Legion Baseball: Riverdogs sweep series with Mariners

After a long wait to come home from a road game split with a Class A Legion team, the Missoula Mavericks, the Clark Fork Riverdogs were more than raring to go on their home field.

And while they didn’t get the coveted four game sweep, they took three out of four from a pair of area B teams, the same class as the Riverdogs, to serve notice they are for real this year.

The Riverdogs opened their home stand under dark, threatening skies and swirling winds that kick clouds of dust into the air around Amundson Sports Complex Field 1, their home field near the Plains airport.

After splitting with the Class A Mavericks there was a buzz about the team and wonders of how good are these guys?

Their first home game of the year proved to be a powerful indicator they can be a factor in the coming Legion baseball season.

The Dogs wasted no time getting their first run at home when catcher Orion Plakke from Superior blasted a screaming line drive that hit the bottom of the outfield fence, good for a double. He would score before the final out of the inning after Clark Fork pitching went down without allowing a run in the top of the first inning.

With Riverdog pitching once again shutting out the visitors in the top of the second, thanks in part to a thrown out base runner by Plakke to end the inning, the Riverdogs added another run in the bottom of inning number two when Eli Ratliff singled home a runner.

With winds picking up and ominous, whispy dark clouds threatening a sudden downpour both teams went scoreless in the third. Clark Fork ignored the winds and the rolling tumbleweeds running across the infield to plate a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth, giving them a 4-2 lead.

The Impact got on track in the top of the fifth inning on a two-run double, that chased Clark Fork’s starter who was replaced and the Dogs retired the side without any further damage.

Clark Fork struck back for a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, pushing their lead to 6-2, thanks to a baseball rarity double steal that scored a run from third when the Impact catcher threw to second to try and catch a stealing Riverdog.

The Missoula team came right back with a run in the top of the sixth but could come no closer as the Riverdogs held them scoreless in the top of the seventh to record their second win of the young season.

Things did not go so well for the home team in the second game of the double-header, which featured two seven inning contests.

Impact bats lived up to their name in the nightcap as they pounded Riverdogs pitching on their way to a 15-9 split of the two-game series.

The split left Clark Fork with a 2-2 mark on the year.

Next up was a Sunday double-dip against the Mission Valley Mariners, another Class B team.

This two game set, under mostly sunny skies and a decent size crowd in attendance, was all Clark Fork as they hammered Mariners pitching and took advantage of continuous control problems by the Missoula pitchers. Missoula had taken a one run lead in their half of the first but Clark Fork came roaring back.

After putting the Mariners down with only one run in the top of the first of game one, the Riverdogs struck for a pair of runs when pitcher Garth Parker blasted a low line drive that made it over the left field fence for a home run and a 2-0 lead. Clark Fork added two more first inning runs to get out of the gate with a 4-0 lead at the end of the first inning.

With Parker in total control of the visiting hitters, the Riverdogs went to work in the bottom of the fourth, sandwiching several hits among several Missoula errors to put another four runs in the bank.

Both teams pitching settled down in the third and fourth innings as neither could push a run across. The Riverdogs broke that streak in the bottom of the fifth when a pair of errors allowed Ratliff to score from first, giving the home boys a 9-0 lead.

The home team struck again with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, including one tally off a “suicide squeeze” play where the batter bunts the ball with a running charging home from third. In this case Parker slid around the attempted tag at the plate.

Those runs gave Clark Fork an 11-1 lead and resulted in the game being called at the end of six because of the 10-run lead Mercy rule.

That set the stage for wild start to game two of double-header as Mariners pitching produced several walks around several hit batsmen to bring home four first inning runs and put the Dogs on their way to a convincing two-game sweep.l

After adding one run in the bottom of the second, Clark Fork erupted for seven tallies in the bottom of the third, giving them a 12-0 lead.

When Missoula could not score in the top of the fifth, the game was once again called after four and a half innings because of the Mercy rule.

The pair of victories boosted Clark Fork to 4-2 on the year as they head out next weekend for a double-header against the Bitterroot Red Sox in Hamilton beginning Saturday the 30th at 1 p.m.

After the first game Sunday Riverdogs pitching and hitting star Garth Parker described his line drive home run as “just hitting it hard enough to get it over the fence,” he said. “It felt pretty good”.