Cats drop Bigfork in big conference win, lose tough one to Eureka
Hungry Horse News | Hungry Horse News | UPDATED 3 hours, 29 minutes AGO
Nico Young races home against Bigfork last week. (Seth Anderson photo)
The Columbia Falls baseball team put a pair of conference games in the win column last week, dropping Bigfork at home Tuesday, 15-4 and Libby, 10-0 Thursday.
Against Bigfork, Tristan Victor led the Wildcats at the plate with three hits and three RBIs. Jaxson Cadwell had a triple.
Bigfork took an early two-run lead in the first, but the Cats responded with three in the bottom half of the inning and then broke things open with seven in the bottom of the second in a game that went 4-½ innings due to the mercy rule.
Jett Pitts got the win on the mound, striking out eight in 2-2/3 innings of work. Tayvin Beach got the save with four strikeouts.
Against Libby the Cats put up two in the top of the third and then blew out the Loggers with eight runs in the top of the fourth.
Pitts, Nico Young, Wyatt Dodson and Zeke Dunn all had doubles in the game, which ended in five innings.
Young went the distance on the bump, striking out 10 in a one-hitter.
Young also had three hits in four plate appearances and his double in the fourth drove in three runners.
The Cats travel to Missoula to play Florence Thursday and Big Sky Saturday as they have five straight games on the road.
Coach Chad Green is pleased with the way the Cats are playing overall. He noted Pitts has not only been solid on the mound, he’s batting about .667, which is best in the state.
“We like when he gets up and there are runners on base,” he said.
Young Tayvin Beach has been pitching well, too.
“He throws hard and throws strikes,” Green noted.
The Cats have struggled when they walk runners this season. Like the first game against Bigfork, which they lost, they outhit the Vikings by a wide margin, but gave up too many walks.
Splitting with the Vikings and winning by a big margin could come in handy at the end of the year if there happens to be a tiebreak.
On Tuesday, they had a tough time against Eureka at home. They tied the game 7-7 in the seventh after spotting the Lions four runs in the first and second innings, but Eureka hit a two out, two run homer in the top of the eighth and held on for the win.