Heading into the last week of the Montana-Alberta American Legion Baseball season, the Medicine Hat Moose Monarchs needed either help or a couple upset wins.
Finally, on Tuesday night, they got one.
The last-place team in the AA standings was able to finish a three-game set with an 8-6 win over conference leader Missoula, following two losses Monday which have them chasing a spot in the State Championship tournament.
Wyatt Study doubled and scored, then hit an RBI single as Medicine Hat built an early lead. Drew Niwa’s two-run double made it 8-1 in the fifth, then Joel Herron held on to finish the complete game victory.
It was an important one. The Monarchs lost 6-3 and 7-0 in Missoula Monday, the Mavericks holding the visitors to nine hits total in 14 innings.
Medicine Hat’s Reese Whelen threw well in the opener, going all six innings and letting up five hits, but three of them came in a three-run first inning, and one of the others was an RBI triple in the fifth.
Whelen had helped his own cause with an RBI single before he even took the mound in the first, part of a two-run outburst that could have set the tone. But Missoula had other ideas.
In the second game, Medicine Hat pitchers only let up three hits. But four errors and 10 walks were their downfall, combining as the Mavs put up a seven-run third inning that accounted for all the scoring.
Ethan Boutkan was charged with the loss as the Monarchs offence never got anyone past first base after the first inning.
Missoula is now 16-4 in conference play, while Medicine Hat is 5-16. Only one of the conference’s nine teams doesn’t advance to playoffs, and right now that’s the Monarchs. The good news is they play the eighth-place Great Falls Chargers, 5-13, in their final three games this Saturday and Sunday. The bad news is the Chargers have three games in hand.
The State Championship is July 26-30 in Billings.
Knights
While their AA counterparts are fighting for a post-season spot, the single-A K of C Knights will host the North District tournament this weekend.
Medicine Hat was in Williston, Mont. this past weekend for a tournament, winning their first two games before losing twice.
They beat Williston’s 15’s by a 16-4 score Friday, then handed Wattford City a 14-9 decision Saturday. But a 14-1 loss to the Glasgow Reds Saturday and a 6-5 loss to Wattford Sunday ended their weekend.
The district tournament is set to begin Thursday.
