All-stars narrowly miss state

By FAITH MOLDAN

Bigfork Eagle

The Bigfork All-stars finished their season one game shy of going to state.

Bigfork won three of its five games at the District Tournament in Whitefish July 5-8. The team's wins came against Columbia Falls, Polson and Libby 5-1, 6-0 and 4-1, respectively. Bigfork lost to Mission Mountain and Clark Fork by scores of 6-1 and 11-1.

Bigfork reached the semifinals Sunday, only to face Clark Fork, who 10-run ruled Bigfork, scoring most of its runs in the third inning.

"We hung with them and then they just hit," Bigfork coach James Lafontaine said.

The loss kept the All-stars out of the state tournament, but Lafontaine said the team's success at the tournament was still impressive. Many of the other all-star teams at the tournament had as many as 10 teams to pick their players from. Bigfork stuck with the same roster it has played with all season.

"I'm very proud of them. I think they represented the community well," he said. Bigfork finished the season with a 22-9 overall record. The All-stars scored in every game except their last game at the Firecracker Tournament in Kalispell.

The All-stars started the tournament with their win over Columbia Falls Thursday. Columbia Falls led early, scoring one run in the first inning. The score remained 1-0 in favor of Columbia Falls until the bottom half of the third inning when Bigfork scored one run on a triple by Jake Mitich. Luke Lafontaine scored the run after reaching base safely on a fielder's choice. Lafontaine scored five runs in the tournament and was 7-for-13 at the plate. Two innings later in the fifth, Bigfork piled on four more runs. Jeremiah Franklin, who was 5-for-15 at the plate during the tournament, started things off, reaching base after getting hit by a pitch. He scored three runs in the five games. Josh Mitich reached third base following Franklin's appearance at the plate. Columbia Falls intentionally walked Jake Mitich, which proved to be more dangerous than beneficial. Mitchell Harsh hit a double that brought in both Mitiches. Harsh also scored that inning to make it 5-1. He went 5-for-12 during the tournament.

Bigfork followed that win with another win against Libby, but fell to a tough Mission Mountain team Friday. Mission Mountain jumped on top of Bigfork early and led 4-0 until the third inning, when they scored another run to make it 5-0. Bigfork scored in the next inning, the fourth. Josh Mitich and Wyatt Fisher both reached base that inning, as did Harsh and Josh Sather. Sather recorded a total of four hits in his 11 at-bats. Mitich scored the only run for Bigfork. Mission Mountain notched another run in the bottom of the fifth inning and held the All-Stars scoreless and hitless in the top of the sixth for the 6-1 win.

The Bigfork defense and pitching shined in the All-Stars' game against Polson Saturday. The Mitiches combined for 11 strike outs, one walk and one hit batter in the no-hitter.

"Josh and Jake pitched really well throughout the tournament. They kept us in the games," Lafontaine said.

Bigfork's defense committed zero errors against Polson. The game was scoreless through the first two innings, but Harsh singled to drive in Bigfork's first run in the top of the third. Josh Mitich scored the run. He also singled in the inning. The All-stars held Polson scoreless for the rest of the game while hitting the ball hard and driving in run after run for the 6-0 win. Bigfork's five runs in the top of the sixth inning started with Fisher's walk. Fisher finished the tournament 3-for-7 and, according to Lafontaine, played good defense at second base throughout the tournament. Colton Wild followed that with a single, Franklin also walked and Josh Mitich started a trio of singles that included hits by Lafontaine and Jake Mitich. Josh Mitich was 6-for-14 at the plate while scoring five runs, and his brother Jake was 6-for-14 as well and scored one run.