Libby has first win in Cranbrook doubleheader
Starting pitcher Caden Williams delivers a 1-1 pitch top of the fourth vs. Cranbrook Saturday. Loggers down Bandits 6-4 in the first of a doubleheader (Paul Sievers/The Western News)
First baseman Donovan Fornall with the first out, top of third inning, on a throw from Moxley Roesler-Begalke. Loggers 6, Bandits 4 in the first of a doubleheader. (Paul Sievers/The Western News)
Second baseman Alex Svendsbye about to put the tag on Cranbrook's Quinn Grist as he attempts to steal for the first out top of the fifth in the first of a doubleheader. Loggers over Bandits 6-4 in the seven inning contest. (Paul Sievers/The Western News)
Trey Thompson catching top of fifth inning vs. Calgary Sunday afternoon. Loggers fall to Redbirds 8-0. (Paul Sievers/The Western News)
Starting pitcher Caden Williams delivers the 0-0 pitch for a strike top of the first vs. the Redbirds Sunday. (Paul Sievers/The Western News)
The Libby Loggers American Legion Baseball team had their first win of the season Saturday, beating the Cranbrook Bandits 6-4 in the first game of a doubleheader.
Though the Loggers fell 8-2 in the second game that night — after falling too far behind in the second inning to be able to catch back up — the level of play for Libby was noticeably improved throughout both games.
Libby kept their errors down in the first game, but they struggled to score early in the game.
The Loggers held the Bandits back in the 1st inning, but Cranbrook’s Parker Thomson had a sacrifice fly in the 2nd for the first run scored.
The Bandits followed up in the top of the 3rd with 2 runs off a ground ball to left field by Riley Ducharme, followed by a sacrifice fly by Carson Meggison to bring in Ducharme.
The Loggers kept it together as the runs stacked up, and on the next play, Libby shortstop Jeff Offenbecher smoothly fielded a ground ball, sending it to first baseman Donovan Fornall for the final out.
Though Libby was still unable to score in the bottom of the inning, leaving the bases loaded on walks, they kept the Bandits from making any more runs in the top of the 4th.
The bottom of the 4th had no more luck for Libby, but they again held the Bandits off in the top of the 5th. Libby’s Caden Williams struck out two, letting Cranbrook’s Quinn Grist walk. But Grist was caught at second trying to steal on a ball, with a quick throw from catcher Quade Anderson to second baseman Alex Svendsbye.
With the Loggers holding their defensive nerve, they started to fight back with their bats in the bottom of the 5th.
Trey Thompson sent in the first Libby runners with a grounder to center field, bringing in Anderson and Fornall to score.
Moxley Roesler-Begalke followed up with a line drive to center field that sent Williams and Cole Murphy home, tying the score.
Libby kept the Bandits from scoring again the rest of the game.
In the bottom of the 6th, Libby’s Anderson hit a grounder to left field to send Jeff Offenbecher home, and Williams hit a line drive to right field that gave Anderson an opening to score the final run of the game, leaving the score 6-4, Libby.
In the second game, Libby had a short-lived lead after Offenbecher scored on a groundout by Anderson in the bottom of the 1st.
As the rain started to fall in the top of the 2nd, Libby didn’t fair well slogging it out in the mud, and Cranbrook scored 7 runs before Roesler-Begalke was able to close the half inning with a strikeout.
“Yeah, we got really creative (in the 2nd inning), finding ways to give ‘em runs,” said Libby Head Coach Kelly Morford. “But other than that, I thought we played pretty good baseball today.”
Cranbrook’s Allie Schroder proved a formidable power on the mound throughout the second game, getting strikeouts from all three Libby batters she saw in the bottom of the 2nd.
But Libby didn’t fold under the pressure, and continued to hold the Bandits off through the 3rd and 4th innings.
Then in the bottom of the 4th, Libby’s Thompson hit a ground ball to Schroder that brought in Fornall for the second Logger run of the game.
Libby allowed one more Bandit run in the top of the 6th, leaving the final score 8-2, Cranbrook.
Morford said he was proud of how the Loggers came back in the first game, not only scoring late in the game, but coming out to bat-in runs with two outs against them both times.
“We had some big hits, so that was good to see for us,” he said.
As far as improvements in their fielding, Morford said the Loggers have been working on rhythm and timing — keeping their heads cool under pressure.
There is still work to be done at the plate for Libby though.
“I think we see some good things hitting. But, we also see some guys going up there without a game plan,” he said.
In their second game, Morford gave credit to Cranbrook’s Schroder, who pitched six innings.
“She was down here for our tournament, had a great tournament, and she’s a good ballplayer,” he said.
