7/23/08

Redbirds aim for state berth in Sidney

by DOREEN HEINTZ
Sports Editor

After completing one of the most successful regular seasons in team history, the Lewistown Redbirds look to extend their success into the post-season as they travel to Sidney this weekend to compete in the Eastern Division Class A District American Legion Tournament at Moose Park in Sidney.

The Redbirds, who are the number three seed out of the South Sub-district, open play at 4 p.m. Wednesday against the number two seed from the North Sub-district, the Glendive Blue Devils. Lewistown is 53-14 overall and 10-6 in the conference. They have won all five meetings between the two teams on the season. That means little to Redbird Coach Scott Sparks as he prepares his team for today’s contest.

“We have done a pretty good job swinging the bats against Glendive, and our pitching has been solid,” said Sparks. “The thing that is scary about Glendive is that they can flat out swing their bats. A team like that can be dangerous if they get hot at the right time.”

The Birds will send their ace, Craig Nelson, to the mound to face the Blue Devils. Nelson is 10-1 on the year with a 0.89 ERA.

“Craig has had a great year on the mound for us,” said Sparks. “With Craig being out for a few weeks, his arm is well rested, and he will be up for the task.”

If the Redbirds are to earn a spot in next weekend’s state tournament in Vauxhall, Alberta, pitching will be the key. Sparks feels good about the depth of his staff heading into the district tournament.

“We are as deep, if not deeper, than every team in our conference on the mound,” added Sparks. “Now that we are playing nine-inning games, the importance on pitching depth really comes into play.”

Besides Nelson, the Redbirds look to Miles Pennell (7-5, 2.01 ERA), Orrin Pyrah (10-3, 2.75 ERA), Logan Mossey (7-1, 2.85 ERA), Dillon Fugate (6-1, 1.69 ERA), Chance Corry (5-2, 4.98 ERA), Shayne Durbin (4-0, 1.50 ERA), and Sam Anderson (3-0, 3.45 ERA) to provide quality innings on the mound this weekend.

While pitching has been a strong point for the Redbirds all season long, the bats, which have been hot in recent weeks, will have to remain hot to support their pitching in making a run at the tournament title.

“We have been somewhat inconsistent all year at the plate,” said Sparks. “We have hit good pitching well and have struggled against average pitching until late. It is going to take production and execution, one through nine, if we want to accomplish our goals this weekend.”

Leading the offense again this year is Fugate. After a record-setting year a season ago, Fugate enters the tournament having set team records in runs scored with 110 and hits with 100, all while hitting .467 with three home runs and 73 RBIs.

“Dillon has had another great year for us, but what has been great about this year is he has gotten some tremendous support from the rest of our team,” said Sparks.

The offensive support has come in the way of Nelson (.441, 5 home runs, 73 RBIs), Corry (.397, 1 home run, 73 RBIs), Pyrah (.350, 22 doubles, 65 RBIs), and Pennell (.355, 90 runs, 37 RBIs).

“If Craig doesn’t miss two weeks due to an injury, he may have driven in 100 runs,” added Sparks. “Miles, Orrin, and Chance have all had outstanding years at the plate for us. Our first five in the order are as good as anybody’s.”

However, in order to advance to the state tournament, others in the order will have to contribute as well. Mossey (33 RBIs), A.J. Wier (33 RBIs), Anderson, Durbin, D.J. Kamp, Trevor Koterba, Eli Bowen, Kurtis Robbins and Jesse Skipper will all be counted on to fill the bottom four spots in the lineup at some point during the tournament.

“We have to be solid at the bottom of the line-up,” said Sparks. “We have several guys that are capable of getting bunts down, and getting on base, so we should be able to play small ball and generate some runs and get production six through nine.”

Balanced hitting and solid pitching will need to be backed by strong defense throughout the weekend.

“For the most part we have played well defensively this season,” Sparks said. “It just seem like when it rains it pours with us on defense. Mentally we have to be tough and not let one mistake lead to several more. Nine-inning games give more opportunity for error, and we will need to avoid collapses on defense if we want to win.”

The 10-team tournament begins on Wednesday morning and runs through Sunday and possibly into Monday. Wolf Point and Laurel enter the tournament as the top seeds and will not begin play until Thursday.

“I’m sure most people have got to think that they are the two teams to beat, and they have earned that by playing well in the conference,” said Sparks. “I have said all year that our sub-district was as good as any in the state. I think that four teams on our side have a chance to advance, and there are a couple of pretty good teams from the other sub-district. Our conference record really isn’t a good measure of how good a team we are. We didn’t play a single conference game this season with all 14 guys, so I don’t put much stock into our conference record. Our guys have shown up and played well at every tournament, and that means a whole lot more than 16 games with a short roster.”

The top two teams will advance to the State A Tournament Aug. 2-6 in Vauxhall and Sparks hopes his team will represent the East next weekend in Alberta.

“I really believe that we are one of the top teams in the state, and I think the quality wins we had throughout the summer backs that assertion,” said Sparks. “We have played a difficult schedule and have beaten some very good teams and very good pitchers. I think that our guys are ready and expect to do well this weekend. They are ready to do whatever it takes to get to state, and it starts by taking it one game at a time and getting by Glendive today.”

All Redbird games will be broadcast live from Sidney over KXLO radio with Scott Koterba providing the play-by-play.