Local players headed to Veterans Memorial Classic

Several Mission Valley softball players will participate in the eighth annual Veterans Memorial Classic to be held in Belgrade the first full weekend of August. The format utilizes the rubric of five teams derived from different branches of the military, each named in honor of an enlistee who served that branch.

Competing for the Dean Coleman Navy team will be Kooper Page of Mission, Mckenna Hanson of Polson, Macao Jackson of Ronan and Grace Hardy of Missoula Sentinel, who has extended relations in the area since both parents graduated from Charlo.

The Louis Charlo Marines team will include Polson’s Katelyne Druyvestein and Kobbey Smith, along with Cassidy Bagnell of Frenchtown, who is the niece of doctors Timothy and Kelly Bagnell.

Patrolling with the Michael Kirkpatrick Coast Guard team will be Jerny Crawford of Arlee and Lexy Orien of Polson.

Flying for the Dean Pogreba Air Force team will be M-A-C's Liev Smith of Charlo.

Also included among the tournament format will be a home run derby, base running as well as pop-to-pop contests in which contestants will measure their hitting, base running and throwing prowess against one another.