VIDEO: Bagnell baffles 20 in seven innings during double header

POLSON - The Mission Valley Mariners' key to success?

Ice cream.

The Mariners (37-16) swept the Bitterroot Bucs (22-27) in a double-header last Friday night in Polson. That allowed them to bounce back from a two-game sweep by the Missoula Mavericks on Wednesday. The wins were enough for the No. 1 seed in the south at the Western A American Legion District tournament next weekend.

Their 9-0 game one win over the Bucs was thanks largely to the pitching of Kyle Bagnell, who struck out 20 batters in the game. The defense only recorded two outs in the matchup and the rest were Ks in the score book for Bagnell.

"I kept them guessing and didn't let them settle in on the fastball," Bagnell said. "I kept them off-guard."

The fireball throwing pitcher also had an agreement with Mariners' head coach Jami Hanson that he'd get ice cream if he struck out 16 batters.

"I'd better get it," Bagnell jokingly said after the game.

On the offensive side, Derrick Rathe got things going early in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run RBI single, followed by a Justin Evertz RBI for an early 3-0 lead.

The Mariners' bats would stay quiet until the fifth when they registered another three-run inning. Matt Detwiler hit a two-run RBI double and Chris Alfiero sacrifice flied for another score.

Detwiler drove in two more runs in the sixth and Evertz scored on an error for the 9-0 lead. Bagnell struck out three straight batters in the top of the seventh to end the game.

Going into the state tournament, both the Mariners

had identical 10-4 league records.

With the Mariners' sweep, they improved to 12-4 while the Mavericks split a double header with the Bitterroot Red Sox and fell to 11-5.

"Obviously we needed to get a win," Bagnell said.

In the second game, the Mariners jumped out to an 8-0 lead thanks largely to a three-run RBI triple by Tyler Linse in the first inning. The Bucs would strike back with four runs in the top of the second, and trailed 9-7 in the fifth. Mission Valley iced the game in the bottom of the sixth with five runs thanks to RBIs from Willie Wallace, Josh Rustad and Tim Rausch.

A passed ball and a bases-loaded walk also added runs to the Mariners total en route to a 14-6 victory.

One promising sign of the sweep for Hanson was the chatter coming from the dugout.

"That was the loudest I've head our dugout in a long time," Hanson said. "I hope they're excited for what they can accomplish."

The Mariners will play at the Legion baseball district tournament this weekend in Hamilton.