King's, Stoltze capture Cal Ripken tourney crowns

King's Landscaping and F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber teams captured championships in the Columbia Falls Cal Ripken League tournament to complete the regular season.

In the majors division, fifth-seeded King's Landscaping scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, rallying for a 5-4 victory over American Auto Sales in Saturday's title game. A two-run double by Daniel Garwood tied the game. With two outs, Garwood scored from third on a wild pitch on a 2-2 count — sliding in under the tag with the game-winning run.

American Auto Sales voted Garwood the most valuable player for King's in the championship game. Glenn Morden, who pitched the sixth inning, was the winner on the mound for King's. Garwood pitched the first two innings and Jayce Fagerland threw the next three.

"We beat the No. 1, 2 and 3 seeds to win the championships," King's coach Jamie King said. "The kids played great. They hit the ball unbelievably well during the tournament.

King's defeated second-seeded Flathead Electric Co-op 10-7 in its first game, then posted a 9-5 win over No. 1 RE/MAX Mountain View in the semifinals. American Auto Sales beat FEC, Freedom Bank and RE/MAX to get to the championship game.

King said he's pleased to see the balance of competition in the league, which made the tournament wide open.

"They did a great job of dividing up the league," King said, referring to making the teams of nearly equal strength.

F.H. STOLTZE Land and Lumber, with the No. 3 seed, had to defeat fifth-seeded Nite Owl/Back Room to win the minors championship. Stoltze won the first title game 7-5, then outscored Nite Owl/Back Room 15-9 in the second and deciding championship contest.

"The kids really came through. They played hard," Stoltze coach Trevor Kjensrud said.

Stoltze rolled past Deer Park 17-4 and Fasteners 9-2, but lost to Nite Owl/Back Room 13-8 in the semifinals. To get to the title game, Stoltze edged top-seeded Rex's Pawn 11-9.

Kjensrud was elated with the Stoltze pitching during the tourney.

"Trevor Hoerner and Drew Morgan threw phenomenal," the coach said, while catcher Terek Bistodeau was outstanding behind the plate. Eli Scheeler also pitched well.

Kjensrud also singled out Ryan Kjensrud, Trever Haverkorn, LJ Panasuk, Jared Reynolds, Jacob Hagen, Tyler Cornelius and Brandon Karberg for their play. The coach said Scheeler and Mason Tucker made key catches in the outfield during the championship games.

"It was a tough team effort," coach Kjensrud said.

Note: All-star teams will be listed in next week's newspaper.