Mariners finish year with regional championship
Lynn Kelly
The seven seniors on the championship Mission Valley Mariners team grin after receiving their state championship plaque from American Legion Baseball Montana State Commissioner Doug Fullerton.
Lynn Kelly
Lynn Kelly
Robbie Gauthier wings one over the plate at the Burley, Idaho, tournament.
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
MISSION VALLEY — The Mission Valley Mariners took home the American Legion Regional Title after a stunning season filled with teamwork, talent and chemistry.
Comprised of young adults ages 16 to 19, the Mariners live throughout the valley in Plains, Arlee, Mission, Ronan and Polson.
With teammates living as far as 75 miles apart, team chemistry and camaraderie would appear hard to come by. After beating teams from Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and Alaska, the 2012 Mariners proved otherwise.
Assistant coach John Rausch was on the 2007 Mariners, the only other team to make it to the regional tournament. They lost in 2007, but he believes this year’s team had a bit more talent, leadership and cohesiveness than five years ago.
“This was a pretty special team,” Rausch said. “We had seven good senior leaders who stuck together and played well, and I can’t wait until next season. We’re just reloading, we won’t lose much.”
Rausch’s most memorable moment was the last play of the last game. Pitcher Nick Crawford slipped while fielding a line-drive ball. At the begining of the season, Rausch said the play would have ended right there.
However, Crawford recovered and threw the batter out at first to win the game and the title of Regional Champions.
“It sticks out the most because of how far that kid’s come since the beginning of the year,” Rausch said. “He was calm, cool and collected. It really sums up the whole team from how they’ve matured and grown up throughout the season.”
While struggling a bit through the first three games, the Mariners found their bats in game four with 22 singles, and the momentum carried from there. Incredible individual performances and a massive team effort lead to the Mariners snapping Burley, Idaho’s 42-game winning streak — twice.
Pitcher Nick Crawford threw for 18 innings and only gave up seven hits.
Robbie Gauthier threw an incredible game with no earned runs.
Chris Clary and Jacob Young both finished the tournament with more hits than outs.
And 19-year-old Justin Evertz won the Montana State MVP award for the second straight year. As if that wasn’t enough, he added his first Regional MVP award as well.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Evertz said. “We’re only the second team to make it there and the first team to win it. That’s pretty cool.”
Playing since his sophomore year, Evertz would not be able to return to his team after the final out. This was his last season, since next year he’ll be too old.
Even so, he wasn’t bitter in the least and said his favorite memory was winning the Regional Tournament, a culmination of six months of hard work.
“I love the game of baseball, but I love the team even more,” he said. “It’s rough to leave the game, but I’m more happy that I made the friends I did than I am sad about leaving the game of baseball.”
