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Jumpstart to summer

Mariners go 2-2 in Helena, Bagnell tosses no-no

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The difference between the Mission Valley Mariners’ wins and losses at the Cloninger Classic American Legion Baseball Tournament at the Kindrick Legion Field in Helena Saturday and Sunday were night and day – or morning and afternoon.

The Mariners went 2-2 at the tournament with both of their wins coming in the afternoon. They cruised past the Helena Reps 8-0 Saturday and ended the tournament on a high note with a 17-0 thrashing of the Butte Muckers Sunday. 

In their games after 12 o’clock the Mariners looked spectacular. Their pitching staff didn’t allow a run and gave up only two hits – with none of the hits coming, when Mariner ace Kyle Bagnell took the mound against the tournament host Saturday – and their bats came alive, scoring 25 runs on 16 hits.

In the morning games it was a different story. The Mariners had only five hits and just crossed the plate one time. They opened the tournament with an 8-0 loss to Great Falls and were kept out of the championship game with a 6-1 loss to Livingston Sunday morning. The Braves went on to defeat the Electrics in the championship game.

Missing six players from their lineup and seeing limited playing time because of the rain leading up to the tournament, Mariner manager Jami Hanson was pleased with his team’s performance at the tournament.

“Regardless of total wins and losses. We were 2-2. We always ask the kids to make sure they split on the road and they did that,” Hanson said. “This is a good experience for a lot of these kids.”

Six of the Mariners’ veterans missing all or some of the tournament because of graduation gave some of the younger Mariners the chance to see some action and Hanson liked what he saw from them.

“They did fine. They made some mistakes, but they’re learning to play and that’s what it is about,” Hanson said. “I’m proud of them,” he added.

With the split at the tournament the Mariners sit at 9-9 on the season and remain at 1-1 in conference play. With school out for the summer and hopefully all the weather behind them, Hanson hopes with some continuity the Mariners will start stringing wins together. He watched his team take some big strides to becoming a championship caliber team at the Helena tournament.

“We lost some games, but I thought our pitching was pretty good all weekend. The kids threw well, they threw strikes, which the last couple of games hasn’t been there,” Hanson said. “The thing is our sticks have been pretty quiet, so it’s going to take a little time to get back in the swing of things. It’s almost like we started and stopped the season because of the weather and things. We need to get some continuity back and get things going.” 

Bagnell set the tone early against the Reps to pick up his first no-hitter of the season and third of his career. The southpaw, who kept the Bitterroot Bucs hitless for 8 2/3 innings his last start, struck out the side in the first and second inning and fanned 10 of the first 13 batters he faced, with most of the strikeouts coming on some ugly swings at his curveball. The Mariners’ defense wasn’t tested much, out of the 18 Helena outs in game, 14 of them came on strikeouts and Bagnell had a hand in two of the four put outs. 

“His curveball was working, he was hitting his spots. Everything was working, pretty much. He made those guys look silly. He was dealing,” Mariner catcher Xavier Morigeau said. “I’m proud of him.”

Bagnell didn’t issue a walk and the only two Reps baserunners reached by error. Bagnell also was 1 for 2 at the plate and ended the game in the sixth by driving in Morigeau with a double. With the victory, Bagnell kept his record spotless improving to 3-0 on the season. 

“Kyle should be a dominating force every time he steps up on the mound. He’s got confidence in all his pitches and he throws all his pitches,” Hanson said.

Mariner second baseman Kaileb Gillingham was 3 for 4 in the game with three RBIs and two runs. Batting in the leadoff spot, Gillingham started the game with a single and came home on a Morigeau sac fly to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead after one inning. Gillingham drove in two runs with a double and came around to score on a Justin Evertz single in Mariners’ five-run fifth inning. The Mariners had only three hits in the inning, but had four players reach base either by walk or being hit by a pitch. First baseman Chris Clary had the other hit in the inning – a RBI single.

In the 17-0 finale against a young Butte squad, 14 of the 16 Mariners who played in the game reached base, with only nine of them coming via base hits. The Muckers’ pitching staff not only issued eight walks, but they also hit nine batters.
 
Out of the nine hits, none were bigger than Tim Rausch’s three-run shot over the left field fence in the Mariners’ four-run third inning, which was their second four-run inning of the game. Playing in his first game of the tournament, Rausch finished 2 for 3 with four runs and four RBIs. 
 
Filling in for Gillingham at second, Jake Young went 2 for 3 with a RBI and two runs. First basemen Bagnell and Clary each went 1 for 2 with two RBIs. Matt Detwiler also had two RBIs in the game.
 
Jay Sorrell picked up on the win. Sorrell didn’t allow a baserunner until the third inning, when he gave up a single. Sorrell gave up only one more hit, which was also a single, the rest of the way. In just five innings of work, Sorrell had 6 Ks and no walks.
 
In his first start since pitching in Helena last year, Tyler Linse took the mound against Great Falls to open the tournament. Linse didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning, but he was already down 1-0 at that point. After issuing a walk to the Electrics’ leadoff  hitter in the third, Linse watched him come around to score after a wild pitch and a balk. It was just that kind of tough luck day for Linse, a day where he gave up eight runs on only six hits. Linse was touched for three runs in the fourth. The Electrics only had one hit in the inning, but were helped by two Mariner errors. 
 
