WHITEFISH - The Libby Loggers definitely brought their 'A' game to the Western A District American Legion baseball tournament.

Dustin Morningstar gave up just three hits, struck out six Bitterroot Buc batters and walked just one as the Loggers rolled to a 16-0 win in their first game of the tourney Thursday afternoon.

Morningstar gave up a single to the second batter he faced, then didn't allow another baserunner until the seventh inning. He retired 12 straight.

Meanwhile, the Loggers put together 14 hits, including two home runs and three doubles.

"It's one of the best all-around ballgames we've had all year long," said Libby coach Kelly Morford.

"We had power hitting, we had drag bunts for base hits, we were solid on defense, baserunning-wise, we were solid. It was exciting to see a nice all-around ballgame by us.

"And then Morningstar on the hill … he threw a bunch of strikes, made them hit his pitches and was very efficient today," the coach said.

"It was kind of a last-minute decision to go with (Morningstar). (The Bucs' were aggressive with their bats and we took advantage of that and had a lot of fly ball outs. I'm proud of Dustin, how he showed up."

Bitterroot coach Dustin Bahm told Morford after the game that he was also surprised at the lack of Buc firepower - Bitterroot has averaged nine runs per game this year, he told Morford.

"Apparently Dustin just kept them off-balance, but they're a good ballclub," Morford said.

Morningstar shrugged off the praise.

"We had a great game. We had the bats come around - (Chris' Herbig, (Derek) Willis, (Joe) Coker, Colton (Cannon) all came clutch. (Eric) Riddle had a couple drag bunts that came clutch. We had just decent pitching up there and we had no errors.

"It's defense that does it. Coker is out in rightfield making nice plays, Colton is out catching balls over his shoulders. Anything that comes with pitching comes with the fielding to go with it," he said.

The Loggers got things going pretty fast. They scored one run in the first, then added three more in third and two in the fourth. And then came the eighth inning.

That's when the wheels really came off for Bitterroot.

Libby had built itself a comfortable 8-0 advantage.

The Bucs added to that, and to their own misery, when they walked the first eight Logger batsmen and hit the ninth. Adding to the total was a 3-run double by Cannon.

Morford was impressed with the Loggers' hitting as well.

"We hit the ball. Later on, we took advantage of some walks, but we put the barrel on the ball today," he said.

Herbig led that effort. He was 3-for-5 with a double, a homer and three RBI. Cannon was 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI, Wills was 1-for-3 with a homer and an RBI and Coker was 3-for-5 with two RBI.

The Loggers need two more wins to make the state tournament. The top two teams advance to the July 30-Aug. 3 state tournament at Three Forks.

Libby 103 211 08 - 16 14 0

Bitterroot 000 000 00 - 0 3 2

Dustin Morningstar and Micah Germany. Koby Salmela, Riley Phillips (4), Alex Elam (8), Robert Llewellyn (8) and Billy Hanna.

Libby - Dustin Morningstar 2-3, Chris Herbig 3-5, Colt Cannon 2-5, Joe Coker 3-5, Derek Willis 1-3, Micah Germany 0-3, Adam Stapley 1-4, Eric Riddle 2-4, Eric Grotjohn 0-4. HR - Herbig, Willis. 2B - Morningstar, Herbig, Cannon. RBI - Herbig 3, Cannon 3, Coker 2, Willis 1.

Bitterroot - Max Burns 0-4, Koby Salmela 1-2, Riley Phillips 0-4, Matt Perez 0-3, Billy Hanna 0-1 Tyler Lind 0-3, Jeremy Johnson 1-3, Trevor Stoos 0-2, Levi Reed 0-1, Zach Blackstun 0-2, Coe Golden 0-1, Austin Erler 1-3. 2B - Erler.