Riverdogs split double-header at Bitterroot

Don’t look now, but the Clark Fork Riverdogs Legion baseball team has become a team to reckon with as the 2022 season picks up steam.

The Plains-based Riverdogs, who feature players from Superior to Thompson Falls, split a pair of games with the perennially tough Bitterroot Red Sox, dropping the opener 14-13 after the Hamilton-based Red Sox staged a come-from-behind win in the bottom of the seventh inning of the double-header, then winning the nightcap 9-6 as they held off another late Red Sox rally.

The pair of games, played in Hamilton this past Saturday, left the Riverdogs with a 5-3 early season record as they head into the meat of their busy summer schedule.

Clark Fork, which last week took three-of-four games in a pair of home double dips, jumped out in front of the host Red Sox 4-0 in the top of the first inning of the day’s opening game.

Thompson Falls’ Beano Fisher was instrumental in the early going, smacking a bases clearing double that plated three of the four first inning runs.

Bitterroot got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth as Riverdogs’ starting pitcher Orion Plakke struggled with control problems and walked one batter with the bases loaded before getting the final out of the first inning.

The Red Sox then held Plains scoreless in the top of the inning before erupting for five runs of their own in the bottom half of the second. Plakke’s control problems continued in the second stanza where he walked four batters, again with the bases jammed, as the home team tied the score at four.

Garth Parker was brought in to relieve Plakke, in hopes of stemming the flow of Red Sox runs, but gave up a two-run double before getting the third out. At that point the home squad held a 6-4 lead.

Clark Fork struck back quickly in the upper half of inning number three, plating a pair of runs via two walks and a two-run single by Parker to tie the game at six apiece.

The see-saw nature of the contest continued in the bottom of the third when a single and two walks eventually led to a two-run Red Sox single that gave Bitterroot an 8-6 lead heading into the fourth inning.

The Riverdogs could not score despite a single and walk, leaving the Red Sox with the two-run lead heading into the bottom of the fourth.

Despite a pair of runners being picked off or caught stealing in the home half of the fourth, Bitterroot pushed another three runs across the plate sandwiched around a pair of singles and a pair of walks. Those scores boosted the home team to an 11-6 lead going into the top of the fifth inning.

Clark Fork scored one run in the fifth, while holding Bitterroot scoreless in their half of the inning, setting up a dramatic finish to an already back-and-forth game.

The Dogs would plate six runs in the top of the sixth on six hits and some wild pitching by the Red Sox, propelling them to a 13-11 lead through the sixth inning. During their six-run explosion, the Riverdogs had three players with runs batted in, topped by a two-run single by Ratliff.

The Riverdogs then held Bitterroot scoreless in the bottom of the sixth to preserve their two-run advantage with one inning to play in the seven-inning double header format.

By then, Trenis McDonald, a senior at Plains High, had come in as the third Riverdogs pitcher of the game.

With Clark Fork unable to push across a run in the top of the seventh, the Riverdogs were three outs away from a win when pitching wildness struck again.

McDonald walked the first three batters he faced, setting up the Red Sox with the bases loaded and no one out. They got one run in on a single, then completed their bottom of the seventh rally when Bitterroot’s Springer doubled in two runs to seal the win for the Red Sox.

The opening game loss left the Riverdogs with a 4-3 season mark.

But they set out to preserve their above .500 record in the second game of the double-header, plating a pair of runs in the top of the first inning behind a pair of singles and a sacrifice grounder.

Clark Fork starting pitcher Nate Zigler then put the Red Sox down in order in the bottom of the first, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

The Riverdogs would face the same fate in the top of the second, when Bitterroot starter Anderson struck out two after issuing a lead off walk. The Sox then struck back in the bottom of the second on the strength of a Springer home run and an RBI single, knotting the game at 2-2 after the opening two innings of play.

Clark Fork was held scoreless in the top of the third, despite loading the bases with two outs. A strikeout by Anderson put out the Riverdogs’ threat.

Bitterroot then took the lead on a sacrifice ground ball, giving them a 3-2 lead at the end of three innings of play.

Unlike the first game, the middle three innings of game two settled into a pitching duel between Anderson and Clark Fork’s Zigler, both of whom would throw more than 100 pitches during the game.

The Riverdogs Jack Taylor whacked a two-run double in the top of the seventh to break the bilateral scoring drought and push the Dogs into a 4-3 lead heading into the bottom half of the inning.

The Red Sox tied the game following a leadoff double and a triple that plated only one run but also tied the score at 4-4, forcing the game into extra innings.

Clark Fork broke through in the top of the eighth, scoring five runs as they loaded the bases with no outs on three walks. An RBI single by Ratliff and a Plakke two-run double helped boost the Dogs to a 9-4 lead as the game entered the bottom of the eighth inning.

Bitterroot opened their half of the eighth with a double and a two-run homer, bringing them within two, 9-6, with one out. New Riverdogs pitcher Taylor pulled it together for a strikeout and a flyout to snuff out the Red Sox rally and send Clark Fork home with a split and a 5-3 season record.

Next up for the Riverdogs is a trip to Libby this weekend where they will participate in the Wooden Bats tourney which runs Friday through Sunday.