BILLINGS — There was an outage of offense for the Billings Scarlets and Missoula Mavericks on Wednesday at the Class AA American Legion baseball Northwest Regional tournament.
Billings and Missoula each suffered shutout losses in the opening round to fall into the loser's bracket of the tourney. The teams are facing elimination entering Thursday's contests.
RELATED: Class A American Legion baseball Northwest Regional scores and pairings
The Mavericks — the Montana state champion — stumbled in their opening-round contest, losing 3-0 to Bellevue, Washington. The Scarlets, who earned an automatic bid as the host team, fell 1-0 to Fort Collins, Colorado.
Eugene, Oregon, and Anchorage, Alaska, advanced with first-round wins in early-day action.
Eugene defeated Cheyenne, Wyo., 3-2 in the tourney opener, and Anchorage followed with an 8-5 win over Pocatello, Idaho. The victors moved on to second-round games Thursday.
Day 1 of the Regional tournament was moved to Pirtz Field from Dehler Park due to a late afternoon storm that battered Billings on Tuesday. The tournament is scheduled to be played at Dehler Park starting Thursday.
Following are highlights from Wednesday's first round:
Bellevue, Wash. 3, Missoula 0
The Mavericks fell victim to a stellar pitching effort from Bellevue righty Isaac Hallem, who struck out 10 and gave up four hits and one walk while fashioning a shutout.
The Mavericks were able to bring the tying run to the plate in the top of the seventh but stranded runners on second and third to end the game.
Bellevue plated two runs in the bottom of the fourth as Jacob Freer scored on an error and Carter DuBreuil came in on a wild pitch, and that proved to be more than enough.
Colter Nicolarsen went 2 for 3 for Missoula. Carter Taylor and Easton Reimers had the Mavericks' other two hits.
Fort Collins, Colo., 1, Billings Scarlets 0
Billings' bats were stymied in particular against Fort Collins starter Rocco Harmon, who was effective in allowing three hits with four strikeouts and one walk in five innings.
In relief, Max Bronson and Kaden Baete didn't allow a hit. Fort Collins also survived three fielding errors, including one in left field that put the tying run at second base with one out. But the Scarlets, who had 10 fly-ball outs in the game, didn't capitalize.
Billings' starting pitcher, lefthander Colter Wilson, was hard-luck loser. Wilson struck out eight in six innings. He gave up seven its but induced a pair of double-play groundouts.
The one earned run Wilson gave up was an RBI double by Ez Campos, and it proved to be the deciding factor.
Anchorage, Alaska, 8, Pocatello, Idaho, 5
Riley Niclai went 3 for 3 to lead Anchorage over Pocatello, including a two-run home run in the third inning that gave his team a lead it never let go of.
Hunter Christian had two hits and four RBIs for Anchorage. Chase Mascelli and Jake Rafferty also drove in runs.
Pocatello scored three times in the top of the third as Gunner Wilhelm, Hudson John and Kache Stucki each had run-scoring singles. But the comeback effort fell short.
Rafferty earned the victory on the mound for Anchorage, throwing five innings while allowing two hits and two earned runs with six strikeouts.
Eugene, Ore., 3, Cheyenne, Wyo., 2
In the opening game of the day, Eugene advanced to the second round with a win over Cheyenne, thanks to a solid outing by starter Grady Saunders.
Saunders gave up two earned runs in the top of the first but settled in after that, finishing with seven strikeouts and no walks while throwing all seven innings.
Saunders also went 2 for 3 at the plate with a double and a run scored, while Eli Crist hit a solo homer in the third to tie the game for Eugene. An RBI single by Peyton Tyner in the fifth proved to be the winning run.
Hayden Swaen and Corey Williams each drove in runs in the first inning for Cheyenne.
Below is the updated tournament schedule:
2024 Class AA Northwest Regional tournament
at Pirtz Field and Dehler Park, Billings
Wednesday, Aug. 7
Game 1: Eugene, Ore., 3, Cheyenne, Wyo., 2
Game 2: Anchorage, Alaska, 8, Pocatello, Idaho, 5
Game 3: Bellevue, Wash., 3, Missoula 0
Game 4: Fort Collins, Colo., 1, Billings Scarlets 0
Thursday, Aug. 8
Game 5: Cheyenne, Wyo., vs. Missoula, 9:30 a.m., loser out
Game 6: Pocatello, Idaho, vs. Billings Scarlets, immediately afterwards, loser out
Game 7: Eugene, Ore., vs. Bellevue, Wash., 4 p.m., second round
Game 8: Anchorage, Alaska, vs. Fort Collins, Colo., immediately afterwards, second round
Friday, Aug. 9
Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 loser, 9:30 a.m., loser out
Game 10: Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 4 p.m., loser out
Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 7 p.m., undefeated semifinal
Saturday, Aug. 10
Game 12: Game 9/10 winner vs. Game 11 loser, 4 p.m., loser out
Game 13: Game 9/10 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 11
Game 14: Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner, 1 p.m., championship
Game 15: Second championship, 4 p.m. (if necessary)
Note 1: Pairings for Game 12 & 13 will not match previous opponents against each other unless absolutely necessary.
Note 2: If three teams remain after Game 13, the winner of Game 11 automatically draws a bye for Game 14.
