Pack opens AA baseball with 12-1 win

BUTTE — One down, two to go.

Brady Buckmaster went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and Glacier ran away from Great Falls C.M. Russell with nine runs over the final three innings to take a 12-1 victory in the first round of the Class AA state baseball tournament at 3 Legends Stadium. 

Ryne Gillette and Kaeden Kahler added two RBIs each as the Wolfpack closed out the win in six innings due to the run rule. They will play Missoula Sentinel who knocked off Bozeman in the semifinals Friday at 11 a.m. The schedule for the tournament was shortened to two days with storms looming on Saturday meaning the championship game is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. 

Glacier 12, CMR 1

Kahler started the party with an RBI double in the top of the first that scored Teagan Dixon and made it 1-0, Glacier (14-6) never looked back. 

Neil Pepe made it 2-0 on a bunt single, scoring Brady Lewellen. Glacier added another on a Dixon squeeze bunt. 

The Wolfpack broke it open with three in the fourth thanks to a two-run single from Buckmaster followed by a Max Weber single to make it 6-0. 

Gillette doubled to drive in a pair in the sixth, then Buckmaster drove in two more on his second single of the game to push the score into run-rule territory 12-0. 

Kayden Neil put the lone run up for the Rustlers (13-7) with a sacrifice fly in the sixth that scored Roehrich Soldano. 

Kyler Croft was elite on the mound, allowing one run on one hit in 5 1-3 innings. He fanned eight. Weber tossed the final 2-3 of an inning not allowing a hit. 

Neil went 4 2-3 innings for the Rustlers who moved into the consolation bracket with an 8:30 a.m. first pitch on Friday against Bozeman. 

Glacier    120    315    -    12    14    0 

CMR    000    001    -    1    1    1

Kyler Croft, Max Weber (6) and Brady Buckmaster. Kayden Neil, Chase Little (5), Maks Van Miert (6) and Jackson Maphies. 

GLACIER — Teagan Dixon 3-3, Ryne Gillette 1-4, Kaeden Kahler 2-3, Brady Buckmaster 2-4, Max Weber 2-4, Brady Lewellen 0-2, Falon Clark 1-3, Tate Kahler 1-2, Neil Pepe 2-3. 

GREAT FALLS CMR — Carson Hollern 0-3, Roehrich Soldano 0-1, Jackson Maphies 0-3, Kayden Neil 0-2, Gage Allen 0-2, Chase Little 1-2, Maks Van Miert 0-0, Gavin Gray 0-2, Madden Jensen 0-1, Dalton Heggem 0-1, Kane Mahlum 0-1. 

2B — K.Kahler, T.Kahler, Pepe. RBIs — Buckmaster 4, Gillette 2, K.Kahler 2, Weber, T.Kahler, Pepe, Dixon. Neil. 

Sentinel 5, Bozeman 4 (9)

Trevor Johnson hit a line drive to left field in the bottom of the ninth to score Marek Hall and give Missoula Sentinel an extra innings win over Bozeman. 

The Spartans (12-8) led 4-3 in the seventh when an error allowed Luke Zundel to come home and tie the game for the Hawks (11-9) forcing extras. 

Stellan Ridley threw 5 2-3 innings for Sentinel, allowing three runs on seven hits. Devin Leary and Lukas Johansson combined for 2 1-3 scoreless innings to close out the game. 

Bozeman got five innings from Sam Sullivan, who allowed four runs on six hits. He fanned six. 

Gallatin 18, Butte 7 

Blake Matthews blasted a second-inning grand slam and Gallatin scored 11 runs in the first and seven in the second to run away with a three-inning, run rule victory over Butte. 

Harvey Kimmel and True Archer added three RBI’s each as the Raptors (16-1) were not deterred by a two-hour lightning delay during the bottom of the second inning. 

Logan Carden hit a solo homer in the top of the first for the Bulldogs (8-10) first run. 

Wyatt Ford tossed 1 2-3 innings, allowing one run on one hit. 

State AA 

March 28-30, 3 Legends Stadium 

Butte 

Thursday

Glacier 12, Great Falls CMR 1, 6 innings 

Missoula Sentinel 5, Bozeman 4, 9 innings 

Gallatin 18, Butte 3, 3 innings 

Missoula Big Sky (11-4) vs. Billings West (11-7), late 

Friday

Game 5: Great Falls CMR (13-7) vs. Bozeman (11-9), 8:30 a.m., loser out 

Game 6: Butte vs. Loser Game 4, 8:30 a.m., loser out 

Game 7: Glacier (14-6) vs. Missoula Sentinel (11-8), 11 a.m., semifinal 

Game 8: Gallatin (16-1) vs. Winner Game 4, 1:30 p.m., semifinal 

Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 4 p.m., loser out 

Game 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, 4 p.m., loser out 

Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, TBD, third 

Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, TBD, championship