The Lake Show is coming to Helena.
Winners of six of the last seven games, Kalispell’s Class AA legion baseball club is rolling into this week’s state championship tournament after a one-year hiatus. The Lakers (12-10 in conference) finished the regular season in fifth place in the Montana/Alberta Legion Baseball standings and are one of eight teams to compete at the state tournament, which begins Wednesday.
Kalispell plays fourth-place Missoula (14-8) at 12:30 p.m. Third-place Lethbridge (14-8) plays sixth-place Bozeman (11-10) at 9:30 a.m. Seventh-place Medicine Hat (11-11) plays the second-place Billings Royals (16-6) at 4 p.m. The first-place Billings Scarlets (16-6) play eight-place Helena (7-15) at 7 p.m. The tourney is double elimination. On Thursday, the winner of Lethbridge-Bozeman plays the winner of Missoula-Kalispell. The winner of Medicine Hat-Billings Royals plays the winner of Billings Scarlets-Helena.
Only one team in 10 years beyond Missoula or Billings has won a Class AA state championship. The Bozeman Bucks earned the title in 2007, snapping the two cities’ dominating streak, at least momentarily.
Last year the Missoula Mavericks rallied back after losing in the opening round and beat the Billings Royals in the championship. It was the Mavs’ second title since 2010. The Royals won in 2013, 2012 and 2005 and the Scarlets won in 2011, 2009, 2008 and 2006.
Now as the best baseball teams in Montana and Alberta converge on Helena, the Kalispell Lakers are hoping to play the spoiler role this time around.
“We’ve got kids who have a lot of energy and enthusiasm and sometimes the will wins over the skills,” Kalispell head coach Ryan Malmin said.
Kalispell succeeded this year largely due to powerful pitching and a stingy defense. The pitching staff, led by Robert Reaser, Walker Malmin, Sam Crompton and Brandon Maassen, has a cumulative ERA of 4.10. Opponents batted .277 against Kalispell this season.
“These guys have brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm to practice and to games. They’ve got a team first, team last mentality,” Ryan Malmin said.
The bats have heated up in recent weeks with big wins against some of the top teams, including a 10-5 victory over Lethbridge and 13-6 win over Missoula.
Kalispell finished the regular season with two of its biggest performances against Butte, winning 14-5 and 11-1.
Patrick O’Connell leads the offense, batting .380. He had four RBI last weekend. Andrew Schleusner is hitting .362, and has minimized opponents’ running game as the Lakers’ standout catcher. Reaser is hitting .340. Leif Ericksen has also shined, and had four RBI last weekend. Ten players have 24 or more runs scored, and the team’s batting average is .345 with runners in scoring position.
Tiler Whiteaker leads the team with 22 stolen bases in 23 attempts.
“Everybody has played a significant role,” Ryan Malmin said. “It feels like there’s been a little bit of a luxury because we’ve got guys who can fill into different spots and can play defense late in the game or come in for a late pinch hit, or come in and close for us.”
The winner of the tournament qualifies for the regional tournament in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The state tournament will be a bittersweet one for the Malmin family. It is Walker’s last season playing under his head coach father. In 74 innings pitched this summer, Walker has a 3.09 ERA with only 30 walks against 348 batters.
“It has been one of the highlights in coaching, going to the field with your son and playing a game” Ryan Malmin said of his 20-year career coaching various sports. “I have been really proud of what he has accomplished specifically in his pitching career.”
Kalispell Hosts Class A State Tournament
The Kalispell Lakers A team is hosting the state tournament this week at Griffin Field. Eight teams from across the state will converge here for the multi-day championship tourney that starts Thursday.
Kalispell was guaranteed a seed at the event and will play the top seed from the North, Vauxhall, at 7:30 p.m., Thursday.
The Bitterroot Red Sox defeated the Glacier Twins, the defending state champs, in the Western A district championship game in Polson on July 27. The Red Sox will play Lethbridge in the first game Thursday at 10 a.m. Deer Lodge plays Laurel. Glasgow plays Helena. The winner of the double-elimination tournament qualifies for the regional in Logan, Utah.