Linse (0-1) struck out three and issued four walks. He also had the Mariners’ only hit in the game – a one-out double in the top of the sixth.
 
In the game to determine who would play Great Falls in the championship game, the Mariners fell behind to the Brave 5-0 after two innings and never could recover.
 
After giving up five hits in the first two innings, Justin Evertz only gave up one the rest of the way. Evertz struck out six and walked four in 4 2/3 innings for the loss. Josh Rustad struck out four and gave up a run in 2 1/3 innings of relief work.
 
The Mariners had only four hits in the game, with Linse accounting for three of them. Centerfielder Cory Hardy led off the third by beating out a bunt and was driven in by Linse’s second double of the game. The third baseman was 5 for 10 over the weekend.
 
“He (Linse) is starting to feel some things. His swing hasn’t been bad all year. He’s been hitting, but it’s like his hits have been losing their umph or something. This week he tweaked some things and he’s right there,” Hanson said.
 
And after the Helena tournament, Hanson things the rest of the team will be right there pretty soon.
 
“Now, we go from here. We’ll keep working on it. It really doesn’t mean a whole lot until you get to July,” Hanson said.
 
Summary
Great Falls 8, Mission Valley 0
Mission Valley 000 000–0 1 3
Great Falls 010 313–8 5 1
Tyler Linse and Xavier Morigeau. Tanner Lee and Destin Wassmann. W - Lee. L - Linse (0-1).
MISSION VALLEY - Kaileb Gillingham 0-3, Tyler Linse 1-3, Xavier Morigeau 0-2, Kyle Bagnell 0-3, Josh Rustad 0-2, Justin Evertz 0-2, Robbie Gauthier 0-2, Kevin Hagedorn 0-1, Cory Hardy 0-2.
GREAT FALLS - Wassman 2-4, Taylor Davis 1-3, Cayden Napierala 1-2, Scott Held 0-2, Chad Barrrett 0-2, Tyson Paterson 1-3, Spenser Hadtick 0-3, Same Wineberther 0-2, Robb Schuenck 0-2.
 
Mission Valley 8, Helena 0
Helena 000 000–0 0 2
Mission V. 100 151–8 7 2
Kyle Bagnell and Xavier Morigeau. Dan Hanson and Tanner Rock (5), and Tristan Shea. W. Bagnell (3-0). L - Hanson.
HELENA - Shea 0-3, Ryan Estep 0-3, Ray Schnur 0-2, Jarin Gasset 0-3, Marcus Lindgren 0-2, Dawson Reardon 0-2, Hanson 0-2, Wyatt Eckert 0-2, Lee Mueller 0-2.
MISSION VALLEY - Kaileb Gillingham 3-4, Tyler Linse 1-2, Justin Evertz 1-4, Morigeau 0-2, Kyle Bagnell 1-2, Chris Clary 1-3, Cole McArthur 0-2, Kevin Hagedorn 1-2, Cory Hardy 0-1.
 
Livingston 6, Mission Valley 1
Livingston 230 001 0–6 8 0
Mission V. 001 000 0–1 4 5
Riley Kurschner and Trent Birge. Justin Evertz and Josh Rustad (5) and Jack Humphreys. W - Kurschner. L - Evertz.
LIVINGSTON - Matt Smith 0-3, Landon Willyerd 2-4, Sam Bisson 2-4, Jason Rogers 2-4, Ron Kurschner 2-3, Birge 0-4, Mike Severson 0-4, Austin Montross 0-3, Scott Wilson 0-2, Hayden Darr 0-1.
MISSION VALLEY - Kaileb Gillingham 0-2, Tyler Linse 3-3, Kyle Bagnell 0-3, Xavier Morigeau 0-2, Chris Clary 0-3, Humphreys 0-3, Robbie Gauthier 0-2, Evertz 0-1, Rustad 0-1, Cory Hardy 1-2, Jake Young 0-1.
 
Mission Valley 17, Butte 0 
Mission V. 144 53–17 9 1
Butte 000 00–0 2 6
Jay Sorrell and Tim Rausch. Sean Jemmings, Cody Sletton (3), Tyler Harney (4), Kaeden Caprara (5) and Dax Deddrick.
W - Sorrell. L - Jemmings.
MISSION VALLEY - Kaileb Gillingham 1-1, Jake Young 2-3, Tyler Linse 0-2, Cole McArthur 0-1, Rausch 2-3, Matt Detwiler 1-1, Sorrell 0-1, Kyle Bagnell 1-1, Chris Clary 1-1, Cory Hardy 0-2, Kevin Hagadorn 0-3, Dalton Mohlzohn 0-3, A. Von Tom 0-3, Justin Evertz 1-1, Robbie Gauthier 0-2.
BUTTE - Conner McCarthy 0-2, Tyler Baker 1-2, Chris Renz 0-2, Sean Carran 0-2, Jemmings 0-1, Drew Schleiman 0-2, Dddrick 1-2, Dylan Morris 0-2, Jordan Leprows 0-1, Caprara 0-1.
 

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