Loggers sweep doubleheader at home

In a show of strength, the Libby Loggers swept the Missoula Mavericks with two doubleheader wins on Tuesday at Lee Gehring Memorial Field. 

The Loggers snagged 11 runs in the first game, and the Mavericks tallied five. In the second game, the Loggers beat the Mavericks 6-5. 

The Mavericks had a combined 16 hits, and the Loggers had a combined 20. 

The Loggers broke a streak of error-prone games by keeping mistakes at a minimum against the Mavericks. In the first game, the Mavericks committed four errors, and the Loggers committed two. In the second game, the Mavericks had five errors, while the Loggers had two. 

The Missoula Mavericks took a 4-0 lead in the first inning, but the Loggers inched back  with one run in the next three innings and hit hard at the bottom of the fifth inning with eight more runs to seal the score. Five of the Loggers’ eight runs were unearned.

In the second game, with a 3-3 score heading into the bottom of fourth, the Loggers scored two unearned runs to take the lead. After slipping behind briefly, the Loggers brought it home during the bottom of the sixth inning, earning the second win for the Libby team. 

The Tuesday doubleheader showed the momentum that the Loggers have been reaching for, and it was a welcome improvement from the home losses to Mission Valley Mariners on June 31 and the Glacier Twins on June 30. 

“We got a couple runs in during this game,” Coach Kelly Morford said. “These two games were the two best games of the season.”

Morford said the pitching in Tuesday’s games was the team’s strong point, particularly from the team’s ace Will Reichel. 

Morford said he hoped the team would ride this success and play the rest of the season strong. 

Reichel snagged three RBIs in the second game, and Dylan Lane knocked in two runs. 

Braden Thom and Matt Willis each had two RBIs in the first game, while Oliver Grupenhoff, Lane, Erik Lauer and Austin Marshall got one. 

Morford said those at the bottom of the batting order got some key hits as well. 

“We’re hoping we can keep getting better with every game in looking toward the tournament,” Morford said. 

The Loggers will play next at a tournament from July 10 to 13 in Lewiston, Idaho, and against the Bitterroot Red Sox on July 18. The Loggers will return home on July 20 to play against Sandpoint, Idaho.