KALISPELL, Mont. - The Central Washington Spuds returned to action over the weekend for the first time in nearly three weeks. The Spuds made the trip to Kalispell, Montana, for a final four-game weekend slate.

The Spuds fell against the Kalispell Seals in their opening matchup of the weekend on Saturday, 12-2. The Seals picked up a big lead early, tacking on six runs in the bottom of the first to jump ahead quickly. A five-run third helped cement the win for the local squad, with the Spuds picking up a pair of runs to hold off the shutout in the top of the fourth.

Royce Valdez, Reise Raymond and Wade Visker combined for the Spuds’ three hits in the team’s first game back. The Spuds found themselves behind an early deficit again in the second game on Saturday, falling to Glacier 15-4. Down 4-1 after the first, Central Washington trimmed the deficit to two after the third inning at 6-4.

A late surge for 10 runs between the fourth and fifth inning for Glacier helped them pull away for the five-inning win. Gavin Bingham and Austin Kern both finished 2-3 from the plate in the game, with Kern adding a team-high three RBIs.

Visker and Zach Elizalde picked up a hit apiece for the Spuds as well, with Visker picking up an RBI as well.

Central Washington met a barrage on Sunday against Spokane Crew, falling 21-0 after four and half innings. The Spokane group notched 21 hits in the game, while shutting out their opponents from the plate.

A late surge helped Glacier pull away against the Spuds in the final game of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, winning 10-2. After rattling off five unanswered runs, the Spuds cut the deficit to 5-1 in the top of the sixth.

Glacier poured in five more runs in the bottom of the inning to pull ahead for good. Taylor Davidson and Visker picked up hits for the Spuds in the final game of the weekend.

Coming off the weekend stretch, the Spuds finished with a record of 8-15-1 for the summer. Head coach Blake Springer was happy to pick up another tournament before the end of the summer, and said he was pleased with the number of games they got in this summer given the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We got 24 games in,” Springer said. "That’s pretty good for coming together and coming out, getting a season going, getting kids prepared and information on start times, finding games with people from Idaho and Montana.”

The main goal for Springer this summer was just helping his players grow and develop from where they started the summer, especially since his players already missed out on their spring season coming in.

Overall, he said he was impressed with how quickly his players adapted.

“They competed from Game 1 to Game 24, and it was just fun to get to know them, especially since a lot of them I didn’t know,” Springer said. “I was able to build those relationships with those kids that they’ll have for the rest of time with whatever they need, whether it be baseball or life.”

Becoming head coach for the Spuds was something Springer said he didn’t see coming for a few years. He said he was thankful to have the opportunity this summer to “scratch that baseball itch.”

Springer said the rolling theme this year has been just adjusting to new circumstances. He said he was fortunate to be able to accomplish that this summer and give his guys a chance to play.