All to play for
FRITZ NEIGHBOR | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 months AGO
Lakers AA shortstop Ostyn Brennan (10) reaches for a line drive against the Helena Senators at Griffin Field on Saturday, July 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Lakers AA shortstop Carter Schlegel (5) fires to first base for an attempt at a double play against the Helena Senators at Griffin Field on Saturday, July 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Kalispell's Luke Nikunen (12) drives in two runs in the Lakers' 10-run third inning against the Lethbridge Elks at Griffin Field on Saturday, July 19. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Lakers AA centerfielder Oscar Kallis (3) tracks down a long fly ball against the Lethbridge Elks at Griffin Field on Saturday, July 19. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Lakers teammates congratulate Andre Cephers (7) after scoring in the fifth inning on a single by Oscar Kallis against the Helena Senators at Griffin Field on Saturday, July 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Kalispell starting pitcher Jackson Heino (4) delivers against the Helena Senators at Griffin Field on Saturday, May 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
The Kalispell AA Lakers open the Montana/Alberta American Legion baseball tournament Wednesday at 10 a.m., against a Billings Scarlets squad that won three early matchups this season.
Those aren’t the numbers coach Ryan Malmin is paying attention to. He’s more about the fact that everyone starts 0-0 Wednesday; and that six players have stuck together for six years to form a formidable core of Lakers.
Ostyn Brennan, Carter Schlegel, Luke Nikunen, Oscar Kallis, Andre Cephers and Jackson Heino helped Kalispell finish the regular season with a flourish: nine wins in 11 games. Two more seniors, Cale Brink and the injured Bryce Buckmaster, are more recent additions but no less important.
“It’s cool that they stuck together,” Malmin said. “Those seniors have been in our Lakers program for 4-5 years, moving from B to A to AA. A couple are 4-year AA veterans.
“They love the game, they are a tight-knit group, and they are solid players and great young men.”
Schlegel has played a lot at short despite a sore hamstring, and is hitting .337; Ostyn Brennan has spelled Schlegel, held up the back of the bullpen (five saves) and is hitting .346; Nikunen has over 30 steals and 30 runs batted in; and Kallis has 22 RBIs, 33 runs scored and 10 doubles.
Cephers and Heino front the starting rotation: Heino has a 3.19 earned-run average over a team-high 65 innings; Cephers has a 2.25 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 59 innings.
Brink hit .319 in an increased role for the Lakers, while Buckmaster was shut down after 41 dominant innings with an elbow injury.
The group has reasons for confidence. The Lakers closed the league season by taking two of three from the first-place Helena Senators, and just 3.5 games separate the five teams that are seeds 2-6.
The Lakers are the No. 6 seed after going 13-11 in league games. The No. 3 Scarlets, who brought back ace Paxton Prill and outfielders Cody Collis and Brady Randall from a team advanced to last year’s American Legion World Series, won 15 league contests.
“There is great parity in the state,” Malmin noted. “It will be a fun one. The goal is to go to 1-0. We always talk about competing against ourselves — focus on our process, staying present and winning every pitch.
“It is what sets Legion baseball apart from anything else — the quality, the grind, the culture, the atmosphere and level of intensity is unmatched. It all culminates into the state tournament. Now just trust the preparation and don’t allow the moment to be too big.”
Lakers AA shortstop Carter Schlegel (5) fires to first base for an attempt at a double play against the Helena Senators at Griffin Field on Saturday, July 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Kalispell's Luke Nikunen (12) drives in two runs in the Lakers' 10-run third inning against the Lethbridge Elks at Griffin Field on Saturday, July 19. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Lakers AA centerfielder Oscar Kallis (3) tracks down a long fly ball against the Lethbridge Elks at Griffin Field on Saturday, July 19. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Lakers teammates congratulate Andre Cephers (7) after scoring in the fifth inning on a single by Oscar Kallis against the Helena Senators at Griffin Field on Saturday, July 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Kalispell starting pitcher Jackson Heino (4) delivers against the Helena Senators at Griffin Field on Saturday, May 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
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