Loggers sharpen axes for District tourney

  Sometimes, it’s tough to determine which Libby Loggers baseball team will take to the field, and that was the case this week.

The Loggers are neither consistently good nor do they play consistently poorly. One thing is for sure: They are consistently inconsistent.

What they are is confusing, going 5-2 this week and continuing to show some inexperience.

It appeared the Loggers found some momentum and confidence as they blasted Kootenai Valley twice last Wednesday at home, 9-2 and 11-1.

Jared Winslow remained a bright spot for the Loggers, pitching a complete game against the Rangers, allowing two runs and striking out 15 batters, while Luke Haggerty backed him up with three RBIs. 

The second game against the Rangers was even more of a blowout, and Will Reichel got to rest his arm after only five innings. Four teammates contributed two RBIs a piece to put the Rangers away.

All the mojo gained from the wins over Kootenai Valley seemed to vanish in the sixth inning of the first game against the Bitterroot Red Sox.

Micah Germany had a shutout going into the sixth against the Red Sox when the Loggers collapsed.

Two hits, four errors and five runs later, Germany was still on the mound, but the Red Sox had circled him.

“We had a lapse in our fielding,” Germany said. “We couldn’t get things going. It was a mental thing.”

Frustration clearly set in among the Loggers, and they dropped the first game 7-3, which included an injury to first baseman Matt Willis.

“He re-aggravated some ligaments,” said Head Coach Kelly Morford. “We hope to have him back by Districts.” 

After the next game, a five-inning slaughter the Loggers lost 19-3; there was no one to blame. The team just seemed to get down on itself as the Red Sox did a conga-line around the bases.

“Everything just happened at once,” Morford said. “The wheels came off. I don’t think we ever mentally recovered from that first loss. Once we got our wits back, we were already down 6-0.”

Pint-size pitcher Tanner Lehr put quality innings in both games for the Red Sox, dropping killer breaking balls from his 5’3” (that may be generous) frame. The Loggers cobbled together its bullpen, and the weariness from the tough schedule showed.

Cameron Burkes allowed four hits, walked five and allowed eight runs in his third of an inning, resulting in a skyrocketing ERA of 216.00.

The Loggers reversed their fortune the next morning, as Oliver Grupenhoff pitched two hitless innings and went two-for-three with two RBIs. Luke Haggerty snagged the win.

Any doubts from the Bitterroot games seemingly washed away as Winslow took the hill on Sunday against the Glacier Twins and pitched a complete-game shutout, 9-0.

The Loggers’ bats grew hot as well, with Germany going three-for-four and Burkes going two-for-three, scoring two runs each.

Libby shut down the Twins again in the second game of the doubleheader, 9-3, helped as much by Reichel’s seven superb innings as by Glacier’s five errors.

The Loggers will hope to maintain the inertia from these wins in the District Tournament Thursday, when the No. 3 seed Loggers face the Bitterroot Red Sox at 1 p.m. in Missoula.