SPORTS

Legion Baseball: Calgary team tops Chargers

Mark D. Robertson

The Great Falls Chargers had walked or hit 15 Calgary Blues batters and committed four errors, but defensive replacement Cade Stuff still came to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning as the winning run.

The freshman — who had saved a run shortly after entering the game at shortstop a half-inning prior — struck out, but that wasn’t the point, Chargers manager Levi Johnson said. The point was that Johnson’s young team was right there with a chance to win it. They had overcome some adversity.

“We were still in a position to win that game, and that’s all we can ask for there at the end,” he said.

It’s those baby steps, signs of maturation, Johnson said he’s looking for in a youthful Chargers (0-3) club.

Great Falls had just one hit through three innings, but then the bats woke up.

“We started looking middle-away, and we adjusted to the speed change,” center fielder Matt Garcia explained. “(Blues hurler Jeff Derlcs) was throwing a little slower than (pitchers) were (last weekend) in Missoula.”

The Chargers pushed a run across in the fourth and scored five more in the fifth — one thanks to a Garcia single and two more on Wyatt Bleskin’s double down the left-field line — to bring the deficit to 8-6 and run Derlcs from the mound.

“I was very happy with our offensive approach and the way our guys went about it,” Johnson said. “We asked them to make some adjustments; they made those adjustments. And it kind of paid off for us.”

Unfortunately, the defense and pitching didn’t hold up as well as Johnson would have liked. Calgary managed nine runs — just three of them earned — in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take control of the game.

It didn’t help that the Charger bullpen walked or hit 10 batters in those three frames.

“It’s very difficult to stay in a game when you’re giving that many free passes,” Johnson said. “… That’s one thing we definitely have to clean up. … If they hit the ball all over the park, that’s one thing. But just giving all those free passes, it’s very difficult for us to go out and compete.”

Left-hander Jake Fisher came in to shut the door with scoreless seventh and eighth innings, but Great Falls squandered chances on offense as well. Garcia led off the seventh with a triple to right-center field but was stranded. Jake Lowery came through with a two-run single in the eighth, but it wasn’t enough. The Chargers stranded seven runners in scoring position in the game; six of them were there with two outs. Two of those were in the ninth.

Despite the mistakes that come with having a young team — Garcia and Lowery are the only returners from last year’s AA squad — don’t color the senior class worried. It’s early yet, Garcia said, and there’s little pressure.

“I don’t really notice it too much,” the center fielder said. “I’m just out there to play and win games. And I just try to pick everybody up if we’re not doing good.”

And after a close loss to the Blues, Garcia’s fears are further lessened.

“They’ve got some mean beards over there,” he said, referring to the sturdy-looking Canadian foes. “But after a while, after seeing them play, I wasn’t too worried. I knew we could take them.”

Calgary Blues 11, Great Falls Chargers 8

Calgary…100 432 001 – 11 9 1

Great Falls…000 150 020 – 8 14 4

Jeff Derlcs, Joel Pinein (6) and Seth Hewitt. Tyler Strickland, Justyn Martinko (4), Josh Kriner (5), Jake Fisher (7), Tucker Wilke (9) and Jordan Lafontaine. WP – Derlcs. LP – Strickland.

CALGARY BLUES – Chris Robostan 0-4, Brad Kavas 1-3, Justin Johnston 2-6, Hewitt 2-4, Jordan Krupo 0-2, Anthony Grouette 1-6, Daniel Hanson 1-4, Duncan Elgert 2-5, Brandon Desjardins 0-1, Logan Kandalaft 0-1.

GREAT FALLS – Fisher 1-5, Cade Stuff 0-1, Jake Lowery 2-5, Matt Garcia 3-5, Wyatt Bleskin 2-5, Wilke 1-5, Dawson Reiman 2-5, Lafontaine 2-4, Isaiah Roberts 1-4, Kevin McGee 0-2.

2B – Hanson, Hewitt, Grouette, Bleskin, Fisher. 3B – Garcia. RBI – Robostan 2, Kavas 3, Johnston, Hewitt, Grouette, Hanson, Desjardins, Fisher, Lowery 2, Garcia, Bleskin 2, Reiman 2.