LEWISTOWN—The Mission Valley Mariners State tournament began Tuesday, July 28 in Lewistown in a game against Belgrade. The Mariners scored first in the third inning only to be matched in the fourth byBelgrade. However, the boys were able to rally in the fifth inning to score five runs and make a wide margin between themselves and Belgrade. Belgrade attempted a comeback at the bottom of the seventh, but only managed three runs before Mission Valley stopped the scoring and kept their opponents at bay for the following innings.

In the game against Belgrade, Zeke Webster-Yaqui doubled and drove in three runs and leadoff hitter Ryan Pablo went three for five with one RBI; Pablo garnered two of the Mariners’ six runs. Bradley Pichler was a star on the mound, he struck out 10 batters and only gave up six hits.

During the second round of state, Mission Valley played Laurel, who had beat Medicine Hat, Alberta 14-2 in the first round. The Laurel game began with the opposing team scoring once in the second inning and again in the fourth. Mission Valley attempted to tie it up at the top of the sixth, but were only allowed one run before falling short. Laurel scored twice again at the bottom of the eighth inning. Mission Valley rallied at the top of the ninth with a grand attempt to at least drive the game into overtime, but they fell one run short and the game ended with a score of 4-3 for Laurel.

Laurel moved on to the semifinals and Mission Valley was sent to loser-out action for that Friday evening.

In their first game in the loser’s bracket, Mission Valley kept their dreams alive when they trounced the Gallatin Valley Outlaws. The beginning half of the game was non scoring, and the outlaws pulled ahead when they scored once at the bottom of the fifth. The Mariners tied up the game at the top of the seventh. In the eighth inning Mission Valley brought their best game to pull ahead with 5 runs. Gallatin Valley attempted a comeback at the bottom of the ninth, but fell short with only two runs leaving the final score at 6-3 in favor of the Mariners.

Trevor Paro went 1 for 2 and had the most RBIs in the game—a total of three. Derek Peel smacked a double that allowed two runners to score and Alex Killian went 2 for 5 with and scored the Mariner’s’second double of the game. TJ Olson also played exceptionally well and added two hits to the Mariners’ offense. The Mariners were able to continue the tournament because of their performance and were slated to face the Glacier Twins for loser out action on Friday, August 1.

For their final game of the state tournament, the Mission Valley Mariners were pitted against old rivals, the Glacier Twins. In the district American Legion baseball competition, the Mariners beat the Twins in the finals, giving Mission Valley the title of district champions. The Twins, unfortunately for the Mariners, were not going to be phased by last week’s losses. They scored right off the bat, once in the first inning and twice in the second and third innings each. They kept Mission Valley at bay for the first three innings. However, the Mariners scored at the bottom of the fourth. In the sixth inning, Glacier scored an additional three runs while Mission Valley rallied for five points. The two teams matched each other again in the eighth inning, scoring three points each. This made the final score 11-9 in favor of the Twins.

Mission Valley was led by Alex Killian in their closing game. Killian went 3 for 4 from the plate with an RBI. Jacob Harrod, Trevor Paro and Nyqolas Gillingham hit doubles for Mission Valley