Behind another strong pitching performance from Wes Martens and a big afternoon at the plate by center fielder Ben Roberts, the Mavs cruised to a 14-0 win over Coon Rapids, Minn., in five innings due to the tournament's mercy rule.
Martens leveled his record at 4-4 by limiting the Minnesota state high school champions to just three singles in his complete-game victory. He struck out four and walked one as Missoula moved to 4-3 in tournament play, 38-16 overall.
Roberts paced a 10-hit Maverick attack, slapping a pair of doubles and driving in five runs. Taylor King and Brendan Brown added two RBIs apiece and Kendal Maier doubled and finished 2-for-2.
Missoula held a 3-0 lead before an eight-run outburst in the third iced the Mavs' fourth straight victory.
“We're on the upswing now,” Hathaway said. “With four wins in a row, we're feeling like we're playing pretty good baseball. Tomorrow if we get out of here with another win, that should build some confidence and momentum for the rest of the season.”
The Mavericks are slated to play their final tournament game at 2:30 p.m. Sunday against a yet-to-be determined opponent.
Coon Rapids 000 00 - 0 3 1
Missoula 218 3x - 14 10 0
Hable, Evans (3), Hirshchi (4) and Latta. Wes Martens and Sean Dwyer. W - Martens (4-4). L - Habel
CONN RAPIDS - Croal 0-2, Latta 0-2, Sather 0-2, Evans 0-2, Miller 1-1, Beam 0-2, Schorer 2-2, Briade 0-2, Hirschi 0-2.
MISSOULA - Taylor King 1-2, Ben Roberts 2-4, Brendan Brown 2-4, Dwyer 1-2, Sam Sopko 1-2, Taylor Nordby 0-1, Lytle 0-2, Kendal Maier 2-2, Andy Freeman 1-2.
2B - Roberts 2, Maier. RBIs - King 2, Roberts 5, Brown 2, Dwyer, Sopko, Freeman.
Billings Cardinals 8,
Class A Missoula Mavericks 5
At Bozeman, Jens Rohrer and Matt Schrotenboer led the Billings offense as the Cardinals scored a Class A victory over Missoula in both teams' final pool-play game at the Howard Rein tournament.
Rohrer went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and Schrotenboer doubled, drove in a run and finished 2-for-2.
Cole Moeller tossed a complete game for Billings to get the win, allowing nine hits and a walk while striking out five in front of errorless defense.
The Mavs equalled Billings' nine hits, but committed four miscues in the field. Stuart Breckenridge was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs for Missoula, while Jordan Schafer added a single, a double and a run driven in. Missoula slipped to 1-2 in tournament play.
Billings 022 200 2 - 8 9 0
Missoula 010 022 0 - 5 9 4
Cole Moller and Kyle Miron. Andrew Schmautz and Josh Seeberger. W - Miller. L - Schmautz.
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