The Mavs got things rolling in a positive manner Monday with a 13-6 defeat of the Scarlets at Lindborg-Cregg Field before they fell 6-0 to the Senators at Ogren-Allegiance Park in the final game of Missoula's Memorial Day tournament.
After pounding out 16 hits against Billings, the Mavericks' bats fell silent in their second contest, producing just four singles as the Senators took their fifth AA tournament championship in eight years with a 3-1 record. The Mavs closed tournament play 2-2.
The Mavs will take an 18-7 record into conference play, which begins with a doubleheader Saturday in Kalispell against the Lakers.
In other Class AA tournament games, the Billings Royals downed the Bozeman Bucks 11-8 in eight innings, and the Bucks knocked off the Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen, 12-4. Class A action saw Coeur d'Alene beat the Billings Blue Jays 10-2, the Bozeman Spikes defeat the Lumbermen 9-8, the Mavericks shut out the Billings Cardinals 4-0 and fell to Coeur d'Alene, 11-3.
Missoula Mavericks 13,
Billings Scarlets 6
A big third inning, some timely hitting and solid pitching by starter Shawn Griffith lifted the Mavs to the win.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first, Missoula sent nine hitters to the plate in its six-run third, highlighted by Cody Burgmeier's first career homer with two runners aboard.
Missoula catcher Sean Dwyer also went deep for the first time this season as the Mavs found their bats after totaling seven hits in two games Saturday.
“I'm really pleased,” Hathaway said. “Compared to yesterday, I thought our focus and energy level were great. They came out swinging the bats, the defense was solid and we got some decent pitching from a guy who is trying to prove that he can be a starter at this level.”
Griffith pitched 5 2-3 innings, allowing two earned runs and four hits while striking out four and walking four. His only major blunder was surrendering a two-run homer to Scarlets catcher Tyson Shriver in the fourth.
Lincoln Mansch tossed the final 1 1-3 innings for Missoula and gave up two runs on one hit, striking out one and walking one.
Missoula center fielder Ben Roberts singled four times and drove in two. Both Dwyer and Brendan Brown added a pair of RBIs. Dwyer, Burgmeier, Taylor Nordby and Sam Sopko collected two hits apiece.
“Our guys just seem to get up to play the Scarlets,” Hathaway said. “They just turn it on against those guys.”
Missoula 006 221 2 - 13 16 2
Billings 200 200 2 - 6 5 2
Shawn Griffith, Lincoln Mansch (6) and Sean Dwyer. Alex Bushman, Anthony Kuntz (5), Lucas Blehm (5), Eric Nell (7) and Tyson Shriver. W - Griffith. L - BUshman.
MISSOULA - Taylor King 1-3, Ben Roberts 4-4, Brendan Brown 1-4, Dwyer 2-4, Cody Burgmeier 2-5, Kendal Maier 1-4, Taylor Nordby 2-4, Sam Sopko 2-4, Cubby Pierre 1-4.
BILLINGS - Jordan Heringer 1-3, Aleksei Grosulak 1-4, Joel Reitz 0-3, Jordan Roberts 0-4, Jesse Finley 1-1, Joey Warner 0-2, Tyler Tabert 0-1, Shriver 1-2, Nell 1-3, Ty Gilmore 0-1, Bushman 0-2.
2B - Brown, Maier, Nordby, Sopko, Nell. 3B - Grosulak. HR - Dwyer (1), Burgmeier (1), Shriver. RBIs - Roberts 2, Brown 2, Dwyer 2, Burgmeier 3, Maier, Sopko, Grosulak, Reitz, Finley, Shriver 2.
Helena Senators 6,
Missoula Mavericks 0
The second game started off rocky for the Mavericks and didn't get much better as it progressed.
“We just couldn't get on the board,” Hathaway said. “We didn't strike out a bunch and I thought our approach at the plate overall was pretty decent. When we hit the ball hard it was right at someone. We had our opportunities, we just didn't take advantage of them.”
Four consecutive base hits off Missoula starter Wes Martens staked Helena to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, including RBI singles by Nick Retz and Anthony Hogan.
Meanwhile, Senators starter Matt Williams didn't allow a base hit until Dwyer and Kendal Maier connected for back-to-back singles in the fourth. Williams got the win, going five innings and allowing three hits. He walked two and struck out two.
Derek Carley went 2-for-3 with a double and Mike Bartlett doubled and finished 3-for-3. Adam Eckhart drove in a pair for the Senators.
Eckhart tossed the final two frames, allowing a hit and a walk.
Jake Schilling pitched the final 1 1-3 innings for Missoula, inducing an inning-ending double play in the fifth to get out of a bases-loaded jam. He then retired the Senators in order in the sixth.
Missoula 000 000 0 - 0 4 1
Helena 302 100 x - 6 10 0
Wes Martens, Jake Schilling (5) and Freeman. Matt Williams, Adam Eckhart (6) and Eckhart, Nick Trapp (6). W - Williams. L - Martens.
MISSOULA - King 0-2, Roberts 1-4, Brown 0-2, Dwyer 1-3, Maier 1-3, Nordby 0-1, Sopko 0-3, Freeman 1-3, Pierre 0-3.
HELENA - Jake Winslow 0-3, Derek Carley 2-3, Nick Retz 2-2, Mike Bartlett 3-3, Anthony Hogan 1-2, Eckhart 1-2, Chris Nichols 0-3, Trapp 0-2, Colter Sternhagen 1-3
2B - Carley, Bartlett. RBIs - Retz, Hogan, Eckhart 2.
Class A Missoula Mavericks 4, Billings Cardinals 0
Matt McMann pitched the Mavs to the shutout victory.
McMann moved to 2-3 with the complete-game win, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out seven.
Colin LaPorte went 2-for-4 with a third-inning RBI single for Missoula. Brody Miller singled twice and Conner Anderson also singled home a run in the third for the Mavs.
Jen Rohrer singled twice for the Cardinals.
Billings 000 000 0 - 0 5 2
Missoula 012 001 x - 4 7 0
Justin Black, Justin Reiter (3) and Kyle Miron. Matt McMann and Jordan Schafer. W - McMann (2-3). L - Black.
Coeur d'Alene Loggers 11,
Class A Missoula Mavericks 3
The Loggers completed tournament play 4-0 by belting out 13 hits in a victory that was called after six innings due to the tourney's eight-run margin rule.
Coeur d'Alene scored seven runs to end it in the bottom of the sixth on three triples and a double.
For the Mavericks, catcher Josh Seeberger went 2-for-3 with a three-run triple in the fourth. Brent Daugherty added a pair of singles for Missoula (12-9).
Missoula 000 300 - 3 8 1
CDA 003 017 - 11 13 0
Shawn McArthur, Andrew Bewley (6) and Josh Seeberger. Ben Pharis, Jordan Anderson (5) and Mitch Sanchez. W - Pharis. L - McArthur (2-2).
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