Mariners end season at Districts, but not without glory
Carrie Pichler
Jacob Harrod scrambles to stopthe ball during this weekend’s district tournament.
Carrie Pichler
Dakota Worrall, Hailey Coe and Rachel Worrall show some support for their favorite Mariners.
Carrie Pichler
ariners celebrate a home run during tournament play.
Carrie Pichler
Coach Jami Hanson talks baserunning strategy with Warren Wood.
Carrie Pichler
Micah McClure smiles as he trots home after knocking one out of the park.
Carrie Pichler
Bransen Krebs prepares for a play at third.
Carrie Pichler
Carrie Pichler
Carrie Pichler
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POLSON – The Mission Valley Mariners have had a case of the baby blues this season after their 16 man roster from last year took a hit dropping 11 power players, nine of them graduated. The young team had to take a step back and learn the very basics of Legion ball but that didn’t stop them from growing every step of the way, paving the road to an exciting District tourney played out in front of an encouraging and loud fan base at home last weekend.
Knowing this season would prove to have its challenges, veteran Head Coach Jami Hanson took the bull by its horns and once again mentored a young group of inexperienced boys and turned them into hard hitting sluggers with a mission to grow stronger each game.
“We represented ourselves very well,” Hanson said. “I thought they did a great job in the tournament altogether.”
The M’s opened up the first inning in game one as the visitors against Missoula’s Mavericks with a long shot over the left field wall as Micah McClure nailed a two run homer putting the M’s up 2-1. They had troubles scoring after eight more innings of play with Missoula sneaking in a couple runs handing the Mariners the 2-4 loss and sending them into the losers bracket in the double elimination tournament.
Along with McClure, Derek Peel, Jacob Harrod and Nyqolas Gillingham all had hits for the Mariners with Peel leading going 2-4. Peel went the distance on the mound, striking out four while only allowing one earned run.
In game two against the Kalispell Lakers, the M’s drew first blood after two scoreless innings with Kade Schutzmann turning a Laker error into a two base steal to get into scoring position and then safely crossing home plate after Harrod put up a single for the RBI.
The Lakers would answer back scoring three in the fourth inning but the M’s refused to give up giving the fans a fifth inning to cheer for.
With no outs, Schutzmann landed on second with a hard hit double followed by a single by Peel. Schutzmann scored on an error leaving Peel to take third in position for Harrod who logged an RBI with a single. Bransen Krebs added a double to score Harrod. After a Laker pitching change, McClure showed patience at the plate after drawing a walk while AJ Jones hit a single to load the bases. Walter Wood reached base on error but not without scoring McClure for the fourth run in the inning. The Mariners finished the inning with a two run lead.
After a seven run rally on the Lakers part the M’s fell behind 6-10 going into the bottom of the ninth. Leading off, Krebs hits a single and immediately takes second with a steal. Jones reaches base on error right behind him and both runners steal to put men in scoring positions. Gillingham and Walter Wood both walked to score Krebs and keep the bases loaded. In his first at bat after spending time on the DL with a broken finger, Warren Wood steps up to the plate with one out and smashes a base clearing triple to tie the game at 10-10. In a final explosion, Schutzmann hits a single to score the game’s winning run leaving the Mariners to fight another day with the 11-10 win over Kalispell.
Krebs started on the hill for the Mariners striking out eight in seven and two thirds innings while the young lefty, Tyson Petticrew, picked up the win striking out three to finish the game.
Leading at the plate was Krebs who went 3-4 and with a double and three runs batted in. The Woods brothers brought in five with Warren logging three RBIs and Walter adding two. Gillingham kept his cool at the dish with three walks.
Coach Hanson couldn’t be happier with his team’s performance stating “Yeah it was amazing, I mean the comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the ballgame after being down by four was outstanding.”
“It was a clutch situation and congratulations to Warren, he got cleared to come back and just did an outstanding job of putting the bat on the ball to tie it up and then Kade singled to score it to win it; that was just outstanding,” Hanson said.
On Saturday the Mariners faced their old nemesis the Bitterroot Bucs in a do or die loser out bout.
The M’s took the top of the first by storm scoring three off of a walk by Harrod followed by hits from Kreb, Jones and Warren Wood. Harrod would score on a passed ball while Jones and Woods got the RBIs.
A single off the bat of Harrod followed by a double from McClure brought in another run in the second. The M’s failed to cross home plate again through three more innings until a sixth inning push with a Walter Wood base on balls and a double from his brother, Warren scored another. Peel found a bag after being hit by a pitch and a passed ball scored Warren. Krebs tied up the score at 7-7 after hitting a single to score Peel.
In a pitching duel for the next five innings both teams had troubles bringing runners home forcing an extra inning battle and resulting in a single off the bat of a Buc to end the game with a one run 7-8 loss for the M’s.
Harrod and Jones both went .500 at the plate with Harrod going 2-4 with an RBI and Jones laying down three singles with an RBI in his 3-6 effort. Young, Russell Matt and Petticrew helmed the mound for the Mariners.
Despite the District knock out, Hanson is happy with how well his young team has developed and the growth he’s seen in some of his senior players.
“I thought Bransen Krebs stepped up great, transitioning from the outfield to third base and Jacob transitioned from second to short. They all grew a lot, matured very well and worked hard. They had their ups and downs, no doubt about it but it’s all about prepping for Districts and I’m very happy, they played some good ball,” he said.
All in all Hanson is pleased with the home hosted tournament and believes the volunteers and fans played a huge part in the success.
“I think the community support has been great, the fan support has been outstanding and the bleachers were full pretty much every game,” he said. “… A lot of hard work and dedication (went) into this … I think this has been a very well ran tournament.”
The Bitterroot Red Sox and the Glacier Twins met in the Championship game on Sunday. Because the two teams faced a split in the District Tournament, they will square off on Monday to determine who will take the top spot and continue on to the State Tournament hosted by Kalispell with first pitch being thrown Thursday.
Results
Mariners 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 5 8
Missoula Mavericks 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 – 4 8 0
Derek Peel 2-2, Jacob Harrod 1-4, Micah McClure 1-4, Nyqolas Gillingham 1-4, AJ Jones 0-2, Bransen Krebs 0-3, Walter Wood 0-3, Tyson Petticrew 0-3, Kade Schutzmann 0-3.
2B – Gillingham. HR – McClure. RBIs – McClure (2).
Kalispell 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 3 3 – 10 11 5
Mariners 0 0 1 0 4 1 0 5 – 11 11 7
Derek Peel 1-4, Jacob Harrod 1-3, Bransen Krebs 3-4, Micah McClure 0-4, AJ Jones 2-5, Nyqolas Gillingham 0-2, Walter Wood 0-4, Justin Young 0-3, Kade Schutzmann 2-5, Tyson Petticrew 1-1, Warren Wood 1-1.
2B – Krebs, Schutzmann. 3B – Warren Wood. RBIs – Krebs (3), Warren Wood (3), Walter Wood (2), Harrod, Schutzmann.
Mariners 3 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 – 7 12 6
Bitterroot Bucs 2 1 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 – 8 14 2
Derek Peel 0-5, Jacob Harrod 2-4, Bransen 2-5, Micah McClure 1-5, AJ Jones 3-6, Nyqolas Gillingham 1-3, Walter Wood 0-3, Warren Wood 2-5, Kade Schutzmann 1-4.
2B – McClure, Warren Wood. RBIs – Krebs, McClure, Jones, Warren Wood.