For Libby, Williams pitched six innings in the first game, and Anderson, Offenbecher and Roesler-Begalke all came away from the night with respectable stats.
“We’ve got four guys with Quaid, and Moxley, Jeff and Caden, and we need to work on some more depth after that, but I think our top four are definitely pretty strong,” Morford said.
“We’re getting better every day,” Morford said. “We need to be more consistent and not give up those big innings, but I like where we’re at, and we’ll just keep working and getting better, and hopefully win some more ball games.”
The Loggers play at home tonight, when they are scheduled to host the Glacier Twins B team at Lee Gehring Memorial Field at 6:05 p.m.
Thursday, May 9
Wood Bat Classic
Montana Regulators 5, Libby 1
M 003 020 0 - R:5 H:7 E:1
L 100 000 0 - R:1 H:2 E:1
M: Jonny Mccomas 4-2, 2R, 1RBI, 1K; Colin Bowden 4-0, 2R; Kobe Burland 4-2, 2RBI, 2K; Joe Renault 4-1, 1RBI, 2K; Carver Vanaken 2-1, 1BB; Mason Peters 2-0, 1BB, 1K; Carter Purdy 3-0, 2K; Caleb Morgan 1-0, 1R, 2BB, 1K; Sam Manaker 2-1, 1BB, 1K.
L: Jeff Offenbecher 3-0, 3K; Caden Williams 2-0, 1R, 1BB; Quade Anderson 3-0, 3K; Donovan Fornall 3-1, 1RBI, 2K; Trey Thompson 3-0; Moxley Roesler-Begalke 3-1, 1K; Ethan Borden 3-0, 3K; Aydan Williamson 1-0, 1BB, 1K; Alex Svendsbye 1-0, 1K; Cole Murphy 1-0, 1K.
Batting: 2B - Mccomas 2; TB - Mccomas 4, Burland 2, Renault, Vanaken, Manaker; Roesler-Begalke, Fornall; ROE - Bowden; Williams.
Pitching: W- Renault 7, 104 P, .654 S%, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 15 SO, 2 BB; L - Anderson 4, 62 P, .629 S%, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 8 SO, 3 BB; Roesler-Begalke 1, 19 P, .789 S%, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB; Williams 1, 22 P, .455 S%, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB: Offenbecher 1, 12 P, .750 S%, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 SO, 0 BB.
Saturday, May 11
Wood Bat Classic
Calgary Redbirds 6, Libby 0
C 113 000 1 - R:6 H:9 E:0
L 000 000 0 - R:0 H:1 E:2
C: Bret Knibbs 3-2, 1R; Kolbe Blackburn 4-1, 1R; Dale Bratz 3-1, 2R, 1BB; Riley Johnston 2-0, 1RBI, 1BB, 1K; Matt Kelly 4-2, 1R, 2RBI; Jonah Arseneaux 3-1, 1R, 1BB; Steen Wallin 1-0, 1RBI, 1BB, 1K; Cory Lawson 3-1, 1K; Jose Rojas 2-1, 1RBI; Matt Dunn 1-0.
L: Jeff Offenbecher 3-0, 2K; Caden Williams 2-0, 1BB; Quade Anderson 3-0, 1K; Donovan Fornall 2-1, 1BB; Trey Thompson 3-0, 1K; Moxley Roesler-Begalke 2-0, 1BB; Cole Murphy 1-0, 1K; Aydan Williamson 2-0, 2K; Ethan Borden 2-0, 2K; Alex Svendsbye 1-0, 1BB.
Batting: 2B - Bratz, Knibbs; TB - Lawson, Bratz 2, Kelly 2, Rojas, Blackburn, Arseneaux, Knibbs 3; Fornall.
Pitching: W - Dunn 7, 106 P, .623 S%, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 9 SO, 4 BB; L - Williams 3, 56 P, .571 S%, 5 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 SO, 2 BB; Roesler-Begalke 3, 34 P, .559 S%, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB; Offenbecher 1, 17 P, .588 S%, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB;
Wednesday, May 15
Glacier 4, Libby 3
L 000 020 100 - R:3 H:9 E:2
G 101 000 101 - R:4 H:11 E:4
L: Jeff Offenbecher 3-0, 1R, 1BB, 2K; Caden Williams 4-2, 1R, 1RBI, 1K; Quade Anderson 5-2, 1RBI; Donovan Fornall 4-1, 1RBI, 1BB; Moxley Roesler-Begalke 4-0, 1BB; Cole Murphy 4-1, 1K; Ethan Borden 3-1, 2K; Tripp Zhang 1-1; Tucker Masters 2-0, 1BB, 1K; Alex Svendsbye 3-1, 1R, 1K.
