The Montana State American Legion Class A tournament began on Saturday, July 27, in Florence at the Bitterroot Bucs field, and will continue through Wednesday to determine which team will move on to the Regional Tournament in Lewiston, Idaho. That tournament begins August 6.
There are 31 teams in the league which is divided up into North, East, West, and South. Of these 31 teams, there are five Canadian teams in the league. The top two teams from each conference came into the state tournament looking for a chance to advance. The final games weren’t played before we went to press but the scores will be available on our Facebook page.
A new champion will be crowned this year as the Glacier Twins, last year’s champions, did not advance to the state tournament. Neither did the Bitterroot Red Sox who won the championship the previous three years.
The Bitterroot Bucs opened up against the Laurel Dodgers on Saturday. Laurel jumped out to an early lead, racking up 12 runs in the first inning alone. The Bucs moved pitchers around to try and stymie the onslaught. Finally Brake Hinsdale took to the mound and put a stop to the Laurel offense. The Bucs got on the board in the top of the fourth inning and brought three runs in but couldn’t keep the run going. They rallied once more in the fifth inning to keep alive after Brendan Schneiter was hit by a pitch. Jake Scully moved Schneiter up with a long single down the third base line. Hinsdale hit a double to score Schneiter. Drew Scully hit a double to score his brother, Jake, and Hinsdale. However the game ended on the 10 run rule, 16-6, in favor of Laurel.
On Sunday, the Bucs defeated Lewistown in loser out action, 14-4. That moved the Bucs to Monday where they played the Mission Valley Mariners. The Mariners were up by three runs in the bottom of the fifth but rallied back to tie the game in the sixth inning.
In a controversial call at the end of the sixth inning, it looked as if the inning ended on a double play by the Mission Valley Mariners. Johnny Lineback hit a sac fly to center field. Brendan Schneiter tagged up at third and raced home to score. Jake Scully, who was on second, left early and was tagged out for the third out. But since it wasn’t a force, the run by Schneiter counted and the Bucs took the lead, 9-8. In the top of the seventh, Bucs pitcher Zack Christopherson went three up, three down with a strike out to end the game and take the 9-8 win.
The Bucs played again on Tuesday but that score wasn’t available.