KALISPELL – The Kalispell Lakers just hosted the Class AA state baseball tournament. While the Lakers didn’t come away with the title, they had a year to be proud of and one former Laker great was there the entire way.
Joe Pistorese played on the Kalispell Lakers before attending Washington State and then getting drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 17th round of the 2015 MLB Draft. Pistorese played for six different teams in the Mariners’ system over four years before being cut this season by the AA team.
Pistorese is now back helping coach the Lakers’ pitchers. While they didn’t bring home the title like they wanted, the new coach says he’s seen some great potential and has enjoyed being back in a Lakers uniform.
“A lot of these kids have the passion and have what it takes to play at the next level, so they make my job pretty easy,” said Pistorese. “But it’s amazing to be able to come in and bring any of that experience I possibly can and help these kids out as much as possible. Obviously, I have a little more experience than at least some people that we run into here, so anything I can do and whenever they can pick my brain about that stuff it’s always fun.”
