ANCHORAGE — Gallatin Valley's Monday night Northwest Class A Regional semifinal game was a rematch for Marsh Valley after the Outlaws stunned them during Friday's walk-off 7-6 win.
With elimination on the line, the Eagles flipped the switch and handed Gallatin Valley their first loss of the tournament, 6-1. However, since NWCART is following double elimination rules, the Outlaws still advanced to Tuesday's championship game.
Marsh Valley took an early lead right off the bat Monday night with James Bodily’s line drive RBI double to right field. Stanton Howell followed him up with a shot to second base. Gallatin Valley's Bo Hays bobbled it, which put Marsh Valley up a quick 3-0 after two innings of play.
In the following inning, the Eagles tacked on another run with Dylan Driessen's dagger to the left foul pole.
The hit of the game came in the top of the seventh with Payton Howe in the box. The pitcher, and eventual player of the game honoree, drilled a deep ball over the left field fence for a two-run bomb to give the Eagles a 6-0 advantage. On the mound, he struck out 10 batters while also throwing a no-hitter.
Gallatin Valley's Brandon Beattie scored the Outlaws lone run in the bottom of the seventh with a hard-hit shot to third, but the Eagles got him out at first on a double play and would roll on to win 6-1.
Since this was Gallatin Valley's first loss of the tournament, they will still advance to Tuesday's NWCART championship game and will play the winner of Marsh Valley (ID)/Wasilla (AK) at 5:30 p.m. MT.
