Sixth-seed Loggers hope to cause 'mayhem' at district tourney
<p>Braydan Thom with the second out top of second inning vs. the Missoula Mavericks. Loggers split the final home games of the year falling 6-1 in the first and winning the nightcap 6-4. (Paul Sievers/The Western News)</p>
<p>Second baseman Seth Bateman put the tag on Beau King for the first out top of seventh inning Saturday evening. First of a double-header vs. the Missoula Mavericks. (Paul Sievers/The Western News)</p>
The Libby Loggers head to Florence this week for the American Legion Western “A” district tournament, hoping to battle their way to the championship from the sixth-seed spot.
That battle will be challenge from the opening game, where Libby will face the second-seeded Glacier Twins A team at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday in Florence. The Twins rocked the Loggers 21-1 and 11-0 at Lee Gehring Field last week.
Loggers head coach Kelly Morford said while each game against Glacier has been difficult, there’s no better time to surprise the Twins than in the first round of the district tourney.
“They’re a good team but I like the match up because of the opportunity it presents,” Morford said on Monday. “They’ve beat us pretty good every time we’ve played them this year, but they haven’t seen us at our best. Hopefully we can surprise them a little bit going in.”
The Loggers, 12-26 overall, have had some streaks of success in the second half of the regular season, such as a 3-0 run that included a 23-5 whomping on the Clark Fork Vipers.
The regular season ended with a win on Saturday when the Loggers split a conference double-header with the Missoula Mavericks A team, 6-4 Missoula and then 6-1 Libby.
Second-game pitcher Brady Bateman led the team at the plate batting 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run. His brother Seth Bateman went 2-for-4 at the plate, chipping in two runs to help push the Logger lead in late innings. The Loggers drew first blood against the Mavs in the third inning, when Seth Bateman and Erik Lauer both scored capitalizing on a Maverick error at shortstop.
Missoula was able to rebuttal with a run of their own in the third, but it was the last run the Mavericks would post before the Loggers went on a 4-0 run in the fifth and sixth inning. Lauer in the fifth inning blasted a double into center field scoring Brady Bateman. Erik later scored when Braydan Thom singled to the same spot in center field, padding the lead to 4-2. Seth Bateman and Dylon Lane each scored in the sixth to seal the Loggers final home game, 6-1.
In the first game, the Loggers actually outhit the Mavs, seven hits to Missoula’s six, but were unable to overcome the early lead set by Missoula with three first-inning runs.
Saturday’s second-game win was more than a victory for Lane and Collin Johnson, who played their final game that night at Lee Gehring Field. Morford said after the first-game loss, the team held a meeting about the last home game.
“In between games we told the boys we wanted to send those guys out the right way and I’m glad we were able to do that,” Morford said. “Those guys have been a big part of our program.”
Lane and Johnson have played on several state tournament teams in the past five years, including the team that won the district title in 2013 and finished third at state. Johnson was also on the 2012 team that placed third at state.
They’ll look to finish in similar fashion this weekend when the Loggers head to Florence for the district tournament. The Loggers, having dropped to seventh place behind the Kootenai Valley Rangers after the weekend, will face the second-place Twins Thursday.
“As far as the district tournament, I think anybody can beat anybody,” Morford said. “It’s definitely not going to go by the book and hopefully we’re part of that mayhem.”
Check for tournament updates on the Libby Loggers Baseball Facebook page.
LIBBY VS. MISSOULA
SATURDAY, JULY 16
Game 1
MSS — 301 200 0 6 6 1
LGRS — 200 101 0 4 7 4
Game 2
MSS — 000 100 0 1 3 1
LGRS — 002 022 x 6 9 5