G: Jack Schwaiger 5-1, 1R; Zach Veneman 2-1, 2BB; Coby Clark-Dickinson 3-1, 2R, 1RBI, 2BB; Trenton Tyree 4-1, 1BB, 2K; Austin Andarachick 5-3, 1RBI; Jay Tyree 4-3, 1RBI; Chad Queen 4-0, 1K; Nathan Hader 4-1, 1K; Steven Andarachick 4-0, 1R, 1K.
Batting: 2B - Schwaiger; Williams, Fornall, Anderson; TB - Schwaiger 2, Veneman, Clark-Dickinson, Tyree, Andarachick 3, Tyree 3, Hader; Murphy, Svendsbye, Williams 3, Borden, Fornall 2, Anderson 3, Zhang; ROE - Hader, Andarachick; Murphy, Roesler-Begalke, Fornall; SB - Veneman 2, Clark-Dickinson, Tyree, Hader, Andarachick 2; Anderson.
Pitching: W - Hurst 6, 87 P, .655 S%, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 SO, 1 BB; Queen 2, 26 P, .538 S%, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB; Schwaiger 1, 16 P, .688 S%, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB; L - Williams 7, 93 P, .613 S%, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 SO, 4 BB; Roesler-Begalke 1.1, 32 P, .656 S%, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB.
Tuesday, May 21
Glacier 11, Libby 1
L 000 001 0 - R:1 H:4 E:3
G 040 060 1 - R:11 H:16 E:0
L: Jeff Offenbecher 3-0, 1K; Caden Williams 2-0, 1R, 1BB, 2K; Quade Anderson 3-0; Donovan Fornall 2-2, 1RBI, 1BB; Moxley Roesler-Begalke 3-0, 1K; Trey Thompson 3-1; Cole Murphy 1-1, 1BB; Tripp Zhang 1-0; Ethan Borden 2-0, 1K; Aydan Williamson 1-0, 1K; Alex Svendsbye 3-0.
G: Jack Schwaiger 5-2, 2RBI, 1K; Zach Veneman 2-2, 1R, 1BB; Jace Crabb 1-1, 1R; Coby Clark-Dickinson 4-2, 1R, 3RBI, 1BB, 1K; Austin Andarachick 3-1, 1R, 1BB; Trenton Tyree 3-1, 1R, 1BB; Jay Tyree 3-3, 2R, 1RBI; Trenerry Preston 1-0; Chad Queen 4-3, 2R, 2RBI; Jack Price 3-0, 1R, 1K; Gavin Schroeder 1-0, 1K; Steven Andarachick 3-1, 1R.
Batting: 2B - Veneman, Clark-Dickinson 2, Tyree, Queen, Crabb; Thompson; TB - Schwaiger 2, Veneman 3, Clark-Dickinson 4, Tyree 2, Andarachick, Tyree 3, Queen 4, Andarachick, Crabb 2; Murphy, Fornall 2, Thompson 2; SB - Schwaiger, Veneman, Clark-Dickinson, Tyree, Andarachick, Tyree 2, Andarachick; Williams.
Pitching: W - Hader 5.1, 78 P, .564 S%, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 SO, 3 BB; Hurst 1.2, 19 P, .842 S%, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB; L - Anderson 4, 72 P, .542 S%, 8 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 3 SO, 3 BB; Roesler-Begalke 2.2, 46 P, .717 S%, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB.
Wednesday, May 22
Kalispell 14, Libby 0
K 403 601 0 - R:14 H:14 E:1
L 000 000 0 - R:0 H:4 E:5
K: Randy Stultz 1-1, 1R, 2BB; Jonathon Craver 3-2, 1R, 1RBI; Luke Hallant 6-2, 1R, 2RBI, 1K; Taylor Morton 2-0, 1R; Wesley Palmer 2-1, 1R, 1BB; Payton Davisson 3-0, 2R, 1BB; Eric Seaman 1-1; Jack Corriveau 2-0, 3R, 1RBI, 1BB; Ben Corriveau 1-1, 2R, 1RBI, 1BB; Ryan Symmes 2-1; Connor Drish 3-2, 1R, 4RBI, 1BB; Ryan McDonald 5-2; Ryan Galvan 5-1, 1R.
L: Jeff Offenbecher 2-0, 1BB; Caden Williams 3-1, 2K; Quade Anderson 2-0, 1BB; Donovan Fornall 2-1; Trey Thompson 3-1, 1K; Moxley Roesler-Begalke 3-0, 2K; Aydan Williamson 2-0, 1K; Tripp Zhang 1-0; Tucker Masters 2-1; Alex Svendsbye 3-0.
