After dropping an 8-4 decision to the Lewis-Clark Twins from Lewiston, Idaho and an 11-6 defeat at the hands of the Twin City Titans from Washington at Lindborg-Cregg Field on Saturday, the Mavs were eliminated from playing in Sunday's championship game of the Scott Klaudt Memorial American Legion tournament.
Despite falling twice and not having a chance to win the Mavs' first Klaudt title since 2000, Missoula manager Brent Hathaway was relatively upbeat.
In the afternoon's earlier contests, the Billings Royals beat the Prairie Cardinals of Post Falls, Idaho, 3-2 before the Twins downed the Spokane Bandits 13-10.
Sunday's action begins with Spokane facing Twin City at 10 a.m., followed by the Cardinals meeting the Twins at 1 p.m. The Mavs take on the Billings Royals at 4 p.m. before the tourney title game at 7 p.m. Lewis-Clark assured itself a spot in the championship with its victory over Missoula as the lone undefeated team remaining.
Twin City Titans 11,
Missoula Mavericks 6
Missoula held a 6-2 lead after four innings, but the Titans rallied for four runs in both the fifth and sixth frames to hand the Mavs their third straight loss following a 12-game winning streak.
The Mavericks staked starting pitcher Max Smith to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when designated hitter Mike Ponton's two-out fly to right was mishandled, scoring Conor Dwyer and Mac Cuffe.
After Twin City tied it at 2-2 on an RBI double by left fielder Matt Swan in the third, the Mavs scored three more in the bottom of the frame. A run-scoring sacrifice fly by Chris Bartenhagen began the rally and was followed by an RBI double by Ponton and a single by Travis Johnsen that put the Mavs up 5-2.
But Smith began to unravel in the fifth, allowing four runs and six hits as Twin City tied it a 6-6.
In the sixth, Tyler Thompson and Swan hit back-to-back homers to left field on consecutive pitches, giving the Titans the lead for good.
“Some of the lessons we have to learn come hard,” Hathaway said of the Titans late-inning offensive explosion. “When it happens the hard way, those lesson really get driven home.”
Swan was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs to lead the Twin City bats. Cody Galbraith was 2-for-3 with a double and Zach Beelher added a two-bagger in his 2-for-4 outing.
Dwyer finished 3-for-3 with a triple to pace the Missoula offense. Taylor Nordby chipped in with a pair of singles.
Twin City Titans 11, Missoula Mavericks 6
Twin City 002 044 1 - 11 15 3
Missoula 203 100 0 - 6 12 3
Nick Leid, Jeremy Barwick (5) and Ben Nipper. Max Smith, Drew Lytle (6) and Chris Bartenhagen. W - Barwick. L - Smith.
TWIN CITY - Brandon Schmidt 0-3, Nipper 1-3, Tyler Thompson 2-4, Matt Swan 2-5, Leid 1-5, Cody Galbraith 2-3, Zach Beehler 2-4, Patrick Forgette 3-4, Barwick 2-4.
MISSOULA - Taylor King 0-5, Dan Belet 1-4, Conor Dwyer 3-3, Mac Cuffe 1-2, Bartenhagen 1-3, Mike Ponton 1-3, Travis Johnsen 1-4, Taylor Nordby 2-4, Brendan Brown 2-4.
2B - Nipper, Swan, Galbraith, Beehler, Ponton. 3B - Forgette, Dwyer. HR - Thompson, Swan. RBIs - Thompson, Swan 2, Leid, Beehler, Forgette, Barwick 2, Bartenhagen 2, Ponton, Johnsen.
Lewis-Clark Twins 8, Missoula Mavericks 4
The Twins had little trouble getting to Missoula starter Cody Burgmeier, scoring five times in the first three innings.
They greeted him by smacking consecutive doubles by Beau Balmer and Trent Line to score one in the first. Lewis-Clark used a bases-loaded walk and a Balmer sacrifice fly to take a 3-2 lead in the second.
Bartenhagen's RBI triple and a run-scoring single by Travis Johnsen gave the Mavs a 4-3 lead in the third, before the Twins answered with two more in the bottom half and never trailed again.
Trent Line went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a double for Lewis-Clark. Right fielder Scott Chance added two singles and two RBIs as the Twins pounded out 14 hits. Tim Kerr went 3-for-3 for Lewis-Clark.
Cuffe went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Mavericks. Dan Belet and Johnsen also turned in multi-hit performances for Missoula.
“We're not going to be hanging our heads after today,” Hathaway said. “We're still going to come out tomorrow and play good baseball against Billings. We're going to to come out of this just fine.”
Lewis-Clark Twins 8, Missoula Mavericks 4
Missoula 202 000 0 - 4 8 0
Lewis-Clark 122 120 x - 8 14 0
Cody Burgmeier, Trevor Bourquin (5) and Sean Dwyer. Tyler Knigge and Tim Kerr. W - Knigge. L - Burgmeier.
MISSOULA - King 1-4, Belet 2-4, C. Dwyer 0-4, Cuffe 2-4, Bartenhagen 1-1, Mike Spritzer 0-3, Johnsen 2-3, S. Dwyer 0-3, Smith 0-2.
LEWIS-CLARK - Taylor Forge 0-2, Beau Balmer 1-3, Trent Line 2-4, Chris Butler 1-4, Don Perconti 2-4, Tom Kerr 1-3, Brett Harris 0-0, Josh Richardson 2-4, Ti. Kerr 3-3, Scott Chance 2-2.
2B - Johnsen, Balmer, Line, Butler, Perconti. 3B - Bartenhagen. RBIs - Cuffe 2, Bartenhagen, Johnsen, Balmer, Line 3, Perconti, Chance 2.
Tournament pairings
Scott Klaudt Memorial tournament
at Lindborg-Cregg Field
Thursday
Lewiston, Idaho, Twins 8, Twin City, Wash., Titans 6
Post Falls, Idaho Cardinals 15, Spokane, Wash., Bandits
Billings Royals 9, Spokane Bandits 7
Missoula Mavericks 8, Post Falls Cardinals 2
Friday
Lewiston Twins 4, Billings Royals 1
Twin City Titans 8, Billings Royals 1
Twin City Titans 12, Post Falls Cardinals 9
Spokane Bandits 7, Missoula Mavericks 3
Saturday
Billings Royals 3, Post Falls Cardinals 2
Lewiston Twins 13, Spokane Bandits 10
Lewiston Twins 8, Missoula Mavericks 4
Twin City Titans 11, Missoula Mavericks 6
Sunday
10 a.m. - Spokane Bandits vs. Twin City Titans
1 p.m. - Post Falls Cardinals vs. Lewiston Twins
4 p.m. - Missoula Mavericks vs. Billings Royals
7 p.m. - Championship
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