EUREKA — The Mission Valley Mariners A came out with two tough conference victories on the road, sweeping a doubleheader at Kootenai Valley on Thursday.

Mission Valley took advantage of sloppy play early from the Rangers, scoring in each of the first three innings, while starter Nick Crawford shut down Kootenai Valley in the first five innings, leading the way for a 10-7 victory. Kootenai Valley had seven errors in the game.

“The kids booted the ball around too much in that game,” Kootenai Valley coach Brent Holder said. “You cannot make simple errors against a team like Mission Valley and they learned that today.”

The second game was a pitchers duel between staff aces Justin Evertz and Ryan Holder. Evertz got the best of the duel despite giving up a run in the first, with the Mariners walking away with a 4-1 win. Mission Valley scored a pair of runs in each the fifth and seventh innings to earn the victory.

“Those are the best two pitchers around,” Holder said. “We made a few mistakes and Mission didn’t. They took advantage of it.”

Next up for both teams is the John R. Harp Memorial Tournament this weekend in Kalispell.

Mariners 10, Rangers 7

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Nick Crawford, Dalton Molzhon (6) and Jack Humphreys. Bryton Guckenberg, CJ Henrie (6) and Kade Davis, Gallen Sullivan (5). W — Crawford. L — Guckenberg.

MISSION VALLEY —  Justin Evertz 3-3, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 1-4, Robbie Gauthier 1-5, Chris Clary 1-5, Jacob Young 2-5, Humphreys 1-3, Mikey Bournstein 0-4, Bradley Pichler 0-3, Molzhon 1-4.

2B — Evertz, Gauthier, Young; RBI — Gauthier (2), Webster-Yaqui, Young.

KOOTENAI VALLEY — Henrie 0-4, Guckenberg 2-4, Ryan Holder 1-4, Kade Davis 3-4, Dalton Smith 1-4, RJ Glover 0-1, Sullivan 0-3, Nick Rackley 2-4, Mark Good 0-3.

2B — Guckenberg, Holder. HR — Guckenberg. RBI — Rackley (2), Guckenberg, Davis, Sullivan.

Mariners 4, Rangers 1

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Evertz and Humphreys. Holder and Davis. W — Evertz. L — Holder.

MISSION VALLEY — Evertz 1-3, Webster-Yaqui 1-3, Gauthier 2-3, Clary 0-3, Young 1-3, Humphreys 1-2, Bournstein 1-2, Pichler 1-4, Molzhon 1-3. 

RBI — Gauthier, Clary.

KOOTENAI VALLEY — Henrie 1-3, Guckenberg 0-2, Holder 1-3, Davis 0-3, Smith 0-3, RJ Glover 0-2, Sullivan 1-3, Rackley 1-2, Good 0-2.

2B — Holder; RBI — Holder.

Clancy Ellis Tournament

Libby 6, Longview (Wash.) 5

LEWISTON, Idaho — The Libby Loggers escaped with a victory in the opener of the Clancy Ellis Memorial Tournament in Lewiston, Idaho on Thursday, beating Longview (Wash.) 6-5.

The Loggers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a double from Micah Germany in the first inning. They gave up the lead shortly only to pull ahead 4-3 an inning later. A deep triple by Nic Robertson in the sixth inning scored the first of two runs for Libby in the sixth inning, giving the Loggers a three run lead they would need just a few minutes later. 

Libby starter Will Reichel got all but one out in the game, but loaded the bases in the seventh, when the coaches brought in Jared Winslow to get out of the jam. A wild pitch allowed two runs to score, but Winslow was able to get the popout and a save one batter later to seal the win for the Loggers.

“It was a good thing we got some of those insurance runs in the sixth inning there,” Libby coach Kelly Morford said.

Libby plays twice today against Grangeville, Idaho and Hyrum, Utah.

Libby 6, Longview (Wash.) 5

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Nate Williamston and Andy Voellkers. Will Reichel, Jared Winslow (7) and Oliver Gruphenhoff. W — Reichel. L — Williamson. S — Winslow.

LONGVIEW — Texas Weery 1-4, Oliver Bolder 0-2, Mike Giles 1-4, Voellkers 0-2, TJ Catlin 0-3, Nick Harriman 1-3, Anthony Newsman 1-2, Hunter Whitton 0-2, Tyler Jackson 0-0.

3B — Newsman; RBI — Weery (2), Giles, Voellkers, Harriman.

LIBBY — Luke Haggerty 1-2, Reichel 0-2, Jared Winslow 0-3, Micah Germany 2-3, Gruphenhoff 1-3, Andrew Haggerty 1-3, Nic Robertson 2-3, Matt Willis 0-3, Josh Foote 1-3.

2B — Robertson, Gruphenhoff, Germany; RBI — Germany (3), Robertson (2), L. Haggerty