Mariners take second place at Kalispell’s John Harp Tournament
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The Mariners joined teams from Montana, Idaho, and Canada, in Kalispell during the scorching heat last weekend for the John Harp Tournament, hosted by the Kalispell Lakers. For the past two years, the M’s have won the tournament.
After only giving up four runs total and dominating in their first three games of the tournament, the Mariners met their match in the Championship game against the Calgary Rockies with the M’s taking home the second place trophy.
In game one on Friday the M’s took the field on the Lakers’ secondary diamond, which the kids so lovingly call the “sandbox” due to it’s age and the clouds of dust that fill both the field and the stands. Alex Killian commanded the mound against the Vauxhall Spurs from Canada. The M’s would continue to face all Canadian teams throughout the tournament. Killian threw 10 strikeouts while walking one and giving up only two hits and no earned runs for the 5-1 win. Jacob Harrod played a perfect 2-2 at the dish with a triple and knocking in two Mariner runs while TJ Olson and Derek Peel added an extra RBI each.
In the nightcap game on Friday, the Mariners faced Cranbrook and easily mowed down the Bandits 15-3. Jarrod Young logged the win on the hill tossing two K’s and stamping out no earned runs. Raymond Matt took over in the fifth inning keeping the Bandits at bay to give the M’s the win early due to the mercy rule. Olson led his team pushing across four Mariner runs going 2-3 at the plate with a triple. Bransen Krebs and Peel chipped in six more with three apiece. Bradley Pichler was 2-2 in the blowout.
Saturday’s afternoon contest pitted the Mariners against the Medicine Hat Knights, a team that boasts a first place in their conference. Peel showed control on the hill, hurling the shutout six inning 10-0 win. The game ended in the sixth with a double off of Pichler’s bat, pushing in three Mariners to grab the 10-run mercy rule win. Killian, Krebs, and Young each tossed in an additional two RBIs apiece.
With temperatures reaching mid-nineties, the Mariners played a marathon for the Championship against the Calgary Rockies. Scheduled as a seven-inning contest, the two teams took it all the way to the ninth. After back and forth play through the first few innings, the Mariners held the lead until a seventh inning, six run rally by Rockies. At the top of the seventh they put the M’s in the do-or-die position to have to score to stay alive. A lead-off double from Krebs and a follow up base hit off the bat of Zeke Webster-Yaqui scored Krebs to tie it up bringing the game into extra innings. The M’s were only able to produce one more run in the final two innings against Calgary’s three, ending the game at 14-16 with Mission Valley going home with a second place prize for the tournament.
Harrod took the lead for the M’s at the plate, going 3-4 and adding crafty base running with five stolen bases. Olson and Peel batted in two runs each with Peel smashing a triple.
Along for the ride are the Mariners’ number one fans, their parents. Mariner mom, Regina Olson, knows first-hand the commitment and dedication the young athletes put in every day, and she is proud of their efforts.
“I think the boys put in hard work and good effort this weekend,” Olson said. “They’re starting to work together as a team, as a whole, and I think if they continue to learn to communicate better and work to play the game as a team, they will make it as far as they want to make it,---- to win championships.”
As for the team of parents, Olson said the Mariners have “some of the greatest parents in baseball” and are “supporting these boys 100 percent from the side.”
The Mariners will head into their final week of regular season play with a grueling schedule filled with conference games. They will play Libby July 16, Bitterroot Bucs July 18 and Glacier Twins July 18. All games are scheduled at home. District competition kicks off July 23-27 in Kalispell.
Results
Mariners 1 0 1 0 3 0 – 5 6 2
Vauxhall Spurs 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 2 3
Ryan Pablo 0-4, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 1-3, Alex Killian 1-3, TJ Olson 0-3, Bradley Pichler 0-1, Derek Peel 2-3, Jacob Harrod 2-2, Bransen Krebs 0-2, Trevor Paro 0-3, Brenen Abromeit 0-0.
3B – Harrod. RBIs – Harrod (2), Olson, Peel.
Mariners 5 5 1 4 – 15 12 3
Cranbrook Bandits 0 0 1 2 0 – 3 4 4
Ryan Pablo 0-3, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 1-2, Alex Killian 0-2, TJ Olson 2-3, Bradley Pichler 2-2, Derek Peel 3-4, Jacob Harrod 1-1, Bransen Krebs 1-2, Trevor Paro 1-3, Aaron Rasmussen 0-0, Raymond Matt 0-0, Warren Wood 0-0, Nyqolas Gillingham 1-1, Micah McClure 0-1, Brenen Abromeit 0-1.
2B – Peel, Krebs, Gillingham. 3B – Webster-Yaqui, Olson. RBIs – Olson (3), Peel (3), Krebs (3), Gillingham (2), Webster-Yaqui, Harrod.
Mariners 0 0 0 3 2 5 – 10 6 0
Medicine Hat Knights 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 5 4
Ryan Pablo 0-3, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 1-2, Alex Killian 1-3, TJ Olson 1-2, Bradley Pichler 1-3, Jared Young 0-1, Jacob Harrod 0-1, Bransen Krebs 1-2, Trevor Paro 1-2, Brenen Abromeit 0-0.
2B – Webster-Yaqui, Pichler. RBIs - Pichler (3), Killian (2), Young (2), Krebs (2).
Mariners 2 3 0 3 2 2 1 0 1 – 14 17 6
Calgary Knights 2 2 2 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 3 – 16 14 6
Bransen Krebs 3-5, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 3-5, Alex Killian 2-3, TJ Olson 2-6, Bradley Pichler 2-5, Jared Young 0-6, Jacob Harrod 3-4, Derek Peel 2-5, Trevor 0-3, Warren Wood 0-0, Brenen Abromeit 0-0.
2B – Krebs, Webster-Yaqui, Killian, Pichler. 3B – Peel. RBIs – Olson (2), Peel (2), Krebs, Webster-Yaqui, Killian, Pichler, Paro.
