The valley’s American Legion teams are just a little over a month away from the tournaments and are tuning up their skills. Both the Red Sox and the Bucs will be at the Wilma Rasmussen Classic this weekend in Florence and will have a chance to check out other teams from the area.
Last weekend, the Red Sox split a double header with the Missoula A Mavs. The Red Sox won the first game, 11-6. The two teams were tied until the sixth inning when Nick Sweitzer hit a single. He scored when Nate Loranger hit an RBI double. Loranger was 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the game. Bo Zeiler also had three RBIs and was 2-for-5 at bat. Tuff Price earned the win.
In the second game, the Mavs won, 11-1, after five innings. Jackson Olson had the only RBI for the Red Sox. Tyler Scheffer took the loss for the Red Sox.
The Bucs were at the Lewistown tournament. The Bucs won the tournament with a 7-6 win over the Calgary Red Birds. With two outs, the bases loaded, and the game tied at six all in the bottom of the seventh inning, Austin Nogle stepped up to the plate. The first pitch was a strike but the next four pitches were all balls and Nogle walked to first. That sent the player on third home and the Bucs had the championship.
Kadin Beller was the winning pitcher. He struck out eight and allowed only seven hits. Beller went 2-for-3 at bat. Dylan Reed went 3-for-3.
Earlier in the day, the Bucs lost to Great Falls, 17-6. Chance Sage took the loss.
The Bucs opened their tournament play in a big way with a win over Gallatin Valley, 5-3. Nogle hit a two run single that scored Reed and Sage. The Bucs had four runs at the end of the first inning and never let the Outlaws back into the game. Cody Rolshoven took the win.
The Bucs also defeated Livingston, 13-4, and Lewistown 3-2. Tommy Shepard was the winning pitcher against Livingston. Tyler Thorson finished with four RBIs and was 2-for-3 at bat. Patrick Pape was the winning pitcher. Reed went 2-for-3 with a double. Shepard, Beller and Nogle each had RBIs.