Whitefish ends season at state baseball tournament

Whitefish fell in two games at the Montana State Baseball Tournament on Thursday and Friday, May 16-17. The Bulldogs lost a heart-breaker to Belgrade 8-7 on Thursday in Missoula, and then was downed 15-8 by Eureka on Friday.

Against Belgrade, Whitefish built a 5-4 lead through six innings. Belgrade would find itself down to its last strike but tie things up in the bottom of the seven on a double. The Bulldogs answered back by plating two runs in the eighth inning, but Belgrade would score three runs in the bottom of the frame, with the game-winning run coming across the plate on a squeeze bunt. 

Belgrade finished with 12 hits in the game, while Whitefish had five hits. 

Tait Orme, Avery Caton and CJ Thew all drove in runs, while Caton had a double and Christian Schwaderer had a triple. 

Brady Howke pitched the first five innings, while Logan Stewart pitched the final two and one-third innings. 

Whitefish then had to face off against Eureka on Friday, May 17 in Missoula, where the Lions scored five runs in the fourth and five runs in the seventh for the 15-8 victory. 

Eureka led 3-2 after three innings and then had a five-run rally in the top of the fourth. Whitefish responded with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, but Eureka plated two more runs in the top of the sixth for the 10-6 lead. 

Eureka would score five more in the seventh and finish the game with 12 hits. Whitefish would have 12 hits as well but couldn’t quite manage a comeback, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh before bowing out of the state tournament.

Drew Queen drove in two runs for Whitefish, while Michael Miller and Ryan Conklin each had triples. Conklin finished the game going 3-for-4, while Miller went 2-for-4 and drove in a run. Queen was 3-for-4 as well. 

With the loss, Whitefish finished the season 8-13.

 Thursday, May 16

At Missoula

BELGRADE 8, WHITEFISH 7

Whitefish - 020 - 111 - 02 - 7 - 5 - 4

Belgrade - 011 - 110 - 13 - 8 - 12 - 0

WHITEFISH PITCHING: Brady Howke (5 innings pitched, 6 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 3 walks), L Stewart (2 and 1/3 innings pitched, 6 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 1 strikeouts)

WHITEFISH HITTING: Tait Orme 1-4, Ryan Conklin 1-4, Michael Miller 0-4, Christian Schwaderer 1-5, Avery Caton 1-3, Reed Boyer 0-2, Calvin Eisenbarth, CJ Thew 0-2; Reyd Hobart 0-4; RBI: Orme, Caton, Thew; 2B: Caton, 3B: Schwaderer

Friday, May 17

At Missoula

EUREKA 15, WHITEFISH 8

Eureka - 102 - 502 - 5 - 15 - 12 - 0

Whitefish - 101 - 040 - 2 - 8 - 12 - 3

WHITEFISH PITCHING: MIchael Miller (3 innings pitched, 2 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned runs, 5 walks, 1 strikeout); Otto Klein (2/3 innings pitched, 5 hits, 5 runs, 5 earned runs, 2 walks), Reed Boyer (1/3 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs), Tait Orme (1 inning pitched, 1 hit, 2 runs, 2 earned runs, 1 walk), Talus Piatkowski (2 innings pitched, 4 hits, 5 runs, 4 earned runs, 5 walks, 1 strikeout)

WHITEFISH HITTING: Tait Orme 1-4, Ryan Conklin 3-4, Michael Miller 2-4, Christian Schwaderer 1-3, Avery Caton 1-3, Calvin Eisenbarth 0-3, CJ Thew 0-2, Will Sisson 1-1, Drew Queen 3-4, Reyd Hobart 0-2, Brady Howke 0-1, Luke Dalen 0-1; RBI: Orme, Miller, Schwaderer, Caton, Queen 2, Dalen; 3B: Miller, Conklin