Mariners sweep Bucs to earn top seed at districts
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POLSON — They made it a little closer than maybe it should have been, but the Mission Valley Mariners secured the number one seed at the Western A District Tournament this week in their final doubleheader of the season.
After letting the Missoula Mavericks back in the conference race after being swept by the Mavs in a doubleheader in Missoula Wednesday, the Mariners took care of business at home Friday by sweeping the Bucs in their final two games of the regular season.
Even after the 9-0 and 14-7 victories Friday, the Mariners had to wait and read the paper Sunday morning to see learn if they would share the regular-season title with the Mavs. The Mavs split their final doubleheader giving the Mariners the outright conference lead.
The Mariners finished the season 37-16 and 12-4 in conference. They will play the Glacier Twins Thursday at 3 p.m. in Hamilton. The Mariners are 3-1 against the Twins.
The Mariners made the final game of the season maybe a little closer than it should have beenalso. After jumping out to an 8-0 lead after the first inning, they let the Bucs crawl back and only had a two-run lead before scoring 5 five in the bottom of the sixth. The Mariners were also racing against the fading daylight in the 2-hour, 39-minute game and were barely able to play all seven innings, but before the sun set the Mariners at least had a share of the conference title.
The Mariners entered the doubleheader against the Mavs as winners of 10 of their last 12 games, but left Missoula stunned after the Mavs handing handed them 3-2 and 9-6 losses. But nothing will get a team right than knowing their ace is going to take the mound the next game.
Mariner southpaw Kyle Bagnell headed into the opener against the Bucs with a six-game win streak and a 31-inning scoreless streak. Bagnell added to his remarkable, record-breaking year by setting the Mariner single-game strikeout record. Bagnell finished with 20 strikeouts and only allowed two hits as he extended his scoreless-inning streak to 38 innings.
Mariner first baseman Matt Detwiler was 2 for 4 with four RBIs. He drove in two of Mariners three runs in the fifth with a double and also had a two-run single in the sixth.
Derrick Rathe was 2 for 3 and drove in two runs with a single in the Mariners’ three-run first inning.
In the nightcap, Bucs starting pitcher Jeremy Johnson didn’t make it through the first inning. Six of the first seven Mariner reached base and 12 batters came to the plate in the eight-run inning. Second baseman Will Wallace drove in two with a single. Wallace finished 2-4 with three RBIs and also had six assists on defense. Detwiler, who went 3 for 3 to finish the doubleheader 7 for 7, had a RBI single in the first and third baseman Tyler Linse had a base-clearing double for three of his four RBIs in the game.
Justin Evertz started the game for the Mariners. He gave up six runs on four hits before being relieved by Josh Rustad in the fifth. Rustad gave up one run on four hits and struck out three in three innings of work.
The Mariners outhit the Mavs 7-2 in the opener Wednesday, but still lost 3-2. All three Mavs’ runs were unearned, with one coming home on a wild pitch and another on a passed ball.
Rathe went 4 2/3 innings for the Mariners, giving up three runs on two hits. He struck out seven, but also walked seven – all three Missoula runs were scored by Mavs that were walked.
The Mariners took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third after a RBI triple by catcher Tim Rausch. Down 3-1, outfielder Chris Alfiero led off the seventh with a single and came around to score, when Kaileb Gillingham hit into a fielder’s choice. Justin Evans, the would-be tying run, followed Alfiero with a single, but was stranded at third base.
In the nightcap, the Mariners tied it at 3 in the third inning with a fielder’s choice by Evertz and a two-run single by Bagnell, but the Mavs scored two runs in each of the next three innings for the 9-6 victory.
Bagnell went 2 for 3 with three RBIs. Rathe was 2 for 3 and scored two runs. Rausch was 1 for 3 and scored three runs, with one of them coming on his solo home run in the top of the seventh.
Summary
Missoula 3, Mission Valley 2
Mission V. 0 0 1 0 0 0 1–2 7 0
Missoula 0 0 0 1 2 0 x–3 2 0
Derrick Rathe, Josh Rustad (5) and Tim Rausch. Stuart Breckinridge and Luke Bewley. W - Breckinridge. L - Rathe.
MISSION VALLEY - Kaileb Gillingham 0-3, Tyler Linse 1-4, Tim Rausch 1-2, Kyle Bagnell 0-2, Justin Evertz 2-3, Matt Detwiler 1-3, Chris Alfiero 1-2, Justin Evans 0-2, Cory Hardy 0-2. Derrick Rathe 1-1.
Missoula 9, Mission Valley 6
Mission V. 0 0 0 3 0 2 1–6 8 4
Missoula 0 3 0 2 2 2 x–9 8 3
Josh Rustad, Jay Sorrell (3), Xavier Morigeau (6). Tres Cunningham, Tanner Rheinschmidt (7) and Luke Bewley. W - Cunningham. L - Sorrell.
MISSION VALLEY - Kaileb Gillingham 1-4, Tyler Linse 0-4, Tim Rausch 1-3, Derrick Rathe 2-3, Cory Hardy 1-1, Justin Evertz 0-3, Xavier Morigeau 0-2, Kyle Bagnell 2-3, Justin Evans 1-3, Chris Alfiero 0-3.
Mission Valley 9, Bitterroot 0
Bitterroot 0 0 0 0 0 0 0–0 2 4
Mission V. 3 0 0 0 3 3 x–9 7 1
Austin Erler, Cody Roshoven (5) and Billy Henna. Kyle Bagnell and Tim Rausch. W - Bagnell. L - Erler.
MISSION VALLEY - Kaileb Gillingham 0-4, Tyler Linse 1-3, Tim Rausch 0-1, Derrick Rathe 2-3, Justin Evertz 1-2, Matt Detwiler 2-4, Chris Alfiero 1-3, Justin Evans 0-3, Cory Hardy 0-2.
Mission Valley 14, Bitterroot 7
Bitterroot 0 4 0 2 1 0 0–7 8 3
Mission V. 8 0 1 0 0 5 x–14 12 5
Jeremy Johnson, Austin Nagle (1) R.T. Llewellyn (6). Justin Evertz, Josh Rustad (5) and Kalileb Gillingham. W - Rustad. L - Johnson.
MISSION VALLEY - Kaileb Gillingham 1-3, Tyler Linse 1-3, Tim Rausch 1-3, Derrick Rathe 0-2, Chris Alfiero 0-2, Xavier Morigeau 1-3, Matt Detwiler 3-3, Will Wallace 4-2, Justin Evans 0-3, Josh Rustad 1-1, Cory Hardy 1-1, Justin Evertz 1-1.