Batting: 2B - Hallant, Seaman; TB - Stultz, Hallant 3, Corriveau, Drish 2, McDonald 2, Galvan, Seaman 2, Craver 2, Symmes, Palmer; Williams, Fornall, Thompson, Masters; ROE - Davisson 2, Corriveau, Galvan; Fornall, Masters.
Pitching: W - Taylor Morton 3, 44 P, .545 S%, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 SO, 2 BB; Palmer 1, 11 P, .636 S%, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB; McDonald 1, 13 P, .769 S%, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB; Drish 1, 20 P, .500 S%, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB; Symmes 1, 13 P, .538 S%, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB. L - Williams 2, 51 P, .588 S%, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB; Offenbecher 1.1, 51 P, .529 S%, 5 H, 9 R, 2 ER, 0 SO, 3 BB; Svendsbye 3.2, 55 P, .618 S%, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB.
Saturday, May 25
Game 1
Libby 6, Cranbrook 4
C 013 000 0 - R:4 H:9 E:0
L 000 042 X - R:6 H:9 E:0
C: Carter Marlow 3-0, 1R, 1BB; Carter White 4-2, 1R; Quinn Grist 3-1, 1R, 1BB, 1K; Riley Ducharme 4-1, 2RBI, 2K; Carson Meggison 2-1, 1R, 1RBI, 1K; Greg Rebagliati 2-0; Parker Thomson 2-0, 1RBI; Alex Smith 2-1; Hayden Mastel 1-1; Allie Schroder 3-2.
L: Jeff Offenbecher 3-0, 1R, 1BB; Tripp Zhang 3-0, 1BB; Quade Anderson 2-2, 2R, 1RBI, 2BB; Donovan Fornall 3-1, 1R, 1BB, 1K; Caden Williams 4-2, 1R, 1RBI; Trey Thompson 3-1, 2RBI; Moxley Roesler-Begalke 3-2, 2RBI; Tucker Masters 3-1; Alex Svendsbye 2-0, 1K; Cole Murphy 0-0, 1R.
Batting: 2B - Meggison; TB - Roesler-Begalke 2, Williams 2, Fornall, Anderson 2, Thompson, Masters; White 2, Grist, Ducharme, Meggison 2, Smith, Schroder 2, Mastel; SB - Offenbecher; White, Grist, Ducharme.
Pitching: W - Williams 6, 82 P, .646 S%, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 SO, 2 BB; Anderson 1, 11 P, .818 S%, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 SO, 0 BB; L - McLean 3, 61 P, .508 S%, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 3 BB; White 1.2, 27 P, .630 S%, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB; Meggison 1, 31 P, .645 S%, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB; Marlow 0.1, 10 P, .500 S%, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB.
Game 2
Cranbrook 8, Libby 2
C 070 001 0 - R:8 H:9 E:2
L 100 100 0 - R:2 H:2 E:5
C: Carter Marlow 4-0, 1R; Hayden Mastel 3-0, 1K; Quinn Grist 3-0, 1R, 1RBI, 1BB; Riley Ducharme 3-1, 1R, 3RBI, 2K; Carson Meggison 4-2, 1R, 2K; Greg Rebagliati 4-4, 1R; Alex Smith 4-0, 1K; Parker Thomson 3-1, 2R, 1RBI; Carter White 3-1, 1R, 1RBI, 1K.
L: Jeff Offenbecher 3-1, 1R; Tripp Zhang 1-0, 1BB, 1K; Quade Anderson 3-0, 1RBI, 1K; Donovan Fornall 2-0, 1R, 1BB, 2K; Caden Williams 3-1, 1K; Trey Thompson 3-0, 1RBI, 2K; Moxley Roesler-Begalke 3-0, 2K; Aydan Williamson 2-0; Cole Murphy 2-0, 2K; Ethan Borden 2-0, 2K; Tucker Masters 1-0.
Batting: 2B - Ducharme, Rebagliati; TB - White, Ducharme 2, Meggison 2, Rebagliati 5, Thomson; Williams, Offenbecher; ROE - Marlow 2, White, Grist, Thomson; Williams, Thompson; SB - Marlow, White, Rebagliati 2, Thomson; Roesler-Begalke, Offenbecher.
Pitching: W - Allie Schroder 6, 98 P, .694 S%, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 13 SO, 2 BB; Rebagliati 1, 5 P, 1.000 S%, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB; L - Roesler-Begalke 3, 59 P, .678 S%, 5 H, 7 R, 2 ER, 4 SO, 1 BB; Offenbecher 3, 37 P, .757 S%, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 SO, 0 BB; Anderson 1, 16 P, .812 S%, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB.