Sluggers 18U plays well at Centralia tourney

The Kalispell Sluggers 18U completed a strong weekend at the Top Tier College Showcase baseball tournament with a narrow loss on Sunday, 6-5 to the BB Hawaii U18 team.  

The Sluggers were the only Montana team at the 98-team tournament in Centralia, Washington, and went 3-1-1. They forged a 3-3 tie with the NW Kings out of Kenmore, Wash., who scored two unearned runs in the sixth inning against pitcher Rowan Burow. 

Burow had one of a handful of strong Sluggers’ pitching performances. His line on Thursday was five hits, one walk and no earned runs allowed in seven innings. He fanned nine. 

The Sluggers started with an 11-5 win over the Titans-Johnson squad on Wednesday, getting 10 strikeouts from Nico Young, who went six innings and allowed six hits, two walks and three earned runs. 

Kaeden Kahler and Rowan Burow hit doubles and Carson Bramme had a pair of singles and three runs batted in the win. A five-run first inning, keyed by Ryed Hobart’s two-run single, set the tone for the Sluggers. 

Jett Pitts went six innings in a 5-2 win over Multisport 360 (Montesano, Wash.) on Friday, allowing four hits, five walks and two runs with six strikeouts. Kaeden pitched the seventh for the save, fanning one. 

A six-run second inning set the tone for an 8-7 win over Champions Baseball on Saturday; the Sluggers saw that 6-0 lead evaporate before pushing across a single run in the fifth inning. 

Tyce Van Orden hit a one-out double and eventually came in on three walks, with the middle one being intentional to Pitts. With two out Hobart drew the bases-loaded free pass and the game ended there because of time. 

The run ended with the loss to BB Hawaii, which ended up second in the tournament. Down 6-0 early, the Sluggers scored a single run in the fourth inning – Kahler tripled and Hobart doubled him in – and four in the fifth.  

In the big inning Hobert hit a two-run triple and came in on Drew Queen’s single to cut the gap to 6-5.  

The Sluggers loaded the bases with two out in the sixth and final inning but didn’t score. 

Young had a solid performance on the hill with five innings of relief. He fanned six with six hits and five walks.  

Hobart had a strong tournament at the plate, going 6-for-13 with nine RBIs. Van Orden was 6-for-15 from his leadoff spot.