The Bozeman Bucks went 1-2 at the AA State Tournament in Missoula over the weekend, picking up a win over the Kalispell Lakers and dropping games to the Great Falls Chargers and Missoula Mavericks. The Bucks end their season with a 26-34 record.
To open the tournament, the Bucks fell to Great Falls 6-2 on Saturday. Great Falls’ Lane Seim got the Chargers on the board first with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second inning. Bozeman’s Luke Rizzo answered with an RBI double in the top of the third and an RBI single in the top of the fifth. The Bucks held a 2-1 lead.
But the Chargers regained control in the bottom of the frame, scoring five runs on two hits and a Bozeman error.
Rizzo led the Bucks with two hits and two RBI. Jadin Frandsen and Jarrett Herz scored runs for Bozeman. Brinkley Evans, Seamus Sullivan and Seim all drove in runs for the Chargers.
Bozeman bounced back on Sunday with a 5-2 win over Kalispell. The Lakers scored in the top of the first on an error, but Rizzo hit an RBI single to tie things up 1-1. Dylon Poulin added a 2-run RBI double in the bottom of the fifth. The Bucks later scored on an error to go up 5-1. The Lakers added a run in the top of the seventh.
Josh Woodberry led the way offensively for the Bucks, going 3 for 3 at the plate and scoring a run. Poulin added a hit, two RBI and scored a run. Bryce Hampton provided two hits and scored a run. Hampton also got the win on the mound, giving up three hits and two runs (one earned) in 6 â…” innings.
The Bucks’ season ended Monday with a 14-5 loss to Missoula. Bozeman built an early lead in the first, with an RBI double from Woodberry, an RBI single from Quinn Pershing and a two-run RBI single from Austin Cooper. The Mavericks answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame.
Hampton added an RBI double in the top of the second, while the Mavericks scored a run in the bottom of both the second and third to make it 5-4 Bozeman.
Then the Missoula comeback began, with the Mavericks scoring five runs in the bottom of the fourth off one hit and a Bozeman error. Missoula went up 9-5, and later extended the lead with a two-run home run by Henry Black in the fifth. The Mavericks added three more runs in the sixth.
Poulin led the Bucks offensively, going 3 for 4 and scoring a pair of runs. Cooper added a pair of hits and drove in two runs. Hampton, Woodberry and Pershing also scored runs for the Bucks.
Missoula’s Chris Compton went 2 for 3 with four RBI. Sam Matosich, Owen McGuinn, Finn Davis and Jace Bykari also drove in runs for the Mavericks.
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