Scarlets clinch East, 11-5

By TIM DUMAS Chronicle Sports Editor

Second place will have to do. At least for now.

The Bozeman Bucks put on a less-than-inspired defensive display Sunday night, committing eight errors en route to an 11-5 loss to the Billings Scarlets in an American Legion baseball game at nearly-full Heroes Park.

The Scarlets, who fell to the Bucks 18-14 the night before, clinched the Eastern Conference title for the second time in three years. They will be the No. 1 seed out of the East for this weekend’s AA State Tournament in Great Falls.

Bozeman remains in second place and must win at least one of its two games at Butte this evening to clinch the second seed. If the Bucks lose both, they fall into a tie with the Billings Royals, who own the tiebreaker over Bozeman, meaning the Bucks would be the third seed.

Despite an early six-run deficit, the hosts trailed just 7-5 in the top of the ninth when once again, poor fielding did them in. An error and a misplayed flyball extended the inning, leading to Jordan Heringer’s grand slam that put the Scarlets comfortably in front and spoiled Bozeman’s Senior Night.

“For the life of me, I can’t figure it out,” Bucks coach Mitch Messer said. “We play some of our best baseball here at home and we play some of our worst baseball here.”

The Scarlets (46-13 overall, 19-3 East) totaled 15 hits one night after collecting 19 and led off the game with five consecutive hits to go in front to stay. Jesse Finley also homered for Billings, which defeated Bozeman for the fourth time this season.

“You’ve got two good teams battling out here who’ve had two great regular seasons,” Scarlets coach Adam Hust said. “I’m just happy as heck that we came out on top.”

Bozeman (49-17, 16-6) committed five errors before the fourth inning had been completed and Heringer’s tour around the bases in the fourth summed up the night for the Bucks.

Heringer reached first base on shortstop Kyle Britt’s third error of the game before stealing second as the throw went into center field, allowing Heringer to take third. He then scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-0.

“Any time you get out to an early lead, it takes the pressure off of your players,” Hust said. “Playing from behind is tough.”

The Bucks avoided their first home shutout in two years — the last one was a two-hitter thrown by Scarlet Eric Rose, now at the University of Nebraska — when Trevor Peck’s high flyball to center in the fifth was nearly tracked down by Heringer. With a thud, Heringer slammed into the wall as Peck eventually slid head-first into third base before trotting home when the cutoff throw bounced into the Bucks’ dugout.

The Bucks slowly made it a game using two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings — including Matt Comer’s long solo homer to left — and had a chance to creep even closer in the seventh.

Brendan Phillips and Caleb Schlender led off with successive doubles to make it 7-5, but Sean Potkay lined into a double play against reliever Riley Corcoran before Comer grounded out to end the frame.

Colter Joyce, who entered the game to start the sixth inning, held the Scarlets to one run entering the ninth before more fielding woes and Heringer’s slam put the game away.

“That helped a ton,” Hust said of Heringer’s blast. “A two-run lead against these guys heading into the bottom of the ninth a their place is definitely not enough.”.

Peck had a single, double and triple and Phillips also had three hits.

Anthony Rinard will start tonight’s opener against Butte. Phillips is expected to take the mound for the nightcap.

“It’s a resilient team,” Messer said. “You don’t win 49 games rolling over. It’s always tough going over to Butte, especially in July. We have to play better than we did tonight.”

Tim Dumas can be reached at tdumas@dailychronicle.com and 582-2651.

Scarlets 11, Bucks 5

Scarlets 300 300 104 n 11 15 2

Bucks 000 022 100 n 5 13 8

Roberts, Corcoran (7) and Tevlin. Spears, Joyce (6) and Minkoff.

Scarlets (46-13, 19-3) n Heringer 3-6, Grosulak 1-6, Reitz 2-5, Bushman 2-5, Tevlin 1-5, Roberts 0-5, Finley 2-5, Nell 1-4, Gilmore 2-4.

Bucks (49-17, 16-6) n Minkoff 1-5, Phillips 3-5, Schlender 2-4, Potkay 1-5, Comer 2-4, Rinard 1-4, Britt 0-1, Peck 3-4, Leister 0-3, Squire 0-2, Ballinger 0-1.

2B n Bushman, Nell, Reitz, Peck, Phillips, Schlender. 3B n Peck. HR n Finley, Comer, Heringer.

Saturday’s game

Bucks 18, Scarlets 14

Scarlets 200 010 722 n 14 19 1

Bucks 122 502 15x n 18 20 2

Gilmore, Muller (4), Blehm (8) and Shriver. Schmidt, Abbott (7), Joyce (7), Phillips (8) and Minkoff.

Scarlets n Heringer 1-4, Grosulak 2-5, Reitz 3-5, Bushman 0-5, Tevlin 5-6, Roberts 2-5, Finley 2-4, Shriver 2-6, Nell 2-6.

