Legion baseball: Bozeman knocks off Elks in opener

HELENA – Aaron Hubley fired a complete-game eight-hitter and strucks out five Wednesday morning as the Bozeman Bucks surprised the Lethbridge Elks 8-2 in the opening game of the Montana-Alberta American Legion Class AA Tournament at Ace Kindrick Field.

Hubley allowed no earned runs in the contest, as two Bozeman errors led to single runs being scored in the third and seventh.

The Bucks, who will face the Billings Royals in a quarterfinal game Thursday afternoon, scored six times in the top of the seventh, sandwiched between single runs in the third and the eighth. D.J. Perdaems drove in four runs with a single and a double for the Bucks. Morgan Hostetler added three hits and an RBI, while Jenner Kearns had a run-scoring triple.

Landon Bourassa went 62/3 innings for the Elks, who take on Medicine Hat in an elimination game Thursday morning at 9:30.

Missoula 10, Kalispell 3: Austin Bohnsack went the distance and allowed seven hits as the Mavs advance to play Wednesday’s victor between the Billings Scarlets and Helena Senators.

Ben Tabaracci went 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI for Missoula, while Zanon Fulbright had single and drove in two runs.

The Lakers’ Robert Reaser left after six and trailing 5-3, but the Mavs roared out with five in the bottom of the eighth.

Kalispell will face the Scarlets-Senators loser Thursday at 1 in loser-out action.

Billings Royals 10, Medicine Hat 8: Matt Dillon drove in four runs with three singles and a home run as the Scarlets outslugged the Monarchs.

Cole McKenzie and Drew Atkeison each had two hits and drove in a run for the Royals, who scored five times in the bottom of the sixth to take a 9-6 lead after Medicine Hat rallied for four in the top of the inning.

Austin Vogel went 61/3on the hill for the Royals, while Cody Frenk got the save.

Medicine Hat hat 15 hits, but couldn’t take advantage of four Royals’ errors. Six Monarchs had two hits, with Zach Kunkel and Austin Schibler getting two RBI each.

Billings Scarlets vs. Helena Senators: The Scarlets had a 8-1 lead over the tournament host Senators in the top of the seventh when this edition of the Tribune went to press.

The Scarlets scored three runs in the first two innings, with RBI singles from Jake McGovern, Jayson Leinwand and Cole Jones, and added five more in the sixth. Six Helena errors have aided the Billings offense.

Ryan Dorvall got the Senators on the board in the top of the fifth when he scored on a balk.