LEGION BASEBALL: Northern Lakes rallies to win Missoula tourney

MISSOULA, Mont. — Big comebacks were the story of the day Sunday as the Northern Lakes Mountaineers class A team won the Missoula Mavericks Invitational at Lindborg-Cregg Field. 

In the championship game, Northern Lakes trailed 11-2 after four innings before rallying, finishing with 10 runs in the top of the seventh inning to beat Gonzaga Prep AA 16-13. 

“Obviously that seventh inning was insanity,” Northern Lakes coach Bryce Johnson said. “They have a ton of pride, and fought like hell. It was absolute chaos in the best way possible.” 

Earlier Sunday, Northern Lakes scored the final 17 runs to beat the host Missoula Mavericks A and earn a berth in the title game. 

Nate Beardsall went 7 for 10 with nine RBIs and five runs scored on the day for Northern Lakes. 

Against Gonzaga Prep, Beardsall was 4 for 5 with four RBIs and two runs scored. He hit a two-run double in the seventh, and scored on a single by Grant Rigler. Gage Tenney’s two-run triple tied the game at 13.  

Ryker Brennan followed with a two-run triple to give the Mountaineers the lead, and he scored on an error on the play. 

“One through nine, it was everybody,” Johnson said of the seventh. “We had been hitting really well (earlier in the game), but it was right at them. We finally got into their bullpen. I may sound like a broken record, but they don’t ever give up, and once we got rolling, it was hard to stop us.” 

Crue Weitz went 3 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs scored for Northern Lakes. His RBI single in the top of the fifth pulled the Mountaineers to within 11-4 and prevented the game from ending early via the tournament’s eight-run rule. 

Weitz and Dane Perkl also shined on the mound. 

“We were out of pitching,” Johnson said. “It was Crue’s first start of the entire summer, and he pitched better than his line showed. It was Dane’s second appearance all year, and he stepped up.” 

Against Missoula, Beardsall went 3 for 5 with five RBIs and three runs scored for Northern Lakes, which trailed 5-0 after two innings. Jake Larcher was 2 for 2 with four RBIs and two runs scored for the Mountaineers. 

Northern Lakes finished 5-1 in the tourney, its lone loss coming to Gonzaga Prep on Saturday. 

Next up for Northern Lakes (22-6) is the Class A Area A (district) tournament at Harris Field in Lewiston, which begins Friday. 

Northern Lakes, the top seed, earned a first-round bye to the five-team tournament. The Mountaineers open Friday at 7 p.m. vs. the winner between Moscow and Prairie, who play Friday at 10 a.m. 

The top two teams qualify for state the following week at Rodeo Park in Nampa.

N. LAKES 17, MISSOULA 5 

N. Lakes     003    329    —    17    14    4 

Missoula    050    000    —    5    9    0 

Ryker Brennan and Gage Haines; Dillon Daniel, Colton Reilly (4), Emery Hampson (6), Cooper Schroeder (6) and Kaleb Zenner. 

HITS: NL — Perkl 2, Larcher 2, Beardsall 3, Rigler, Pecor 2, Junkin, G. Tenney 2, Haines. Miss — Nicklay, Zenner, Hampson, Schroeder 3, Lambert, Shepherd 2. 2B — Larcher, Pecor, Beardsall, Perkl 2. 3B — Beardsall. 

N. LAKES 16, GONZAGA PREP 13 

N. Lakes     110    022    (10)     —    16    19    3 

G-Prep    412    402    0    —    13    12    3 

Crue Weitz, Dane Perkl (4) and Ethan Pecor, Gage Haines (5); Liam Cable, Jack Aaro (6), Brayden Olson (7) and Jackson Monigold. 

HITS: NL — Brennan, Perkl, Larcher 2, Beardsall 4, Rigler 2, Pecor, Haines 2, Junkin, G. Tenney 2, Weitz 3. GP — Cable 4, Monigold, Click 2, Vaughan 2, Aaro, Hopkins, Everitt. 2B — Haines, Junkin, Beardsall 2, Rigler, Perkl, Hopkins. 3B — Brennan, G. Tenney, Cable 2.