MISSOULA – The Missoula Mavericks red hot run through the middle of their American Legion Baseball season hit a bump on Thursday. But they got right back on track Friday night.
A seven-run 2nd inning pushed Missoula past the Lewis-Clark Twins from Idaho, 12-4, on day two of the Mavericks annual Memorial Tournament. The Mavs brought 12 batters to the plate, and six of them hit singles as they pulled away from the Twins with small cuts. After the inning, the Mavericks led 10-4. Another run in the 3rd and a final in the 5th finished the game due to the tournament’s 8-run rule in the 5th inning.
Missoula jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the 1st inning. Lewis-Clark responded with four runs in the top of the 2nd. But the Twins could not put together another rally against Mavs pitcher Zach Hangas.
Drew Stensrud and Tradd Richardson each hit three singles and drove in a pair of runs for Missoula. The two teams combined for 23 hits, but 22 of them were singles. The Mavs’ Andrew Clausen had the only extra base hit, a double that drove in the game’s final run.
Missoula will play two more games at their Memorial Tournament on Saturday. The Mavs take on the Central Washington Spuds at 5:00, and Centralia, Washington at 7:30. The championship game is set for 3:00 Sunday afternoon.
