Legion baseball: State AA and A tournament coverage

HELENA – The Billings Scarlets left absolutely no doubts in anyone’s minds Sunday afternoon.

A.J. Smith fired a complete game while Jalen Garcia and Jake McGovern each had three hits and two RBI to lead the Scarlets to a 7-1 victory the Billings Royals to capture the Montana-Alberta American Legion Class AA state baseball crown as the tournament concluded at Kindrick Legion Field.

It is the 13th state title won by the Scarlets since Billings split into two teams in 1974, and the ninth since the AA division of Legion Baseball was formed in 1987. Overall, it is the 42nd Legion crown won by a Billings senior Legion team since 1928.

Smith gave up 10 hits and fanned five batters, with his only blemish in the earned run column coming when Joe Zimmer scored as Beau Thomas reached on an error in the sixth.

The Scarlets scored all the runs they would need in the first inning. Cole Jones singled, was sacrificed to second and crossed the plate when Garcia, who fell a home run short of the cycle, doubled. Garcia would score on Jayson Leinwand’s sacrifice fly.

Garcia would single home Jones with the Scarlets’ third run in the third before the big boppers came out in the late innings. Lake Funyak rocketed the second pitch of the seventh over the wall in left, and McGovern went yard after Garcia led off the eighth with a triple.

Jones also had two singles and a two-bagger from his leadoff slot.

Cole McKenzie, Patrick Bjorgum and Zimmer each had two safeties for the Royals.

The Scarlets advance to the Northwest AA Regional Tournament, Aug. 5-9 in Cheyenne, Wyo., with a shot at moving on to the American Legion World Series Aug. 13-21 in Shelby, N.C.

AT THE STATE A Tourney at Griffin Field in Kalispell, the end of the line came for the Glasgow Reds Sunday afternoon when they were sent home by the Laurel Dodgers 15-5, and the Bitterroot Red Sox sent the Lethbridge Miners packing with a 7-5 decision.

The Red Sox, the last of the undefeated teams in the tournament, and Dodgers will meet Monday at 4 p.m. for the championship. If Laurel wins, a second winner-take-all championship game will start at about 7. The state champ will advance to the Northwest A Regionals Aug. 7-11 in Salt Lake City.

Glasgow led Laurel 5-1 in the middle of the third when the Dodger bats came to life, tallying three in the third, nine in the sixth and a pair in the seventh to end the game by way of the 10-run mercy rule.

Winning pitcher Kade Osborne did his damage both on the hill and at the plate, holding the Reds to just four hits while driving in five runs on a 2-for-5 effort that included a bases-loaded triple. Carson Hoke also had a single and a three-bagger, good for three RBI, and Daniel Stamper batted a pair home with four singles.

Parker Kulczyk had a two-run triple as the Reds’ season concludes at 37-19.

Zach Ringer pushed two runs across with a pair of doubles for the Red Sox as they came back from a 5-0 deficit with two runs in each of the fifth and sixth inning before driving three across in the seventh and hanging on.

Zach’s brother Jonathan also had two of Bitterroot’s 10 hits hits as well as a run batted in, helping to make a winner of Hunter Omlid.

Liam Leech had three singles and an RBI for the Miners in defeat.