Bucks n Minkoff 4-6, Phillips 3-6, Schlender 1-3, Rinard 1-1, Potkay 2-4, Comer 2-4, Spears 1-5, Britt 2-5, Peck 2-3, Leister 2-4. 2B n Minkoff, Heringer, Tevlin. 3B n Minkoff, Potkay, Peck. HR n Tevlin 3, Comer. RBI n Comer 3, Minkoff 2, Potkay 2, Spears 2, Leister 2, Schlender, Britt; Tevlin 7, Grosulak 2, Reitz 2.

Southern A Tourney

GALLATIN VALLEY 6, DILLON 2: The Gallatin Valley Outlaws jumped on Dillon with two runs in the first inning and used an 11-strikeout performance from Derek Allen to defeat Dillon 6-2 Sunday to remain undefeated in the Southern A District Tournament. Isaiah Jensen went 2-3 with a double and an RBI to aid the Outlaw cause. They will play the winner of Helena and Dillon today at 2 p.m.

Outlaws 6, Dillon 2

Gallatin Valley 201 002 010 — 6 11 2

Dillon 000 000 020 — 2 8 2

Derek Allen and Matt Enriquez. Jake Schmit (7), Dakota Norris and Jackson Berkram. W — Allen. L — Schmit.

GVO (35-20) — Lynn Crawford 2-5, Conner Moore 0-6, Derek Allen 1-4, Matt Workman 1-5, Isaiah Jensen 2-3, Calvin Stocker 3-4, Matt Enriquez 0-4, Colton Anderson 2-5, Brandon Webster 0-3, Cameron Frost 0-0.

Dillon (44-26) — Dakota Norris 0-5, Conor Hartz 3-5, Zach McRae 2-5, Tim Goins 0-3, Michael Schwend 0-1, Jackson Berkram 0-3, Kacy Schwend 1-4, Jake Schmit 0-2, Donnie Moore 0-2, Robert Walsh 0-2, Andy Peterson 2-3. 2B — Jensen, Anderson; McRae 2. RBI — Jensen, Stocker, Anderson; McRae.

BOZEMAN 10, LIVINGSTON 8: It took four different pitchers and a Sean Zabawa home run, but the Bozeman Spikes clawed back from a early 7-1 deficit to stayed alive in the Southern A District Tournament with a 10-8 victory over Livingston. But in their second game of the day, the Spikes were dealt there second loss of the tournament — an 8-3 defeat at the hands of Helena — and were thus eliminated.

Bozeman 10, Livingston 8

Livingston 060 100 001 — 8 10 1

Bozeman 100 008 01x — 10 13 5

Ron Kurschner (3), Chad Becker, Cavin Segil and Trent Birge. Sam Olson (3), Sean Zabawa (1), Trevor Shellenberg, Jamin Weidenaar and Josh Mackay. W — Shellenberg. L — Becker.

Livingston (18-36) — Riley Kurschner 0-3, Sam Bisson 1-5, Chad Becker 3-4, Jason Rogers 2-4, Tony Paluso 2-5, Trent Birge 1-4, Greg Pappert 1-2, Ron Kurschner 0-2, Matt Smith 0-5, Segil 0-5.

Bozeman (25-25) — Ethan Wilkes 1-4, Weidenaar 3-5, Trevor Shellenberg 0-5, Doug Crossman 2-4, Dillon Peterson 0-2, Sean Zabawa 2-5, Keith Ailes 2-5, Josh Mackay 1-2, Mario Staislao 2-4.

2B — Rogers, Paluso 2, Becker 3; Ailes, Weidenaar, Staislao. HR — Zabawa. RBI — Riley Kurschner, Bisson, Becker 2, Paluso 2; Crossman, Ailes, Weidenaar 2, Zabawa 2, Staislao 3

Helena 8, Bozeman 3

Bozeman 001 002 000 — 3 8 0

Helena 301 003 10x — 8 11 3

Jamin Weidenaar (6), Dillon Peterson and Josh Mackay. Cole Andriolo (5), Grady Stinchfield and Matt Cline. W — Andriolo. L — Weidenaar.

Bozeman (25-26) — Ethan Wilkes 0-4, Jamin Weidenaar 2-4, Trevor Shellenberg 3-4, Doug Crossman 0-4, Sean Zabawa 1-4, Keith Ailes 0-1, Dillon Peterson 1-4, Josh Mackay 1-4, Mario Stanislao 0-4.

Helena (36-15) — Brad Rook 2-5, Zach Hanson 1-4, Colter Sternhagen 2-4, Jake Harris 3-4, Pat Morgan 2-4, Bob Doughty 0-2, Kyle Mclean 0-2, Matt Cline 0-3, Hunter Day 1-4.

2B — Weidenaar, Shellenberg; Rook 2. RBI — Shellenberg, Zabawa; Doughty, Cline, Hanson 2, Morgan 2.

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