Loggers bring the fireworks to Polson tournament

For the Libby baseball team, last weekend’s tournament produced a few all-or-nothing games that gave the Loggers a chance to show their power at the plate.

The Libby Loggers American Legion Baseball team finished the Polson Firecracker Tournament 3-2, bruising a few foes by double-digits along the way, including a 23-5 win, while falling 16-4 earlier on.

Loggers skipper Kelly Morford said it’s tough to learn from such one-sided games, but finishing with a “W” doesn’t hurt either.

“We were on both sides of a few blowouts,” Morford said. “It’s a lot easier to get more out of closer ball games, but when you find yourself in those situations you’ve got to stay focused and get what you can out of it.”

On Monday, the Loggers finished their last tournament contest with 13 hits in a 23-5 whooping on the Clark Fork Vipers behind Brady Bateman’s 3-for-3 batting and 5 RBIs. Seth Bateman and Dylan Lane combined for eight of the Loggers’ 23 runs, while Tim Carvey, Shayne Walker and Tanner Wood put up three runs each.

Libby opened with a nine-run jump out of the gate in the first inning, following up with six runs in the second inning and seven more in the third. Clark Fork, finishing the contest with four hits to the Loggers’ 13, were able to get on the board early with two runs in the first inning, but wasn’t able to overcome Libby’s early lead. The game finished in just four innings, 23-5. Winning pitcher Shayne Walker struck out five Viper batters and walked just two.

“It was a blowout, but we earned most of our runs, especially early on,” Morford said. “I think if we can stay dialed in and play our kind of ball, we can compete and do well [in the remaining season.”

It was still an up-and-down weekend for Libby, which fell 16-4 to the Livingston Braves on Sunday and 11-5 against the Missoula Pioneers team in the tourney opener on Friday. But, the Loggers appear to be finding some late-season punch in their game, toppling the Mission Valley Mariners B team 23-3 on Saturday and pulling out an 8-3 win on the Glacier Twins B team.

In Saturday’s bout against the Twins, the Loggers piled up 14 runs in the third inning, pushing their already-comfortable lead to 19-0 heading into the bottom of the third. Braydan Thom led the Loggers on 5-fot-5 batting with 4 runs and 3 RBIs. Collin Johnson went 3-for-3 at the plate, putting up three runs and two RBIs in the contest; Lane batted four runners in and chipped in another run on 4-for-1 batting. The Loggers finished with 15 hits.

Seth Bateman got some time at the mound in the final two innings against Glacier, striking out two Twins and barring the remaining batters from any earned runs.

Morford said Bateman and Collin Johnson both had great showings in the weekend tournament, earning what may be more time out of the bullpen.

“We had some good outings from those guys,” he said. “So it’s really good to develop some depth there.”

In the Friday game versus the Glacier Squad, Libby overcame a 2-0 Twins lead with two more runs of their own, along with six runs in the sixth and seventh innings to end the contest 8-3. Seth Bateman went 4-for-4 against the Twins pitcher and put up two runs.

In the team’s two tournament losses, errors continued to creep into Libby’s game play; totaling six errors against the Missoula Pioneers and seven against the Livingston Braves. Offense also came up short against Livingston, who held Libby from posting a score until the fourth and last inning.

The Loggers, 8-23 overall, have just three more matchups, all conference games, before the divisional tournament on July 20. The Libby squad’s next game will be at the Kootenai Rangers’ home turf for a double-header at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Alumni Tournament is also set for this Friday, where the alumni Logger team will face a fellow alumni squad from Strathmore, Alberta. The first game, a seven-inning contest, begins at 8 p.m. on Friday. The teams will also play a double-header at 1 p.m. on Friday.

Game Stats

Libby — 967 1 23 13 5

Clark Fork — 221 0 5 4 6

Libby — 2B: Tim Carvey, Brady Bateman TB: Tim Carvey 3, Erik Lauer, Collin Johnson, Tanner Schatz 2, Seth Bateman, Brady Bateman 4, Shayne Walker 3 RBI: Dylan Lane 2, Tim Carvey 3, Erik Lauer 2, Collin Johnson 2, Tanner Schatz 3, Brady Bateman 5, Shayne Walker 3

Clark Fork — 2B: R. Ovitt, Van Heeder

3B: Sorenson

TB: Sorenson 4, R. Ovitt 2, Van Heeder 2

RBI: Sorenson 2, Milner 2

Libby — 000 04 4 5 7

Livingston — 3,10,1 2x 16 13 1

Libby — 2B: Braydan Thom TB: Braydan Thom 3, Dylan Lane, Tim Carvey, Erik Lauer RBI: Braydan Thom 2, Erik Lauer, Shayne Walker

Livingston — 2B: Jordan Darr

3B: Triston Jenkins, Clayton Busby HR: Ethan Bullock TB: Zander Petrich 2, Brock Peterson 2, Jordan Darr 2, Ethan Bullock 6, Triston Jenkins3, Bryce Dorvall, Rydell Floyd 2, Clayton Busby 3 RBI: Zander Petrich 2, Brock Peterson 2, Buck Spallone, Ethan Bullock 5, Bryce Dorvall, Clayton Busby 2