For the second time in three years, the Bitterroot Bucs won their own Rasmussen Classic Tournament over the weekend. The event featured teams from the Mission Valley, Salmon, Dillon, and Lewistown who came into the tournament with an 18 game winning streak in tact. The Bucs snapped that winning streak at 21 on Sunday in the championship game, defeating the Red Birds, 5-1.
Veteran catcher Billy Hanna said the best thing about winning the tournament was seeing how excited Wilma Rasmussen was. The tournament is named after her and her late husband who have been avid Bucs supporters since the Bucs were based in Hamilton. Rasmussen was on hand to give a hug to each Bucs player after the game.
The first game between the Bucs and Lewistown started out well for the Bucs but a disastrous fifth inning gave the Red Birds the lead and eventually the 18-6 win. But Sunday was another day and the Bucs were focused.
Austin Erler pitched the entire game and held the Lewistown team to only one run. He struck out seven, walked three and allowed only four hits in the game. He was also 2-for-3 at bat with a double and an RBI. Dan Lockman also went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Riley Philips was 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Hanna hit a double in the third inning to score the go-ahead run.
“We made the big plays when they counted and played a lot of good defense when it counted,” said Hanna who was the tournament MVP. “This is one of those teams where you have to be in it all the time or they are going to sweep you all day. We stayed focused and got the ‘W’ out of it.”
Earlier in the day, the Bucs defeated Salmon, 13-9. The Bucs started out strong but Salmon rallied in the fourth inning and manager Derrick Stephens, who had started his younger players, called upon the more experienced bench to step in and save the game. Hanna ripped a two run double to swing the moment back to the Bucs. Justin Beierle added a two RBI single. Tyler White got things going for Bitterroot with a single that scored two in the first inning. Aaron Gregg came in to pitch in the fifth inning and struck out five batters while only allowing three hits.
Hanna had a no hitter going in the Bucs game against the Dillon Cubs on Friday. He finished with one hit, struck out six and walked seven to lead the Bucs to an 11-3 win. Hanna also went 1-for-2 with an RBI. Zac Blackstun was 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Coe Golden went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Lockman had a double and three RBIs and Philips had a double and two RBIs.
The Bucs defeated the Mission Valley Rockies, 9-1, on Thursday. Justin Beierle took the win and only allowed one hit in six innings. He had three walks and struck out five. Hanna was the catcher. He went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a double. Justin Medlin also went 2-for-3 and had three RBIs.
The Bitterroot Red Sox finished second at the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene Wood Bat tournament. There were 40 teams entered. The Red Sox lost to Regina, Saskatchewan, 5-4, in the championship game. Chris Coombs went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Rodee Anderson was 2-for-3 at bat. The Red Sox defeated Mt. Spokane Wild, 7-5, in the semi finals. Trevor Brown had a double a triple and two RBIs. He was 3-for-4 at bat. Jake Capko was the winning pitcher with Chase Wheaton making the save.