Mavs get best of Lakers

A Tuesday American Legion Class AA game featuring two players taken in Major League Baseball's amateur draft was ultimately dominated by a 16-year-old.

Missoula pitcher Andrew Sopko pitched eight shutout innings, compiled 10 strikeouts and gave up only one hit as the Mavericks topped the Kalispell Lakers 6-2 in a conference matchup at Griffin Field.

"He didn't miss often tonight," Lakers' coach Ryan Malmin said of Sopko. "He changed his speed and located very well."

Kalispell's starter Dillon Eaves put in a quality performance of his own, allowing only one earned run through seven innings on the mound.

But three costly Kalispell throwing errors allowed the Mavericks to score a total of four unearned runs in the game.

The first came in the first inning after a one-out double to left field by Missoula's Brody Miller. The throw back to the infield slipped passed several Lakers and rolled to the fence, allowing Miller to advance to third.

He scored on a sacrifice grounder by Riley King the following at-bat to make it 1-0.

Kalispell got its first base runner in the bottom half of the second inning when Sidney Schenk reached first on a throwing error with two outs.

But Sopko struck out the next batter and retired the next 11 to keep the Lakers scoreless until he left the game in the ninth.

The Mavericks struck again in the sixth, starting with a two-out double by Steven DeYoung who then scored on a single by Nathan Jewett.

The Mavericks tacked on another run in the seventh when Bewley - who reached base on a throwing error - scored on a double to left field off the bat of Tres Cunningham.

Eaves struck out Ben Roberts - a seventh-round pick by the Diamondbacks in the MLB amateur draft - but Roberts advanced to first base when the third strike was bobbled. He moved all the way to third base on a subsequent throwing error that allowed Cunningham to score.

Roberts scored on a sacrifice fly by Miller to make the score 5-0.

"We need to do a better job of competing in all aspects of the game every time we step on the field," Malmin said of the errors.

The Lakers didn't have a hit until Dillon Matteson knocked a two-out single to left field in the eighth, but Kalispell was unable to capitalize.

Missoula took a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the eighth after LouisFreudenberg gave up back-to-back singles and walked another batter.

Kalispell finally got on the board in the ninth inning. Nate Bengtson drove a single into left and Michael O'Connell followed with a double off Missoula reliever Tanner Rheinschmidt to score Bengtson.

O'Connell crossed the plate to make it 6-2 when Pistorese - drafted in the 44th round by the White Sox - hammered a single up the middle that struck Rheinschmidt's arm.

Malmin said he was proud of his pitchers despite the loss.

"The score doesn't really tell the story about our guys on the bump," Malmin said.

Missoula 100 001 310 672

Kalispell 000 000 002 253

Andrew Sopko, Tanner Rheinschmidt (9) and Luke Bewley; Dillon Eaves, Louis Freudenberg (8) and Kendrick Lee. W - Sopko. L - Eaves

Missoula - Ben Roberts 0-5, Brody Miller 1-3, Riley King 0-4, Steven DeYong 2-4, Nathan Jewett 1-4, Kyle Booi 1-3, Conner Anderson 0-1, Rheinshchmidt 1-1, Bewley 0-2, Tres Cunningham 1-4

2B - Miller, DeYoung, Cunningham; RBI - King, Jewett, Cunningham, Miller

Kalispell - Nate Bengtson 1-4, Cody Dopps 0-4, Michael O'Connell 1-4, Pistorese 1-4, Sean O'Connell 1-4, Sidney Schenk 0-3, Dillon Matteson 1-3, Lee 0-2, Dominic Eickert 0-3

2B - M. O'Connell. RBI - M. O'Connell, Pistorese