LIBBY — Thanks to an offensive explosion and an excellent day on the mound from Andrew Aexel, the Sandpoint Sasquatch split four games at the Big Bucks Tournament in Libby, Montana.

Mission Valley 9, Sandpoint 1 

LIBBY — The Sasquatch started the tournament cold with a fourth-inning rally boosting the Mission Valley Mariners A over Sandpoint on Friday evening. 

Sandpoint's lone run came in the third inning with Lakeland High's Cash Crateau grounding out, which drove in Sandpoint High rising junior Daniel Holman. That run tied the game in the top of the third, but Sandpoint couldn't capitalize on the baserunners and never regained offensive momentum. 

A disastrous fourth inning sealed the fate of the Sasquatch as the Mariners scored six runs in five at-bats to put the game out of reach. Crateau got the start, throwing 3.2 innings and allowing eight runs, but only one earned. He allowed five hits and struck out two batters.  

Sandpoint High rising junior Brennen Wyman came in to polish off the game, throwing 1.2 innings, giving up one run on one hit and two walks.  

Sandpoint 0 0 1 0 0 0 — 1 3 5 

Mission Valley 1 0 1 6 0 1 — 9 6 2 

PITCHING 

SP — Crateau: 3.2IP, 5H, 8R (1ER), 1BB, 2K. Hansen: 0.1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K. Wyman: 1.2IP, 1H, 1R (1ER), 2BB, 0K. MV — Wadsworth: 6.0IP, 3H, 1R (0ER), 3BB, 7K.  

BATTING 

HITS: SP — Crateau 1, Miller 1, Aexel 1. MV — Haggard 2, Wadsworth 1, Emerson 1, P. DuMont1, Luedtke 1. 2B — Haggard 2, Emerson 1, Luedtke 1. RBI: SP — Crateau 1. MV — P. DuMont 2, Luedtke 2, Wadsworth 1, Emerson 1, Leishman 1. 

Sandpoint 12, Central Alberta 2 

LIBBY — Saturday proved to be a whole different ballgame for the Sasquatch, who jumped all over the Central Alberta Wolves 18O to the tune of eight runs in the first three innings to take their first game of the tournament 12-2. 

Sandpoint wasted no time in the top of the first, with Sandpoint High's Chase Miller taking a hit-by-pitch and Daniel Holman and Cras Crateau working walks to load the bases with no outs. Austyn Young started a stellar 3-3 at the plate by knocking in both Miller and Holman with a single to give Sandpoint a lead they would never relinquish.  

The second inning delivered much of the same type of offense for Sandpoint, knocking in runners who walked at the plate. Holman singled to start the rally and scored John Holman, and Carson Resso added a two-RBI single to extend the Sasquatch lead to seven. 

In total, the Sasquatch worked 12 walks and only struck out twice in seven innings, with Daniel Holman, Resso and Young all recording multi-RBI days. 

Despite a few hiccups, Priest River High rising senior Broden Collins had a great day on the bump. Collins notched 5.2 innings, giving up only five hits and two runs while striking out six batters.  

Andrew Aexel came in to finish the game for Sandpoint, inducing a pop-up to get the team out of a short-lived rally by the Wolves. 

Sandpoint 2 5 1 0 0 0 4 — 12 9 3 

Central Alberta 0 1 1 0 0 0 X — 2 5 0 

PITCHING 

SP — Collins: 5.2IP, 5H, 2R (2ER), 4BB, 6K. Aexel: 0.1 IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K. CA — Formos: 1.1IP, 3H, 7R (7ER), 5BB, 1K. Moore: 5.1IP, 5H, 5R (5ER), 6BB, 1K. Sept: 0.0IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 0K. 

BATTING 

HITS: SP — Young 3, Madden 2, Bogadi 2, D. Holman 1, Resso 1. CA — Moore 2, Feenstra 1, Sept 1, Hoppins 1. RBI: SP — D. Holman 2, Resso 2, Young 2, Collins 1, Bogadi 1, Aexel 1, Madden 1, Crateau 1. CA — Moore 1, Reberger 1. 

