HELENA — Day 1 of the 24th annual Keith Sell American Legion Baseball tournament is in the books. Below are wrap-ups from each of Wednesday’s games.
Great Falls Chargers 14, Bitterroot Bucs 6
The Great Falls Chargers jumped on the Bitterroot Bucs early to win the Keith Sell Tournament’s opening game, 14-6.
Eight of nine Chargers recorded hits on the day, with four players getting multiple hits on the way to their first win of the tournament. Bitterroot’s Jake Scully went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in, but the Chargers’ three innings with three or more runs were too much.
Great Falls will be back on the diamond Thursday to face the Lethbridge Elks at 11:30 a.m.
Butte Miners 5, Bitterroot Bucs 4
The Bitterroot Bucs then faced the Butte Miners in Game 2 of the tournament. The Bucs’ attempt to even their record on the day didn’t start off as they planned. Butte put up two runs in both the second and innings to lead 4-0 after three innings.
Bitterroot battled back later in the game. Jake Scully doubled in B Bailey in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game at 4-4.
Butte’s Eagan Lester singled to lead off the bottom the inning, stole second and third, and scored on a Bitterroot passed ball to end the game and Bitterroot’s chances of evening their tournament record.
Bitterroot will play Eastside BC on July 4 at 4:30 p.m.
Glacier Twins 6, Butte Miners 4
After stealing one away from the Bucs, the Miners were not as lucky in their second game of the day, losing to the Glacier Twins 6-4.
Butte’s Wolfgang Doty threw 5.1 innings and posted an outing of two earned runs, six strikeouts and four walks. Glacier’s Chad Queen posted a similar line at 5.2 innings, also with two runs, but only two strikeouts to one walk.
Errors plagued both defenses as both teams recorded four fielding errors on the night, but Jack Schwaiger provided some stable offense for the Twins, going 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs batted in en route to the 6-4 victory.
Butte will return to the field Thursday to face the Calgary Bandits at 2 p.m.
Lethbridge Elks 12, Eastside BC 0
In Game 4 of the day, Lethbridge lit up Eastside for 12 runs, eight of which came in the third inning.
Lethbridge’s Thomas Little threw a five-inning complete game shutout, logging 10 strikeouts to two walks, and Brendan Schulz went a perfect 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs, and a stolen base.
Lethbridge will play back-to-back games on July 4, starting with the Glacier Twins at 9 a.m., and then they will face the Great Falls Chargers at 11:30 a.m.
Helena Senators 5, Calgary Bandits 2
In a game that didn’t start until after 10 p.m., because of a weather delay earlier in the day, the Helena Senators put together a 5-2 win over the Bandits.
Ty McGurran provided the much-needed run support for the Senators, going 2-for-4 with three runs batted in, while Hunter Lindgren stymied the Bandits’ offense, striking out seven in six innings of two-run baseball.
The Helena Senators will face Eastside in the Keith Sell Tournament’s Day 2 night cap at 7 p.m., and Calgary will play the Butte Miners at 2 p.m.
