Mariners battle to the brink
By JOHN HEGLIE
for the Lake County Leader
At Florence, the Mission Valley Mariners saw their season grind to a halt when they came out on the short of the scoreboard in two gut wrenching games that hung in the balance. Stranding at least a dozen runners in both contests would come back to haunt them as the innings wound down to the final outs.
Kalispell A Lakers 10, MVA Mariners 9 (gm3 lo)
The Mariners played one of their better games of the season against the Lakers, but the fickleness of fortune would fracture their aspirations for a more favorable outcome.
Trailing by a trio entering the final frame, the Mariners mounted their assault that almost pulled the rabbit of a rally out of the magician’s hat for the win. Catcher Warren Wood would start things off with a bang with a solo dinger that cut the lead to a pair 8-10. Another run would close the gap further to a single score. The M’s looked like they might be poised on the precipice to advance to the next round when they loaded the bases with two out. Nyqolas Gillingham would light one up for a laser liner down the first base line that would have scored all three runners if only the fielder had been preoccupied with other issues than the task at hand. Unfortunately, a defensive flinch by the fielder that relied more on instinct than execution would snare the potential game winning hit, grinding to a halt the game and snapping the lid shut on the Mariner season.
Mission Valley stranded fourteen over the course of the contest, a problematic conundrum in a game upon which the outcome hinges on a single run. The loss wraps up the season with the Mariners (28-26).
MARINERS 000 114 012 – 9 14 3
LAKERS 102 003 40x – 10 12 6
Tyson Petticrew (1H), Brendan Blood (1) and Warren Wood, Karsen Krebs (4). Brady Peiffer, Clayton Jaques (6), Drew Scherrer (9) and Keaden Morisaki. W – Jaques. L – Blood (5K,3W).
MISSION VALLEY – Anthony Jones 0-5, Jacob Harrod 3-5, Bransen Krebs 2-5, Walter Wood 0-3, Karsen Krebs 0-4, Nyqolas Gillingham 2-6, Schutzmann 1-3, War.Wood 3-3, Micah McClure 1-5, Bryant Hales 2-5.
KALISPELL – Ryan Symmes 1-4, Randy Stultz 0-4, Morisaki 1-5, Eric Seaman 1-5, Sam Elliot 3-4, Jaycob Serrano 2-3, Adam Joy 1-3, Jaryan Ventrini 2-4, Tyler Kitch 1-4.
HR – War.Wood, B.Krebs. 2B – Harrod 2; Seaman. RBIs – Harrod 3, B.Krebs, K.Krebs, War.Wood, McClure, Hales; Symmes 2, Seaman, Serrano, Joy, Ventrini, Kitch 2. SacB – Schutzmann. SacF – Symmes. BB – A.Jones, Schutzmann, B.Krebs, Harrod; Serrano, Elliot, Joy. HB – Wal.Wood; Stultz, Serrano. SB – B.Krebs, Hales 2; Symmes. (Sa23Jul16gm3)
MVA Mariners 15, Libby Loggers 5 (gm2)
In a District consolation round, the Mariners rallied after trailing to knot the contest up at four apiece, then went on a rampage by running through their entire order and then some in the seventh, ten run ruling the contest thereafter. Jacob Harrod started on the mound, negotiating his way through an early bout of hiccups by working out of a bases loaded jam when he induced an inning ending groundout. Kade Schutzmann would take over hurling duties and reaped the benefit of the win when Mariner bats started to find their stroke. The M’s generated a half dozen extra base hits that included a Harrod home run, a Warren Wood triple along with a quartet of doubles from Harrod, Schutzmann, Nyqolas Gillingam and Brandsen Krebs.
Loggers 211 000 10 – 5 *7 *4
Mariners 102 121 71 – 15 *20 *3
Brady Bateman, Dylon Lane (7), Collin Johnson (7), Shane Walker (8) and Lane, B.Bateman (7). Jacob Harrod (4K,1H,4W,2HB) Kade Schutzmann (3) and Warren Wood. W – Schutzmann . L – B.Bateman.
