“Conference is really the biggest thing for us,” said Hathaway, whose Mavericks are riding an 11-game winning streak entering their 7 p.m. meeting Thursday with Post Falls, Idaho. “We want to go into the state tournament with a No. 1 seed. But we'll put that on the back burner for the weekend for the Klaudt tournament.”
So, does that mean the weekend ahead is more about having fun than winning baseball games?
Thus far this season, winning is something the Mavs have done with consistency for the first time in several years. Behind a strong pitching corps, strong defense and a high-powered offense, Missoula has posted a 25-9 mark and won its own Memorial Day tournament for the first time since 2001. The Mavs will be looking to end a six-year drought between Klaudt titles.
Good defense begins with good pitching and Missoula has gotten much of that in 2007. Right-hander Cody Burgmeier (6-1) and southpaw Conor Dwyer (5-2) lead a full stable of Maverick pitchers looking to face off against some of the top teams in the region over the weekend. Brendan Brown, Drew Lytle and Max Smith are all having solid campaigns as first-year starters in the Class A ranks. For the second consecutive year, Travis Johnsen has been the Mavs' stopper out of the bullpen - not that he's seen too many save opportunities lately.
Over their last seven games, the Mavericks have outscored their opponents 104-7 and have reached double digits on the scoreboard in each of their last six. The offense has been seeing significant contributions all through the lineup. It begins with leadoff man and second second baseman Taylor King, who is has 12 hits in his last 22 at-bats (.545). Dwyer, Mac Cuffe and Chris Bartenhagen make up a tough middle third of the lineup, while Travis Johnsen, Lytle, Taylor Nordby and Smith have all come up big from the bottom of the order.
While the Mavs appear to be cruising along, Hathaway believes his team will have its work cut out for it with a some strong competition seeking a tournament title.
“At the Klaudt, we'll see the Twin City, Wash., Titans, which is a combination of high school kids from Kamiakin and Richland from the Tri Cities, which is baseball country,” he said. “I have high expectations for them as well as Lewsiton, Idaho. We're talking about two teams who have played in the American Legion World Series championship game within the last five years. So, we've got some heavy-duty talent coming here.”
Other teams visiting include the Post Falls, Idaho, Cardinals, the Spokane, Wash., Bandits and the Billings Royals. After three full days of pool play, the squads with the best two records will meet in the tournament title game at 7 p.m. Sunday.
As far as the hosts arew concerned, Hathaway is looking forward to pitting his Mavs against new competitors.
“I think this weekend is going to be a lot of fun and you'll see a lot off good, quality baseball,” Hathaway said. “I love to watch our guys play. For me, they're just a lot fun to watch.”
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