By Jean Schurman
The Bitterroot Red Sox have repeated as the American Legion Western A District champions. They thumped the Glacier Twins, 23-2, in the championship game to bring home the championship. The game started big for the Red Sox when Austin Ray hit a lead off homer. The Red Sox went on to score eight more runs in that inning and bat the lineup around. The Red Sox had 16 hits in the game.
“One through 9 hitting wise. Auzzie (Austin) set the tone right off the bat with a lead off homer and we just hit the ball,” said coach Rich Poliquin.
But it wasn’t just strong hitting that powered the Red Sox. Solid defense kept the Twins from even getting to second base until the top of the sixth inning. Kyle Norman struck out seven batters and only allowed seven hits. “Kyle gave us what we needed. He threw strikes. But we played good defense too,” said Poliquin.
Ray’s homer was the only home run for the Red Sox in the game but all of the players were strong at the plate. Ray went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Hunter Omlid had a triple and two singles. He knocked in five runners and went 3-for-4 at bat. Tylor Nixon had a double and two RBIs. Nate Loranger went 3-for-4 with three singles and three RBIs. Kyle Crossman went 2-for-4 with a single and two RBIs. Matt Brown, Chase Conner, Joe Johnson and Justin Horvath all had RBIs.
The Red Sox opened against the Kootenai Valley Rangers on Thursday in Florence. They set the tone for their weekend’s play in this game, building a large lead and then coasting to an 11-0 win. Norman went 2-for-3 with a triple and one RBI. Conner was 2-for-2 with two singles and two RBIs. Ray also went 2-for-2 with two singles and an RBI. Nixon had an RBI as did Jonathan Ringer who had a single. Horvath and Cameron Rothie each had RBIs. Omlid was the winning pitcher and had six strike outs.
On Friday, the Red Sox took on the Kalispell Lakers and topped them, 7-3. Norman began on the mound and had two K’s. He was relieved by Ladd Grenfell who struck out five players and walked three. Nixon came in to close and had four K’s. Loranger, Ringer and Horvath all had doubles. Ringer knocked in one runner and Horvath brought two home. Omlid went 2-for-4 at bat with two singles and one RBI. Conner and Johnson each had an RBI also.
The Red Sox took on the Glacier Twins in the undefeated game and won, 9-2. Ringer began on the mound and struck out seven batters. He was relieved by Nixon who took the save. Horvath had a home run and finished with four RBIs, a double and a single. He went 3-for-4 at bat. Ray also had a double. Omlid, Ringer, and Nixon each had RBIs.
The Red Sox now advance to the state championship in Great Falls where they will play either Billings or Laurel. Those two teams had to play on Monday and the results were not available at press time. The Red Sox will take on the loser of that game. The winner of the state tournament will advance to the Regional Tournament which will be held in Laurel this year.
The Bitterroot Bucs opened their tournament play against the Mission Valley Mariners. The Bucs scored all four of their runs in the second inning and then held on to win, 4-1. Dylan Gavlak was the winning pitcher and had four K’s. Dylan Gavlak and his brother, Austin, each had a double. Dylan went 1-for-4 at bat and had an RBI. Austin was 1-for-1 at bat and also had an RBI. Jake Scully, and Braxton McCullough each had RBIs as well.
The Bucs then took on the Glacier Twins on Friday. The Bucs put the first run across the plate but the Twins came back to score four runs. They went on to win, 4-2. Rees LeSoine was the losing pitcher. Bo Zeiler went 2-for-3 at bat with two singles and an RBI.
The Bucs came back to trounce Missoula, 18-4, with Liam LeCoure taking the win. He struck out four batters. Jake Finley had a double and three RBIs. He was 3-for-4 at bat. McCullough had four singles and was 4-for-5 at bat with and RBI. LeSoing had three singles and five RBIs. Zeiler had a single and two RBIs. Brendan Schneiter had a single and an RBI.
The Bucs then played the Kalispell Lakers in loser out action on Saturday. The Lakers scored twice in the second inning and then two more times in the third inning. The Bucs rallied in the seventh inning to score three runs but couldn’t get past the Lakers. Finley, Zeiler and Dylan Gavlak finished their careers with RBIs.