A Lakers take 3rd, Red Sox down Bucs for West A title

WHITEFISH — A quick start didn’t hold up for the Kalispell Lakers, who bowed out of the West A District American Legion tournament with an 8-5 loss to the Bitterroot Bucs Sunday. Walks and untimely errors helped the Bucs erase an early 2-0 deficit and make the district championship against the Bitterroot Red Sox at Memorial Field. The two programs sit 28 miles apart on Highway 93: The Red Sox are in Hamilton and the Bucs in Florence. The Red Sox won the championship 6-3, and both teams advanced to the State A tournament that begins Wednesday in Conrad. Liam Rech’s two-run single, which scored Beau Schultz and Tate Orme, staked the Lakers (30-24) to a first-inning lead that didn’t last. A walk and hit batter preceded a two-run double by Mason Arlington in the bottom of the first; Chase Wagner’s bases-loaded single in the second put the Bucs ahead for good, 3-2. The bases were still loaded when the next hitter hit a grounder to short that was mishandled, letting in two more runs scored. The Bucs pushed their lead to 6-2 in the third inning (Cole Germane RBI single) and 7-4 in the fourth (Wes Potter RBI single). The Lakers got two runs in the fourth on Dillon Wink’s RBI groundout and a squeeze bunt from Carter Wiggington. In the fifth inning they added an unearned run but got no closer. Schultz scored twice for Kalispell. “I’m proud of the run we were able to make,” Lakers coach Walker Malmin said. “We finished with the second-most wins our A team has had in our history. There’s a lot of positives to be said about this year and the future of our program.” Red Sox 6, Bucs 3 The Red Sox (36-12) scored three runs in the sixth inning to break a 3-3 tie, doing their damage without hitting it out of the infield. Elijah McNair-Neal was the catalyst, starting with a grounder that was misplayed for an error. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, then beat a throw to third on Cash Lawrence’s grounder and then scored ahead of a throw home on Jackson Lubke’s groundout. Up 4-3, the Red Sox got another run on Boedy Tadvick’s squeeze bunt and went up 6-3 when the Bucs misplayed another grounder. The Bucs (25-17) made up a 2-0 deficit in the fourth inning on an RBI single from Germane and a bases-loaded walk to Arlington, then drew into a 3-3 tie on Joey Wheeler’s RBI single in the sixth. Braden Drye went the distance in a losing effort: six hits, three walks and three earned runs allowed in six innings. He struck out two. Trevyn Bakken got the win for the Red Sox with four innings of relief. He allowed six hits, two walks and one run. He fanned four. Western A District Tournament July 24-27, Memorial Field, Whitefish Thursday Game 1: Bitterroot Bucs 7, Missoula Mavericks 1 Game 2: Cranbrook Bandits 7, Mission Valley Mariners 1 Game 3: Kalispell Lakers 7, Libby Loggers 5 Game 4: Bitterroot Red Sox 5, Glacier Twins 4 Friday Game 5: Missoula Mavericks 3, Mission Valley Mariners 2 Game 6: Libby Loggers 10, Glacier Twins 6 Game 7: Bitterroot Bucs 9, Cranbrook Bandits 1 Game 8: Bitterroot Red Sox 10, Kalispell Lakers 0 Saturday Game 9: Libby Loggers 16, Cranbrook Bandits 2 Game 10: Kalispell Lakers 4, Missoula Mavericks 2 Game 11: Bitterroot Red Sox 10, Bitterroot Bucs 0 Game 12: Kalispell Lakers 10, Libby Loggers 0 Sunday Game 13: Bitterroot Bucs 8, Kalispell Lakers 5, Lakers are third Game 14: Bitterroot Red Sox 6, Bitterroot Bucs 3, championship