Mariner shine at Harp tournament

by John Heglie Special to Leader
| July 12, 2018 12:42 PM

At Kalispell, the Mission Valley A Mariners competed in the annual Harp Memorial Tournament hosted by the Lakers. Mission Valley would face three Canadian teams from Alberta and match up against the host Lakers for the sixth time thus far this season.

Their first opponent would be the Fort MacLeod Royals, whom they dethroned in a lopsided 20-1 shellacking. Corbin Davis bludgeoned four hits for a pair of RBIs, while Izyk Gillingham drove in four runs and Xavier Fisher three.

Next, the Mariners jousted with some Knights, toppling Medicine Hat by a score of 13-6. Mission Valley was forced to rally from a minor 3-4 deficit when they plated a quintet in the fifth to shape the outcome of the contest in their favor.

Their second game of Saturday found them squaring off against a familiar foe in the tournament host Lakers. Mission Valley squeaked out their first encounter back in April, but had since come up short in their past four skirmishes. This time around they plated five runs through the early innings, but watched their lead evaporate when the Lakers went up 6-5 in the top half of the fourth. The Mariners countered with a quintet of their own to reacquire the advantage 10-6. Dylan Wisniewski would get the win, helping out his cause with a pair of hits that included a double while generating a trio of RBIs.

The tournament finale against Vauxhall would flip the script on their pristine tournament record up to that point as the Spurs dug their bats into Mariner pitching from the onset, opening up a chasm from which Mission Valley struggled to extract themselves. Overall, the tournament was a success from the standpoint that the 3-1 performance boosted their overall record to 23-18.

The Mariners will have already played the Bitterroot Red Sox by press time, but are slated to host a doubleheader against Libby on Monday, July 16, in Polson.

2018 John R. Harp Memorial Tournament

Kalispell, MT

July 6-8

Vauxhall Spurs 15, MV A Mariners 5

MV A Mariners (23-18)

Vauxhall, AB 720 010 5 – 15 12 2

Mission Valley 010 040 0 – 5 4 1

Carson Troidl (5K), (6) Darian Simmons and catcher. Eric Dolence, Xavier Fisher, Espn Fisher and Izyk Gillingham.

VAUXHALL SPURS – Hunter Johnson 4H(3RBI), Jayden Bexta 2H, Bryden Sillito 2H(4RBI)

MISSION VALLEY A MARINERS – Bryant Hales (3BB)

(Su08Jul18)

MV A Mariners 12, A Lakers 8

MV A Mariners (23-17)

Kalispell Lakers 101 410 1 – 8 11 4

Mission Valley 320 502 x – 12 14 0

Dylan Wisniewski and Izyk Gillingham. Nate Kelly. W – Wisniewski.

KALISPELL A LAKERS – Ben Corriveau 1-4, Grant Marsh 1-5, Thomas O’Connell 1-2, Ryan McDonald 1-2, Kelly 0-1, Payton Davisson 2-2, Connor Drish 1-3, Chad quen 0-2, Jack Corriveau 3-4, Reid Barrows 1-3.

MISSION VALLEY A MARINERS – Keyan Dalbey 2-4, Tyson Petticrew 1-4, Gillingham 1-2, Corbin Davis 1-3, Wisniewski 2-4, Eric Dolence 2-3, Bryant Hales 1-2, James Bennett 2-4, Xavier Fisher 2-4.

2B – O-Connell, J.Corriveau 2, McDonald; Dolence, X.Fisher, Wisniewski. RBIs – McDonald 2, Davisson 2, J.Corriveau, Barrows 2; Gillingham 2, Wisniewski 3, Dolence 3, X.Fisher 3. (Sa07Jul18gm2) host version

MV A Mariners 13, K of C Knights 6

MV A Mariners (22-17)

Mission Valley 210 054 1 – 13 11 3

Medicine Hat 103 000 2 – 6 8 8

Brandon Hauck (2K), Carter Krause (7.67) and catcher. James Bennett (5K,5W), (5) Gabe Mergenthaler (1W) and Izyk Gillingham.

MISSION VALLEY A MARINERS – Keyan Dalbey 1-5, Tyson Petticrew 2-4, Gillingham 2-3(HB), Corbin Davis 2-4, Dylan Wisniewski 1-3(BB), Eric Dolence 0-2(2BB), Bryant Hales 1-4, Mergenthaler 1-3(BB), Xavier Fisher 1-4.

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS KNIGHTS – Connor Drever 2-4, Cole Rath 1-3, Reese Whelen 1-3, Kayden Berndt (SF), Jayden Ball 1-4, Heydon Harrison 1-4, Kobe Coderre 2-3.

RBIs – Dalbey, Petticrew, C.Davis 3, Gillingham, Wisniewski, Mergenthaler; Berndt, Ball, Coderre, Drew Niwa. (Sa07Jul18gm1) Canadian version

MV A Mariners 20, FM Royals 1

MV A Mariners (21-17), FM Royals (15-13-1)

Mission Valley 215 (10)2 – 20 11 3

Fort MacLeod 000 ( 0 )1 – 1 2 4

Beau Walter, (4.67) Josh Conley and catcher. Nate Ziegler (1K) and Izyk Gillingham.

MISSION VALLEY MARINERS – Gillingham 1(BB), Corbin Davis 4, Eric Dolence (3BB), Bryant Hales (2BB), Xavier Fisher 2

RBIs – Gillingham 4, X.Fisher 3, Davis 2 (Fr06Jul18)

NOTE: stat specs derived from MVM opponent sources. Crossreferencing with Mariner renditions were unavailable prior to presstime.