Loggers battle to 2-2 finish at Western A tourney

WHITEFISH — The Libby Loggers American Legion baseball team was 2-2 last weekend at the Western A District tournament at Memorial Field in Whitefish.

Thursday, the Loggers lost a nailbiter as the Kalispell Lakers topped Libby 7-5. 

Trailing 3-0, Aidan Rose put the Loggers on the board in the third with a two-run single to right that scored Kale Hall and Elijah Foulke. 

Boe Miles doubled in the sixth to make it 7-4. Libby got another run on a fielder’s choice in the seventh, but couldn’t bring anymore home. 

Rose went the distance for the Loggers, scattering eight hits and fanning a pair of batters. 

Friday, the Loggers outslugged the Glacier Twins, 10-6. Rose’s RBI single sparked a five-run fifth inning that gave Libby a 9-6 lead.

Libby got four innings from James Woody, allowing six runs on five hits and striking out one batter. 

"Special shout out to our guy Aidan Rose," Loggers head coach Kelly Morford said in a social media post. "What a career he had for our program. What we love most about him is he’s a guy that has as much or more pride in the Logger program than anyone we’ve had. We are going to miss #12 out there. Also, a big thank you to his family for being so supportive of our crew for so long."

Saturday, they stayed alive with a 16-2 thrashing of the Cranbrook Bandits in five innings. Bransen Holzer and Brody Gilmore each went 3-for-4 as Libby exploded on offense. Holzer drove in three runs and scored twice, while Gilmore plated one and came home four times. 

The offense continued in the fourth as the Loggers put up nine runs, sending 13 batters to the plate. Eight walks and three hit batsmen contributed to the big inning. 

Holzer threw five innings for Libby, allowing two runs on two hits. He fanned two.

Libby’s season ended Saturday afternoon in a 10-0 loss in five innings to the Lakers. Kalispell’s Mason Lewis threw five no-hit innings.

The Loggers finished the season with a 16-34 record.