Mariners kept out of the money in championship at Big Bucks Tourney
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LIBBY — The Mission Valley Mariners rode the arms of their pitching staff to the championship game of the Big Bucks Tourney Sunday, but when the money was on the line their gloves let them down.
The Mariners’ defense, which has been solid up to that point, committed an astounding nine errors in a 3-2 extra-inning loss to the tournament host Loggers in the championship game.
Mariner Manager Jami Hanson said that the nine errors in one game is an once-in-a-lifetime occurrence and can’t diminish what his team accomplished at the tournament.
The Mariner pitching staff only gave up five runs, only two of which were earned, in the four games at the tournament.
The Mariners opened up the tournament with a 14-2 rout of St. Maries Friday. Saturday, they recovered from a 1-0 loss to Moscow with a 13-1 thrashing of the Kootenai Valley Rangers to earn a spot in the championship game Sunday.
Against Libby Sunday, Mariner second baseman Kaileb Gillingham led off the game with a double and scored on a passed ball. Gillingham finished 2 for 4. The Loggers tied the game in the bottom half of the inning and took a 2-1 lead in the sixth after the Mariners fourth and fifth error of the game. Mariner third baseman Tyler Linse started the seventh with a single and forced an eighth inning, when he crossed the plate on a Chris Alfiero sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the eighth, Logger third baseman Zach Watson reached on an error, advanced to third on the Mariners’ second error of the inning and ended the game when he touched home after a one-out single.
Hanson said that he was proud of how his team responded to their mistakes, especially his pitchers Justin Evans and Jay Sorrell.
“I give my team credit. They didn’t quit. I mean most teams would rollover after just a couple of errors, but they didn’t,” Hanson said. “Evans, I give him 100 percent credit, he was just like ‘Oh, well, that happened,’ and he’d throw his next pitch.”
What’s amazing to Hanson, is that the M’s committed nine errors and still lost only 3-2.
“That says something. That’s all there is to it.” Hanson said. “...And it wasn’t like we didn’t have opportunities. We had plenty of opportunities.
The Mariners stranded five runners in the game. Evans gave up only two hits and struck out five in six innings of work. Sorrell was handed the tough loss, despite giving up only two hits and striking out two in two innings of work. Five of the Mariners’ nine errors came when Sorrell was on the mound.
It was the second year in a row that the Mariners lost the Big Bucks Championship in the final inning. Last year, they lost 6-5 to the South Hills Stingers after the Stingers hit a two-run home run in the seventh. It was also the second time in less than a week that they lost to the Loggers in extra innings. At home Wednesday, the Mariners lost to the Loggers 10-5 in eight innings to open a doubleheader. In the nightcap, the Mariners scored a run in the sixth and the seventh to win 4-3.
In the 14-2 win over the Savages to open the tournament Friday, the Mariners scored six runs in the first and never looked back, ending the game in the fifth because of the 10-run mercy rule. The Mariners had 11 hits in the game. Gillingham was 2 for 3 with two runs and two RBIs. Shortstop Justin Evertz was 2 for 2 with a run and Alfiero had two RBIs and two runs.
