Mariners fall to Dodgers in state championship game
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Laurel’s Cole Dooper pitched the entire game, allowing only one run while striking out five.
Mariner Dalton Molzhon led his team at the plate, hitting 2-3, while seven other Mariners finished the game with one hit.
Dodger Ryan Caron smacked three hits, including a pair of doubles and four RBIs, while teammate Kyler Worden added a pair of doubles and an RBI.
Laurel advanced to the Northwest Regional in Roseburg, Ore, where game play begins this weekend.
The Mariners finished the season 43-26, and look to reload with solid talent coming up from their B team, which did some damage to A teams earlier in the season.
Mission Valley defeated the Great Falls Electrics for a second time in the tournament during the semi-final match up, 12-0.
The Mariners upset the No. 1 seed Great Falls Electrics twice, before falling to the Dodgers in the final game. Mission Valley came into the state tournament as a No. 2 seed after the Libby Loggers secured the Western District Championship one week earlier. The Mariners blew out both the Great Falls Electrics in the opening round, followed by a 15-0 win over the Belgrade Bandits on Friday.
The Mariners’ first, second and only roadblock of the tournament was served up by the defending “A” Champion Laurel Dodgers, who edged the Mariners 6-2 on Saturday, sending Mission Valley to the loser’s bracket where they won big over Libby 11-3, advancing to again play Great Falls in game 14 on Monday.
The Mariners beat the Great Falls Electrics 12-0 in seven inning. With the win, the Mariners played their toughest opponent of the tournament once more, but this time the ultimate prize was on the line. Mission Valley got off to a slow start, eventually losing the championship game.
The Mariners proved on opening day of the Class A State Legion Baseball Tournament that records mean nothing. The No. 1 seed Great Fall Electrics came in on Thursday with a 52-10 record which is the best Legion record in the state, but that meant nothing to the No. 2 seed Mission Valley Mariners (40-27) who beat up on the Electrics, winning 16-6 in a shortened game via the 10-run margin rule.
Mariner pitcher Josh Rustad picked up the win on the mound, fanning eight in the seven inning game.
During the top of the first inning, Chris Clary smacked a single, allowing Mariner catcher Jack Humphries to slide into home to take an early lead of 1-0. The Mariners continued their winning ways in the second, as Kevin Hagedorn picked up a run to lead 2-0. The Electrics showed a spark of life in the bottom of the inning after the Mariners made an error at second, which allowed Great Falls to pick up a triple, which would eventually lead to a Great Falls run, bringing the team within one run.
In the top of the third inning, Chris Clary drove in Justin Evertz for the team’s third run of the game. In the bottom of the inning, Dalton Cook drove in an RBI, before Justin Pfennings smacked a double to tie the game at 3-3.
The Mariners continued to put up runs during the top of the fourth after Dalton Molzhon was brought home by Jacob Young’s triple, bringing fans to their feet. The game remained close throughout the game, until the Mariners used an eight-run sixth to break a 6-6 tie, and to seal their opening round with a 16-6 win.
Robbie Gauthier and Derrick Rathe finished the game with two hits, a double, and three RBIs, while Molzhon had two hits and a two-run single.
On Friday, the Mariners downed their second No. 1 seed opponent of the tournament, the Belgrade Bandits. Mariner pitcher Justin Evertz pitched a no hitter while striking out eight and walking five, allowing the Mariners beat up on the Bandits, winning 15-0.
With great defense came great offense for the Mariners, as they wasted no time filling the bases in the bottom of the first, but they couldn’t convert as two back-to-back strike outs left them empty handed. But this was only a preview of what was to come from the heavy-hitting Mariners for the remainder of the game.
As the game progressed into the second inning, the Mariners began to heat up in the batters box, as Jacob Young singled to RBI Derrick Rathe, opening up an early one-run lead.
Mission Valley continued to hold the Bandits to no runs as the Mariners slowly built their lead until blowing the game wide open in the top of the sixth, as the Mariners loaded the bases for Young, who sent the ball soaring beyond the outfield fence for a grand slam to now lead 9-0. The Mariners capped the game at 15-0 in the top of the eighth after scoring an additional six runs to end the game with a big blowout win.
Seven Mariners ended the game with multiple hits, while Jack Humphreys and Young added doubles.
As the Mariners advanced to Saturday’s unbeaten game, they were playing incredible ball, downing two No. 1 seeds in two days. The team then played against the defending “A” champions, the Laurel Dodgers and experienced their first speed bump. The Dodgers made few mistakes throughout the game, making it difficult for the Mariners to convert runners at home at the end of the game.
Laurel picked up an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, with Mission Valley hanging with them after picking up a pair of runs in the second to take a quick 2-1 lead.
A pair of runs for the Dodgers gave them a one-run edge in the bottom of the third, which began a four inning stand-off with both teams unable to put up runs.
In the top of the fifth Humphreys came close to tying the game as he made his way to home, but was met by Laurel catcher Ryan Caron who tagged him inches from the plate.
Laurel ended the game with a three-run bottom of the eighth to win 6-2.
With the loss the Mariners played the Western District Champion Libby Loggers Sunday Morning, where Josh Rustad threw the complete game, striking out 13 and limiting the Loggers to only six hits, as the Mariners picked up the 11-3 win.
The Mariners jumped out to a 4-0 lead during the first three innings, but the Loggers didn’t lay down and scored three during the top of the sixth. Kevin Hagedorn answered in the bottom of the inning with a two-run home run, setting the tone for the remainder of the game.
Hagedorn sent two runners home in the bottom of the seventh after he smacked a single to give the Mariners an 8-3 lead. The team added three additional runs in the bottom of the eighth as Robbie Gauthier drove in a run, followed by a double by Austin Von Tom.
The Mariners finished a season to remember and should be able to make a strong run next year with up-and-coming talent from their B team.
