Riverdogs-Loggers rivalry emerging in Legion ball
St. Regis player Tanner Day swings at an incoming pitch during this past week's game against the Libby Loggers in Libby. The Loggers won 6-3. (Photo by coach Jon Zigler)
These two teams are getting to know each other pretty well.
To date, this budding rivalry has produced some wild slug fests, a rout here and there, and as was the case this past week, a lower-scoring affair that was actually a pitcher’s duel for most of the game.
Paced by an outstanding seven innings of pitching from C. Williams, who limited the Clark Fork Valley Riverdogs to three hits while striking out 13 batters during his stay on the hill, the Class A Loggers scratched out a 6-3 American Legion baseball win last week in Libby.
The Loggers scored first, getting a solo run in the bottom of the first inning before Clark Fork pitchers blanked them over the next four innings. Dogs starting pitcher Nate Zigler had another solid outing on the mound against the Loggers, holding the home team to five hits in 6.2 innings of work. Along the way Zigler struck out seven Loggers while walking three.
Of the four runs Zigler surrendered, only one was an earned run, as four Riverdogs errors were instrumental in a four-run bottom of the seventh Libby outburst.
Prior to that, the Dogs managed to tie the game in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Eli Ratliff that drove in Zigler from third base. Zigler and Alessi Rolando opened the inning with back-to-back singles to set up the Ratliff RBI.
The game remained 2-1 until the bottom of the seventh inning when Libby pushed four runs across home plate to build a 6-1 lead after seven.
In the top of the next inning, the Riverdogs struck back for a pair of runs, making it 6-3, with one inning to go. Williams walked the first two Riverdogs he faced in the eighth and was pulled from the game in favor of reliever T. Zhag. Parker, who was one of the two walk beneficiaries moved to third on a sacrifice fly, then scored on a Libby error. Ratliff stroked a single and moved to second on a stolen base.
The Dogs would score one more in the eighth when Zigler scooted home from third base on a wild pitch, making it 6-3. But Zhag regained control and shut the Dogs down without further damage in the inning. He then held the Dogs scoreless in the top of the ninth as the Loggers improved their season mark to 6-1.
The loss dropped Clark Fork to 9-8 on the year and snapped a two-game winning streak that included an 18-7 walloping of Libby just a few days earlier. The Riverdogs were held to five hits in the game.
Next up for the Dogs is a Thursday double-header versus the Kalispell Lakers in Kalispell. They are then schedule to play a double header Saturday in Hamilton against the Bitterroot Red Sox before crossing the Idaho line for a Sunday double-header against the Northern Lakes Mountaineers in Rathdrum, Idaho, a suburb of Coeur d’Alene.
“We lost a pitchers duel as both teams sent their aces to the bump (mound),” said head coach Jon Zigler. “Untimely errors on defense hurt us, but both starting pitchers had the opposing team off balance all night. Williams was the best pitcher we have faced this season, he was throwing darts out there.”
Still, Zigler said he was pleased with the effort put forth by his team.
“I’m proud of our guys,” he said. “They never gave up and played hard to the end”.