Despite letting a two-run lead and several scoring opportunities slip from their grasp, the Mavs got a one-out RBI single from third baseman Brendan Brown in the bottom of the ninth and earned a 5-4 Western Conference victory over the Great Falls Stallions at Lindborg-Cregg Field.
The improbable victory inched Missoula a step closer to the first-place Stallions as the Mavericks improved to 16-6 in league play as Great Falls fell to 17-6 and missed an opportunity to clinch the West's top seed at the state.
With first base unoccupied, Great Falls elected to pitch to Brown rather than walk him, giving the Stallions a chance at an inning-ending double play. Brown, who entered leading the Mavs with a .398 average, made the Stallions pay by bouncing a single through the middle of a drawn-in Stallions infield for the game winner.
“I was thinking they might walk me, but I was just happy to be in that position,” Brown said after Missoula boosted its record to 46-21 overall. “You're just thinking you've got to get the ball to the right side to give us an opportunity to win.”
Making that opportunity possible was a strong effort from Mavericks relief pitcher Lincoln Mansch, who held the Stallions scoreless over the final 3 2-3 innings. He moved to 9-0 by allowing three hits and a walk while striking out one.
Mansch also received the benefit of a fine stop by Taylor King at shortstop with two out in the seventh and a wild double play to end the visitors' half of the eighth. With one out and Dustin Schultz on third, Griffith lined out to right fielder Taylor Nordby who fired home to keep Schultz from tagging up. But Nordby's throw sailed over catcher Sean Dwyer to the backstop, where Mansch was backing up the play. Schultz then tried to scamper home, but Mansch threw back to the plate just in time to nail the potential go-ahead run.
Missoula squandered its share of scoring chances as well, with a baserunner caught stealing in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. But Missoula manager Brent Hathaway will take a win any way he can get it.
“Well, we didn't quit,” he said with a smile afterward. “We hung in there until an opportunity presented itself to win the ballgame. For as many mistakes as we did make, we seemed to manage to wiggle out of just as many jams as we got into.”
Brown paced Missoula's bats, finishing 3-for-5 with a double. Nordby doubled and was 2-for-4, while Dwyer added a pair of singles in a 2-for-3 effort.
The Stallions received two doubles and an RBI by Schultz while third baseman Bryce Thompson added a double in finishing 3-for-5.
When it was over, Brown was hopeful the Mavericks could keep their winning streak alive with just two conference games remaining. Missoula hosts the Lethbridge Spitz Elks on Saturday and Sunday.
“(Great Falls) is the No. 1 team in our conference right now, so these wins were huge for us,” he said. “Especially with state just around the corner, you want that kind of momentum going in.”
Great Falls 020 020 000 - 4 10 4
Missoula 102 100 001 - 5 11 1
Tanner Bleskin, Zach Griffith (7) and Cole McPherson. Wes Martens, Lincoln Mansch (6) and Sean Dwyer. W - Mansch (9-0). L - Griffith.
GREAT FALLS - Griffith 1-5, Dan Olinger 1-4, Bleskin 0-4, Bryce Thompson 3-5, McPherson 1-2, Taylor Ferradas 1-4, Alex Waltari 0-1, Jake Mansch 0-3, Dustin Schultz 2-4, Jake Bleskin 1-3.
MISSOULA - Matt McMann 1-4, Ben Roberts 1-4, Brendan Brown 3-5, Dwyer 2-3, Sam Sopko 1-3, Drew Lytle 0-3, Kendal Maier 0-4, Taylor King 1-3, Taylor Nordby 2-4.
2B - Thompson, Ferradas, Schultz 2, J. Bleskin, Brown, Nordby. 3B - Roberts, King. RBIs - McPherson, Ferradas, Schultz, Roberts, Brown, Sopko, Lytle.
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