Sports
Bottineau Legion rolls along with three more wins
Tyler Ohmann
07/02/2013
A game-filled week for the Bottineau Legion baseball team led to a 3-2 record in five games. They also played into the second inning of a doubleheader before a storm ended the game.
That was on Tuesday and it followed an 11-1 Bottineau win in six innings over Burlington. In the game Bottineau scored three in the third and five in the fourth to open up an 8-0 lead. The lone Burlington run came on a wild pitch in the fifth inning.
Bottineau added the three final runs to close out the game as Garrett Lynnes delivered a two runs batted in (RBI) single and Andrew Hill also smacked a single to clinch the mercy-rule win.
Cody Brooks ripped two singles, scored twice and drove in two runs. Trent LaFountain reached base in all four at-bats for Bottineau and scored the final run. Lynnes drove in three runs.
Devin Bercier started on the hill and went four strong innings without allowing a run. Hill came in and allowed the one run in two solid innings of relief.
So far, all the players have gotten along and have fit in well together.
“We’ve come together pretty good,” McCloud said. “It looks like we’ve been playing together for years, and that’s the way it feels.”
“We’ve all known each other and known how good we are, and feels good to be on the same field as them,” McCloud added.
Lee Schneider scored the lone run and started on the mound in the second game, which ended midway through the second inning. Schneider pitched to five batters and struck out one in the only inning of the shortened game.
On Thursday Bottineau traveled to play in Cando for two five-inning games. The first went the way of Cando as they clobbered eight hits and scored 10 times in a 10-0 win. Schneider pitched for Bottineau. He went 2-for-3 at the dish as well as did Hill and Brooks, but Bottineau was unable to scratch a run in and left seven runners on base in five innings.
Game two went exactly the opposite for Bottineau as they were the ones hitting the ball well in route to a 15-2 victory in five innings.
Bottineau broke the game open with a rally in the second inning. They scored six times in the inning as the first five batters reached base and the first four scored. Bottineau had five singles in the inning and batted around the order.
Cando managed to scratch across a pair of runs in the third, but it wasn’t enough as Bottineau’s offense was relentless and four more in both the third and fifth innings.
Hill was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and Brooks also scored three runs on a 3-for-3 day. McCloud reached base all four plate appearances drove in four runs and scored once.
Despite the camaraderie and all the other things that are positive for the Bottineau Legion team, it’s the jerseys that really impress McCloud.
“I like it a lot better, the uniforms are really nice, that’s a nice thing is to have these uniforms,” McCloud said. “And I really like playing with these guys.”
Bottineau closed out their busy week with a doubleheader split with Harvey in Bottineau on Friday.
Game one was a tight one.
Bottineau fell behind early as Harvey took a 2-0 lead in the third inning. They added two more in the fourth inning to make it 4-0, but Bottineau clawed back scoring twice in the fourth themselves to get back within two.
A run in the fifth and three more in the sixth put Bottineau ahead 6-4.
That lead wouldn’t last.
Brooks, who started pitching got the first out of the seventh inning, but was taken out for McCloud.
McCloud walked the only two batters he faced and was relieved by Hill. Hill allowed back to back singles that drew Harvey within one.
Another single drove in two more and Harvey went ahead 8-6 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Bottineau got an RBI single from Connor LaFountain to draw the game to 8-7, but they couldn’t do any more to catch up and fell in a close contest.
“We have a good game against Harvey today,” McCloud said. “It was really close. It was a good game.”
McCloud offered the advice that Bottineau needs to take to win those close games.
“We just have to focus up more,” McCloud said. “Throw more strikes, that’s all we have to do, and it will work out good for us.”
The second game again was the better one for Bottineau.
Despite falling behind 2-0 early, Bottineau rallied with five first-inning runs and never looked back in a 8-5 win.
McCloud pitched all five for Bottineau, and despite walking five and throwing seven wild pitches earned the win. He struck out nine batters in the five-inning outing as well.
At the plate it was a team effort as all but two players either scored or drove in runs. Connor LaFountain was a leader with a 3-for-3 day and two RBI at the plate.
Trent LaFountain was also strong as he hit an RBI double and scored.
It is hitting though that McCloud believes that Bottineau needs to improve if they want to succeed moving forward.
“We just need to work on our hitting, that’s what we need,” McCloud said.
Bottineau is 6-5 overall on the season. They play at home at 5 p.m., tomorrow. They also played last night at Lansford.