Sandpoint 4, Flathead 0 

LIBBY — The talent of Sandpoint High rising senior Andrew Aexel's arm was on full display in the Sasquatch's second game on Saturday. Aexel dealt seven shutout innings and allowed only four hits to lift Sandpoint over the Flathead A's 17U. 

Three strikeouts across the first two innings helped Aexel set the tone for what was to come for Flathead, including a swinging strikeout from A's right fielder Ryan Siegel to end the second. Aexel continued to induce easy outs for his fielders through three, then took it upon himself to start the game-winning offensive rally. 

A single from Sandpoint's ace was quickly turned into a run thanks to a triple from Sandpoint High rising junior John Holman. The Sasquatch added two more runs thanks to a sacrifice fly from Cash Crateau and a single to left field from Austyn Young, which capped off a three-run inning. 

Heads-up base running from Brennen Wyman helped notch the fourth and final run of the game for Sandpoint in the fifth.  

Despite a few back-to-back singles in the sixth, the A's failed to generate any runs. Aexel got himself out of the jam with a strike that caught Lucas Rojas looking and ended the day with a one-two-three inning to close out the top of the seventh. 

Flathead 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 4 2 

Sandpoint 0 0 3 0 1 0 X — 4 8 1 

PITCHING 

SP — Aexel: 7.0 IP, 4H, 0R, 2BB, 6K. FA— Cadwell: 4.1IP, 7H, 4R (2ER), 3BB, 2K. Hanchett: 1.2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K. 

BATTING 

HITS: SP — Young 3, J. Holman 2, Aexel 2, Bogadi 1. 3B — J. Holman 1. 2B — Bogadi 1, J. Holman 1. FA — Hanchett 1, Cadwell 1, Corbett 1, Keller 1. RBI: SP — J. Holman 1, Crateau 1, Young 1. FA — None.

Libby 13, Sandpoint 3 (5) 

LIBBY — With two wins under their belt, the Sasquatch qualified for the third-place showdown with the tournament's host, the Libby Loggers.  

Despite a lead-off double from Daniel Holman, the game quickly unraveled for Sandpoint, who found themselves down 10 runs after the first inning. Libby parlayed a series of Sandpoint mistakes, including three errors, into a massive offensive outburst.   

Holman got the start for the Sasquatch and only made it through two outs in the first inning, including a strikeout. None of the seven runs given up during his time on the mound were charged to Holman. Star batter of the weekend, Austyn Young, came in to help finish off the first inning, allowing three runs on two hits and two walks. 

A gaggle of Sasquatches worked to finish off the game, including solid outings from Blake Bogadi and Carson Resso, who each struck a batter out over the course of a combined 2.2 innings. Henry Madden was the only Sandpoint pitcher who didn't allow any runs in his middle-inning time on the bump. 

Holman continued to be a bright spot at the plate, recording two of the Sasquatch's three hits.  

With the loss, Sandpoin fell to 2-2 on the weekend, which was good enough for a fourth-place finish out of eight teams in the Big Bucks Tournament. The effort brings the Sasquatch to 8-13-1 during the summer season. They are set to return to action on July 6 against the Libby Loggers A 18U. 

Sandpoint 0 0 0 0 3 — 3 3 3

Libby 10 0 1 0 2 — 13 4 2 

PITCHING 

SP — D. Holman: 0.2IP, 0H, 7R (0ER), 2BB, 1K. Young: 0.1IP, 2H, 3R (3ER), 2BB, 0K. Madden: 1.0IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K. Resso: 1.0IP, 1H, 1R (1ER), 1BB 1K. Bogadi: 1.2IP, 1H, 2R (2ER), 3BB, 1K. LL — Miles: 3.0IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 1K. Orr: 1.0IP, 0 H, 0R, 0BB, 0K. Gillespie: 0.0IP, 0H, 3R (0ER), 2BB, 0K. Thom: 1.0IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0k.

BATTING 

HITS: SP —D. Holman 2, Crateau 1. 2B — D. Holman 1. LL — Miles 2, Riddle 1, Thom 1. RBI: SP — Crateau 1, Aexel 1, Wyman 1. LL — Miles 3, Riddle 2, Thom 2, Rooney 2, Hall 1, Holzer 1, Foulke 1.