Riverdogs split double-header at Missoula
If the initial two-games of the just underway Legion baseball season are any indication, the Plains-based Clarkfork Riverdogs may be on their way to a good season.
Last weekend they traveled to Missoula to take on the Class A Missoula Mavericks, a perennial contender for upper division Montana Legion baseball honors.
The Class B Riverdogs took it on the chin in the opener of the series this past Sunday, losing the first game of the 2022 season 11-1 as the Mavericks banged out eight hits while scoring five runs in both the first and fourth innings.
The Riverdogs would bounce back and win the second game of the double-header, 8-4.
Clark Fork had taken its first lead of the season in the first inning when lead-off hitter and shortstop Eli Ratliff scored after picking up one of only two Riverdogs hits in the game.
Missoula plated five runs in the bottom of the first. They would add a run to their lead in the bottom of the second, then added five more in the bottom of the fourth inning to take an 11-1 lead.
The Riverdogs could not score in the top of the fifth and the 10-run lead Mercy rule was declared, giving the Mavericks the opening game victory.
The only Clark Fork batter to get a hit other than Ratliff was center fielder Nathan Zigler. Mavericks pitching also struck out eight Dogs’ batsmen, while giving up four walks during the opening game.
The 10-run victory was what had been expected between the two teams, with the Riverdogs entering just their second year of play after a hiatus of 20 years without Legion baseball in the area.
That was all about to change when the Riverdogs, who are made up of players from St. Regis and Superior to Thompson Falls in Sanders and Mineral counties, got on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning in game two of the double-header.
Clark Fork pitchers Orion Plakke from Superior and Garth Parker from Hot Springs combined for a four-hitter in game two, with Parker allowing just one hit and no runs in the Riverdogs’ 8-4 victory.
The pitching duo also struck out five Mavericks hitters in squaring their season record at 1-1.
The Dogs scored three in their half of the opening frame, then held on as the Mavericks scored once in the bottom of the first, then plated three runs in the second inning to grab a 4-3 lead.
But Parker took the mound and quieted the potent Missoula bats as the two teams went scoreless in innings three and four.
Plakke was the leading hitter for Clark Fork, going two for three and picking up a pair of runs batted in, helping the Dogs retake the lead 6-4 with three runs in the top of inning number five, then two more in the sixth inning to secure the victory.
Clark Fork had a total of seven hits for the game two win.
The Riverdogs open their home season this Saturday at 1 p.m. with a pair of seven inning games versus the Missoula Impact, one of two Class B teams from the Garden City. They will also host the Missoula Mariners at the same time on Sunday, also a pair of seven-inning games.
The Riverdogs play their home games on Field #1 at the Amundson Sports Complex adjacent to the Plains airport.