Eight teams from across the state are in Whitefish this week vying for the state legion baseball championship and a trip to the Northwest Regional tournament.
The Glacier Twins are hosting this year’s Montana/Alberta State AA American Legion baseball tournament, Aug. 1-5, at Memorial Park. Thanks to an automatic berth, the Twins (6-45 overall) will play the top team from Eastern AA, the Billings Royals (33-13), in opening-day action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The Royals finished runner-up at state last year after losing to the Billings Scarlets. This year the Scarlets (32-20-1) finished third in the Eastern standings and are trying to win their fourth championship in five years. Their pursuit begins at noon against the Missoula Mavericks (44-24). The Mavs, who won the state title in 2010, claimed a share of the Western AA title with the Medicine Hat Monarchs. The Monarchs, earning the top seed, play the Helena Senators at 4 p.m. The Bozeman Bucks play the Great Falls Chargers at 9 a.m.
The Kalispell Lakers came up one game shy of a state tourney berth. The Lakers finished 13-12 in conference, one game behind the third-place Chargers (14-11)
The top team to emerge in Whitefish will travel to Billings for the regional tournament, Aug. 9-13.