Chargers split on busy Memorial Day
Jake Fisher didn’t feel like he had his best stuff Monday.
But the Great Falls Chargers southpaw sure handled Bitterroot Red Sox hitters like he did.
Fisher was fabulous over four innings of shutout work in Monday’s Tom Taleff Tournament finale, and the Chargers’ bullpen and timely offense gave him a 2-0 victory to show for it.
“I wasn’t able to really locate the changeup that much, so I was just working (the fastball) on the outer black,” said Fisher afterward.
Whatever he did, it seemed to work especially well with runners aboard. Fisher and Great Falls relievers Lane Jensen and Josh Kriner combined to scatter 10 Red Sox hits to leave them all on base.
“I’ve been doing that kind of all year,” Fisher said of the heart-attack style. “I get in my own head and then I get up and get it across the plate. It usually works out pretty well.”
The Charger offense, however, was just the opposite. Great Falls took full advantage when they had runners on. Daniel Bonilla singled home Justyn Martinko, who reached on an error, in the third for a 1-0 lead. An inning later, Jordan Lafontaine’s ground ball to short plated Wyatt Bleskin, who led off the inning by being plunked.
Chargers manager Levi Johnson was excited about what he saw from his team in the tail end of the Memorial Day twin-bill.
“We’ve been working on being more intense throughout the game,” Johnson said. “We kind of let loose every once in a while, and that hurts us.”
But not Monday. The Chargers (9-14) seemed to come together when the going got rough. It was a stark contrast from a sloppy 10:30 a.m. 6-2 loss against the Edmonton Cardinals in which the Chargers made four errors.
Johnson was happy with the performance on the mound in both games.
“Our pitchers did a very good job today, every single one of them,” the coach said. “They filled up the zone. In that first game, if we make plays, it’s a different story. In the second game, we made the plays we needed to make behind them.”
The hitting is still coming together. Despite the win, the Chargers managed just two hits against Bitterroot. Johnson said the guys with the hot sticks will be the ones seeing playing time with conference games looming. The first-year manager has been tinkering around with the lineup, trying to get it dialed in.
“We’re just trying to see what our best lineup is going to be come conference time,” he said. “And that’s coming up in a couple weeks. We’ve got to get that figured out.”
Great Falls opens up its conference schedule Sunday, June 7 with a pair of seven-inning contests against the Billings Scarlets.
“We just need to start practicing really hard to get ready for that,” said Fisher. “It’s going to come really quick.”
The Red Sox took home the Taleff title by forfeit as Edmonton and Okotok, both teams from northern Alberta, had to hit the road for home Monday around noontime.
Great Falls picked up the extra game after being rained out earlier in the weekend.
The Chargers A team dropped a 9-inning decision to the Lethbridge Giants, 8-7, at Don Olson Field Monday. The Giants scored six runs in the second and another two in the bottom of the ninth to win it. Brandon Lefebre was fabulous in a no-decision relief performance, allowing just one run over five innings.
Tim Hanning led the way for the A-team offense with a triple and three RBI. Hanning, Keelan Hayworth and Shane Myers each had two hits for Great Falls.
The Lewistown Redbirds completed a road sweep of Glendive’s Blue Devils Monday, winning 10-0 and 4-3.
Tyler Lee was lights out in the opener, striking out 11 Glendive hitters en route to the complete-game shutout.
Collin Hartford led the way at the plate, driving in three runs with a 2-for-3 effort as Lewistown won in five innings.
The nightcap was more of a nailbiter, as Lee came in to slam the door, recording the final out for the save. He preserved another fine pitching performance from Tre Bradley, who allowed two earned runs in 62/3 innings pitched.
Cordell Gallagher was the hero at the plate, going 2-for-4 for the Redbirds with two RBI in the game.