian, Pichler, Harrod, Paro, Andrews, Marshall.

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