Loggers open season tonight at annual Wood Bat Classic
<p>Luke Haggerty pitching vs. Missoula Pioneers during the Wood Bat Tournament May 8, 2015.</p>
The hard crack of wooden bats will fill the air this weekend as the Libby Loggers play host for the annual Wood Bat Classic. Seven teams from Montana and Canada will gather at Lee Gehring Field in Libby to compete for the 2016 Wood Bat championship.
Action begins tonight at 5 p.m., with Clark Fork playing the Rangers of Kootenai Valley. At 7:30 p.m. the hometown Loggers will take the field against Missoula.
“The wood bat tournament is a great way to kick off the season and it has been fun to watch it grow from just a few teams to what it is now,” said Libby coach Kelly Morford. “It is great for the community as a whole to have all of these teams in town and it is fun that we get to start our season with a home tournament.”
Play resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday, with five games on the schedule for the day, wrapping up with the Loggers against Mission Valley beginning at 8 p.m. Sunday’s games begin at 9 a.m., with the final game of the tournament beginning at 4 p.m.
Morford said he is looking forward to the season and seeing where his team stacks up in live competition.
“We are starting a little later this year, so everyone is eager to finally play some games and see where we are at,” he said. “Of course, as the coach I would like more practice time considering how much work we have left to do but it is time to get some game action and see what happens. We have an interesting mix of some experienced ballplayers and some kids who are fresh to the sport. We know there will be some growing pains and we just need to be patient as we get some experience. I am confident that we have enough athletic ability on our roster to work our way into a pretty good ball club by the time summer rolls around. Opening Day at the Lumberyard is always a special time and we are excited to get going.”
Wood Bat Classic Schedule
(All games at Lee Gehring Field in Libby)
Friday, May 13
5 p.m. Clark Fork @ Kootenai Valley
7 p.m. Missoula @ LIbby
Saturday, May 14
10 a.m. Missoula @ Calgary
12:30 p.m. Clark Fork @ Cranbrook
3 p.m. Cranbrook @ Missoula
5:30 p.m. Mission Valley @ Calgary
8 p.m. Mission Valley @ Libby
Sunday, May 15
9 a.m. Cranbrook @ Calgary
11:15 a.m. Kootenai Valley @ Missoula
1:45 p.m. Mission Valley @ Clark Fork
4 p.m. Calgary @ Libby