LIBBY – Seth Bateman 1-2, Lane 0-2, B.Bateman 1-3, Erik Lauer 0-5(E), Tim Carvey 1-5, *Brayden Thom 1-3, Walker 0-2, *Johnson 2-4, Tanner Wood 2-3.
MISSION VALLEY – Anthony Jones *4-5, Harrod 2-4(E,FC), Bransen Krebs 2-3, Walter Wood 2-4, Nyqolas Gillingham *3-5, Schutzmann 2-5, War.Wood 1-2, Bryant Hales 3-5, Tyson Petticrew 1-3, Brendon Blood 0-1(FC).
HR – Harrod. 3B – War.Wood. 2B – B.Bateman; Schutzmann, Gillingham, Krebs, Harrod. RBIs – S.Bateman, Lauer, Carvey 2, T.Wood; Harrod 2, B.Krebs, Wal.Wood, N.Gillingham 3, Hales, Petticrew 2. SacB – A.Jones, Wal.Wood, Harrod, B.Krebs, War.Wood. SacF – S.Bateman. BB – B.Bateman 2, Thom, Lane 2, S.Bateman, Walker 2; B.Krebs, War.Wood 2. HB – T.Wood, Lane, S.Bateman; Petticrew. SB – Schutzmann. (Fr22Jul16gm2)
Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s): LL 9H,5E – Lauer 1-5(EvsH), Thom 3AB (K,W,GO,H,K), Johnson 2-4 (EvsH); MVM 19H,1E – A.Jones 3-4 (E,H,Sac,H,H,H), N.Gillingham 3-4(PO,PO,H,H,H)
Bitterroot Bucs 4, MVA Mariners 1
The Mariners stranded a dozen runners over the course of the contest. But more detrimental to coming out on the short end of the scoreboard were the ten left in scoring position, a trio of those standing on third base. With two out in the second inning, the Mariners loaded the bases, but couldn’t get that timely hit. Tyson Petticrew tripled in the fourth frame with two away, but the intended hit into right field to score him was gloved to end the inning. The loss routed Mission Valley to the consolation round, where they will battle back for a slot among the hardware rounds.
Mariners 000 000 100 – 1 *8 1
Bucs 040 000 00x – 4 *6 0
Micah McClure (6K,3W) and Warren Wood. Dylan Gavlak and Jake Scully. W – D.Gavlak. L – McClure.
MISSION VALLEY – Anthony Jones 0-4, Jacob Harrod 3-5, Bransen Krebs 1-5, Walter Wood 0-5(FC), Kade Schutzmann *0-3(FC), Warren Wood 0-3, Nyqolas Gillingham 1-4, Karsen Krebs 1-3, Tyson Petticrew 2-3.
BITTERROOT BUCS – Bo Zeiler 0-1, Alex Gavlak 1-1, Dylan Gavlak 1-4, Jake Finley 0-3, Rees LeSoine *1-3(E), Liam LeCoure 0-4, Braxton McCullough 1-4, Brendan Schneiter 0-3, Jake Scully 1-4, Brenden Bailey *1-2.
3B – Petticrew. 2B – D.Gavlak, A.Gavlak. RBIs – B. Krebs; A.Gavlak, D.Gavlak, McCullough, Scully. SacB –War.Wood; Zeiler. SacF – Zeiler. BB – Petticrew, Schutzmann, A.Jones; Schneiter, LeSoine, Bailey. HB – K.Krebs; Finley. SB – LeSoine.
Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s): MV 9H,0E; BB 8H. MVM – Schutzmann 1H; BB – batter#1 (PO,SacF,1B,SacB), LeSoine (EvsH), Bailey 2H(FCvsH).
Other Western A District scores:
Red Sox 23, Twins 2
Twins 11, Lakers 10
Lakers 4, Bucs 3
Red Sox 9, Glacier 2
Bucs 18, Mavs 4 (lo)
Twins 4, Bucs 2
Red Sox 7, Lakers 3
Mavs 9, Rangers 8 (lo)
Glacier Twins 11, Libby Loggers 1
Kalispell A Lakers 5, Missoula Mavericks 4
Bitterroot Red Sox 11, KV Rangers 0