Stars 2-2 in Firecracker Tournament

By Jordan Dawson / Bigfork Eagle

The Stars, Bigfork's all-star majors baseball team, spent their Fourth of July weekend playing in the annual Firecracker Tournament in Kalispell.

They began the tournament on a good note beating South Chief, from Alberta, Canada on Friday, 4-1. The South Chief team was held to only one earned run. Offensively Bigfork tied up the game in the bottom of second inning. With the score still tied in the bottom of the sixth Grayson Postlewait hit a lead-off single. Next up was Josh Mitich who was walked. With two runners on base, and Colton Wild at the plate, the count was one ball and two strikes. Colton took a high fast ball and hit it over the center field fence for the game-winning three-run walk-off.

"The team played great," coach Kirk Wild said. "No one gave up. When we needed someone to step up they did."

Cade White and Ross Coleman, two Bigfork minor league all-star team members were invited to step up to the majors and participate in this tournament.

"I expect good things out of these two over the next two years," coach Wild said. Colton Wild was awarded the game ball by his teammates for his walk-off home run.

The Stars struggled on Saturday morning, losing to Tobacco Valley from Eureka, 12-0.

"We do not play well in the morning, and we don't play Tobacco Valley well," Wild said. "Our bats did not make contact, and defensively we could not stop or hold the ball, or runner".

The team played much better in the evening, beating Regina from Canada, 4-0. Defensively, Bigfork committed only one error. Josh Mitich struck out 14 batters and gave up only one walk and one hit. The team did well hitting the ball, including White, who had his first majors hit. Bigfork was the fifth-seeded team going in to the championship day, Sunday. They faced Regina again, but this time did not triumph, losing 12-5. Bigfork came out swinging, scoring two runs in the top of first inning. Then it was Regina's turn, racking up nine runs. It was a hole too large for Bigfork to dig out of, but they gave their best effort to do so. At the top of the fourth inning Josh Mitich, who went four-for-four at the plate, hit a three run home run over the center field fence, but it wasn't enough.

"The boy's made mental errors early in the game and could not stop the Regina batting surge," Wild said. "When the team began really playing the score was too great for them to catch up with Regina making defensive plays. I believe the batting was the difference in the game, if we were stronger in that area we may have kept it close or even prevailed."

Josh Mitich was awarded the game ball by his team mates for the three-run hit.