After losing three of four games last weekend, the Kalispell Lakers bounced back to sweep a nonconference American Legion baseball doubleheader with the Mission Valley Mariners Saturday at Griffin Field.

The Lakers (4-3) won game one 9-3 and took the second game 9-4.

Lakers ace pitcher Dillon Eaves struck out 11 in a complete-game victory in game one and newcomer Chris Combs laid down a bunt single in the fifth inning of game two to spark a come-from-behind rally.

“I feel like we really needed to bounce back strong,” Eaves said. “But we’re a pretty young team and I knew we were going to come around eventually. Maybe this is the start of something new.”

The Lakers took a 2-0 lead in the second inning of game one when Hank McLeod scored on a passed ball and Chris Sibley delivered an RBI single.

Eaves cruised through the first five innings before clean-up hitter Jeremiah Crawford crushed a two-run homer over the left field wall in the sixth.

“I hung a slider right over the middle of the plate to their four-hitter and you obviously can’t make those mistakes,” Eaves said. “It’s better that it happened now than later in the season.

“Their coach kept saying, ‘hit his mistake, hit his mistake,’ and I felt like that was the only real mistake I made.”

The home run was the first Eaves had surrendered since he was an 11-year-old in little league, but he bounced back by striking out the side in the seventh. He whiffed Jared Young with a low breaking ball, then blew fastballs past Quinn Harlan and Brennan Andrews.

“I just felt like I came out today and didn’t beat myself,” Eaves said. “I didn’t walk or hit as many players. Obviously as you can see by the score it affects the game.”

The Lakers supported Eaves after Crawford’s homer with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Sean O’Connell and Jake Barstow drew bases-loaded walks, McLeod drove in a run with an infield single and Sibley hit a two-run single to put Kalispell ahead 9-3.

“Some of our keys for success are we’ve got to score first, we’ve got to extend the lead and respond or answer when they score, and we did all three of those things in the first game,” Lakers coach Ryan Malmin said.

Sibley led the offense with two hits in three at bats and Eaves helped his cause by batting 1 for 3 with an RBI double.

Ryan Pablo batted 2 for 3 to lead Mission Valley (1-3). Crawford was saddled with the loss, allowing seven runs, all earned, in 3.1 innings of relief.

In game two, the Lakers scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to turn a two-run deficit into a 6-4 lead.

With two on and one out, Combs placed a bunt to the third-base side of the mound. Both corner infielders charged and third baseman Bradley Pichler fielded the bunt and threw to first without realizing no one was covering the bag. Two runners scored on the error and Combs hustled to third base.

The game was Combs’ first as a Laker and the bunt was an example of Malmin’s increased emphasis on small ball.

“That was one of our goals this year,” Malmin said. “To make sure we utilize the small game a little bit better than we have in recent years and put some pressure on the defense.”

Combs said he became a confident bunter this spring when he redshirted with the Dakota Wesleyan Unversity baseball team.

“I just felt like I needed to prove myself to the team I guess,” he said. “Show that I fit on here with the team.”

Combs scored the go-ahead run when catcher Alex Killian made an overthrow on a pickoff attempt at third base. The Lakers scored three more runs in the sixth on three hits and an error.

Combs, O’Connell and Charlie Obermiller each finished with two hits.

Justin Wallace pitched three innings of scoreless relief to earn the win. McLeod, the Lakers’ starting pitcher, gave up four runs, three earned, on six hits and two walks.

Zeke Webster-Yaqui batted 2 for 3 to lead the Mariners. Relief pitcher Jared Young took the loss, allowing seven runs on five hits in four innings. He was hurt by two errors in Kalispell’s four-run fifth inning and one error in the three-run sixth.

“Too many mistakes at this time,” Mariners coach Jami Hanson said. “We’re playing a couple kids in different spots to get them playing time. That’s what it’s about right now. We’re getting a feel for ourselves to see where we’re at.”

Kalispell’s doubleheader with the Bitterroot Red Sox, scheduled for today, has been canceled. The Lakers return to the field Saturday with a doubleheader against Mission Valley in Polson.

Mission 000 003 0 — 3 6 1

Kalispell 020 205 X — 9 7 0

Zeke Webster-Yaqui, Jeremiah Crawford (3), Chris Drebes (6) and Alex Killian. Dillon Eaves and Adam Frandsen. W - Eaves. L - Crawford.

MISSION VALLEY - Ryan Pablo 2-3, Webster-Yaqui 1-2, Killian 0-2, J. Crawford 1-3, Bradley Pichler 1-3, Nick Crawford 0-3, Jared Young 0-3, Nick Grogan 0-2, Quinn Harlan 0-1, Brennan Andrews 1-2.

KALISPELL - Dillon Matteson 1-3, Charlie Obermiller 1-2, Eaves 1-3, Frandsen 0-1, Sean O’Connell 0-1, Jake Barstow 0-3, Hank McLeod 1-4, Chris Sibley 2-3, Justin Wallace 1-3.

2B - Eaves. HR - J. Crawford. RBI - J. Crawford 2, Killian; O’Connell 2, Sibley 2, Wallace, McLeod, Eaves, Barstow.

Mission 202 000 0 — 4 7 6

Kalispell 110 043 X — 9 8 3

Ryan Pablo, Jared Young (3) and Alex Killian. Hank McLeod, Justin Wallace (5) and Adam Frandsen. W - Wallace. L - Young.

MISSION VALLEY - Brennan Andrews 1-3, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 2-3, Killian 1-3, Jeremiah Crawford 1-3, Bradley Pichler 0-3, Chris Drebes 0-3, Nick Crawford 1-2, Nick Grogan 0-2, Bransen Krebs 0-1, Kellen Hoyt 1-3.

KALISPELL - Dillon Matteson 0-2, Charlie Obermiller 2-4, Dillon Eaves 1-3, Frandsen 1-2, Sean O’Connell 2-4, Chris Combs 2-3, McLeod 0-1, Wallace 0-1, Chris Sibley 0-3, Luke LaFontaine 0-2.

2B - Killian; Obermiller, O’Connell, Combs. RBI - J. Crawford 2, Webster-Yaqui; O’Connell 2, Combs, LaFontaine.