By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
The Bitterroot Red Sox kept their hopes for a repeat championship alive Monday at the Class A State American Legion baseball tournament at Legion Field.
The Red Sox pulled off a pair of wins in loser-out games to keep their title dreams a possibility.
Bitterroot, which was upset by Belgrade in the first round, rolled to decisive wins over Glasgow and Lethbridge thanks to some solid defense and timely hitting.
Belgrade also picked up a win in loser-out action against Billings, but fell to Havre later in the day to be eliminated from the tournament.
Action continues today at Legion Field with Bitterroot facing Havre at 12:30 p.m. in another loser-out game. Glendive and Libby will square off in the tournament's semifinal at 4 p.m. with the winner of the Bitterroot-Havre game meeting the loser of the semifinal at 7:30 p.m.
Bitterroot 7, Glasgow 2
The Red Sox used superior speed and stellar defense to hold off Glasgow and advance in loser-out action.
Bitterroot stole seven bases, constantly placing runners in scoring position and getting the hits to score those runners. The Red Sox also capitalized on six Glasgow errors in the win.
David DeSantiago had a big day for the Red Sox, ripping a double and a triple which drove in two runs to lead the Bitterroot offense.
Kyle Melton added a pair of hits and a pair of stolen bases, while Daniel Eccles also had a pair of hits.
Cory Tintzman went the distance on the mound for Bitterroot, allowing two runs on nine hits, while striking out five batters to get the win. Nathan Doornek took the loss for Glasgow.
Glasgow two hit from Tyler Edwards and two hits and two RBIs from Michael Southern in the loss. The Reds banged out nine hits, but stranded 10 runners on base.
Bitterroot Red Sox 105 000 010 - 7 9 0
Glasgow Reds 010 100 000 - 2 9 6
Cory Tintzman (9) and Patrick McKay; Nathan Doornek (2), Shawn Wersal (6) and Seth Combs
WP - Tintzman; LP - Doornek
RED SOX HITTING - Kyle Melton 2-5, Jordan Mousley 0-4, Lucky Barrett 1-4 (RBI), Brett Henry 0-4, Ryan Curran 1-5, Patrick McKay 0-4, Daniel Eccles 2-5, David DeSantiago 2-3 (2 RBI), Jesse Gardner 1-4 (2 RBI).
REDS HITTING - Randy Elletson 1-5, Jesse McIntyre 1-5, Nathan Hopstad 1-5, Ken Reichelt 1-5, Nathan Doornek 1-4, Tyler Edwards 2-3, Seth Combs 1-4, Michael Southern 2-4 (2 RBI), Shawn Wersal 0-4.
2B - DeSantiago, Elletson, Edwards, Southern
3B - DeSantiago
HR - none
Belgrade 6, Billings 0
Belgrade's Dan Filson scattered 10 hits and struck out 13 Billings' batters in an impressive 6-0 shutout win.
Filson threw a whopping 161 pitches in nine innings of work and was helped out by an errorless Bandit defense.
Offensively, Filson helped himself out by picking up three hits, including a solo home run. Jace Hertzog added a pair of doubles and an RBI, while Eric Dighans chipped in with a pair of hits.
Billings' Josh Link took the loss on the mound, allowing six runs on eight hit in four innings.
Robert Stabio, Tom Ackerman, Sean Gratwohl and Mo Burrough had two hits each for Billings, which stranded 14 baserunners and committed five costly errors in the loss.
Belgrade Bandits 011 400 000 - 6 10 0
Billings Blue Jays 000 000 000 - 0 10 5
Dan Filson and Joe Ramler; Josh Link (4), John Pearson (5) and Robert Stabio.
WP - Filson; LP - Link
BANDITS HITTING - Clint Marcott 1-4 (RBI), Michael Bell 0-5, Eric Dighans 2-5, Dan Filson 3-5 (RBI), Jace Hertzog 2-4 (RBI), Casey Kenison 0-4, T.J. Ryles 0-4, Joe Ramler 1-4 (RBI), Jim Kleman 0-1.
BLUE JAYS HITTING - Chase Bryson 0-4, Robert Stabio 2-4, Tom Ackerman 2-4, Eric Fladmo 0-2, Josh Link 1-1, Chandler Griffin 0-4, Tom Markovich 0-3, Sean Gratwohl 2-4, Mo Burrough 2-4, Cade Helmer 1-2, John Pearson 0-3, Adam Roe 0-1.
2B - Hertzog 2
3B - none
HR - Filson
Bitterroot 12, Lethbridge 6
Bitterroot won its second game of the day, thanks to a potent offense and a quality defense. The Red Sox scored 12 runs on 19 hits on offense and capitalized on three Miner errors. The Bitterroot defense helped out by throwing out a pair of runners at home plate and another at third to end a couple of Lethbridge scoring threats.
David DeSantiago picked up the win on the mound for Bitterroot. DeSantiago pitched eight innings, allowing six runs and scattering 11 hits.
Offensively, Jordan Mousley and Lucky Barrett had huge games for Bitterroot.
Mousley finished with five hits in six at-bats and scored four runs. Barrett had a pair of doubles and a triple that drove in a total of seven runs. He also scored three runs for the Red Sox.
Kyle Melton had three hits, including two doubles and three runs scored, and Ryan Curran added three hits and an RBI.
Brent Wirzba took the loss for Lethbridge, allowing six runs on 10 hits in the first four innings.
Lethbridge was led by Josh Daychief's three hits. Tyler Tamayose had two hits and two RBIs for the Miners.
Lethbridge Miners 020 000 201 - 6 12 3
Bitterroot Red Sox 301 242 00x - 12 19 2
Brent Wirzba (4), Josh Daychief (4) and Matt Smith; David DeSantiago (8), Kyle Melton (1) and Patrick McKay
WP - DeSantiago; LP - Wirzba
MINERS HITTING - Tyler Aiken 0-4, Kellon Kristjanson 2-5, Tyler Tamayose 2-4 (2 RBI), Mat Smith 0-2, Jared Hirsche 1-4, Nathan Gilchrist 1-1, Josh Daychief 3-5, Jeff Wilson 0-2, Kurtis Kaskiw, Nathan Zemp 1-2 (RBI).
RED SOX HITTING - Kyle Melton 3-6, Jordan Mousley 5-6, Lucky Barrett 3-5 (7 RBI), Brett Henry 3-5 (RBI), Ryan Curran 2-5, Patrick McKay 1-5, Ross Anderson 1-4, David DeSantiago 1-5 (RBI), Jesse Gardner 0-5.
2B - Melton, Barrett 2, Gilchrist
3B - Barrett, Henry
HR - none
