Libby Loggers split pair on road trip

The Libby Loggers Legion baseball team had an explosion of offense in their game on June 24 against the Glacier Twins, winning 14-5. However, the Loggers were unable to come with the same firepower in their 11-6 loss to the Kootenai Valley Rangers on Wednesday night.

 The Loggers finished their two-game road trip 1-1.

In Libby’s game against Kootenai Valley, the Loggers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning. But they were unable to hold on.

“We lack consistency,” Assistant Coach Jack Helber said. “We’re in what I call a major funk.”

 In the top of the third inning, Loggers right fielder Austin Marshall led off the inning with a walk. Two walks later, the the bases were loaded with shortstop Will Reichel at the plate.

Reichel hit a groundball, and reached base on a fielder’s choice, driving Marshall home. Cameron Burkes then scored on a passed ball while catcher Oliver Grupenhoff was at the plate. Marshall finished the game with two runs, and went 1-for-2 from the plate.

But the Rangers would respond in a big way. Five runs, three hits and one error later, the Loggers found themselves down 5-2, a gap they wouldn’t close.

“We are making some silly errors,” Helber said. “We have a lot of called third-strikes with runners in scoring position.”

Libby would score one run in the top of the the fourth inning, but once again the Rangers would answer, scoring four more runs, increasing their lead to 9-3 and putting the game out of reach.

In Libby’s first game of the road trip, the 14-5 win over the Twins, the offense shined.

“We hit the ball well in key moments,” Helber said. “We finally got some big hits.”

The bulk of the Loggers’ offense came in their seven-run third inning. Libby batted all the way around the lineup, getting four hits. They also got some help from the Twins, who committed three errors in the inning.

The Loggers would score two more runs in the fourth inning and five more in the fifth inning, growing their lead to 14-5. Much of the Loggers’ success was due to a great pitching performance out of Trace Tammero. Tammero pitched just over four innings, striking out nine batters and not allowing a single earned run.

Helber said the Loggers need to have a game where everything clicks to get out of the downward trend.

“Once we have a game where everything clicks, the players will realize what we should have been doing the whole time,” Helber said.

The Loggers will return home for two games next week. They will face the Glacier Twins on Monday, June 30, and the Mission Valley Mariners on Tuesday, July 1.