Red Devils tally baseball win over St. Ignatius-Arlee

It’s a classic example of what you do when you fall off a horse….if you like horse riding.

And for the high school baseball players from Noxon and Thompson Falls who formed a two-school co-op to play varsity high school baseball this season, the answer is obvious.

You get up, dust yourself off, and climb back in the saddle.

That is just what the Red Devils did after getting whupped two times in their first two games as a varsity baseball team.

Saturday afternoon the Red Devils climbed back into the saddle, in this case the win column, with a 13-9 win over St. Ignatius-Arlee, another area co-op arrangement looking to make high school baseball a regular part of its sports lineup.

After losing their opener 17-0, then getting routed 20-1 by defending state champion Polson, the Noxon-T Falls boys stepped up and captured the program’s first varsity victory.

And they wasted no time getting some runs on the scoreboard, plating six scores in the top of the first inning in St. Ignatius. They got their first run when a dropped third strike got away from the Bulldogs’ catcher, allowing a run to score from third base.

With the bases still loaded, Thompson Falls student Bryson McCormick walked, forcing in a second Red Devil run.

A pair of singles, one by Brayden McJunkin and one by Brian Risch drove in two more runs, making it 4-0. Before the top of the first inning came to an end, Ian Brown doubled, bringing home two more runs and giving Noxon-T Falls a 6-0 lead.

It was rare air given the large early game deficits they faced in games with Eureka and Polson.

St. Ignatius rallied for three runs of its own, cutting the Noxon lead to 6-3. The Red Devils added a solo run in the top of the third inning on a sacrifice that scored McJunkin, who tagged up on third and scored, giving the Red Devils a 7-3 lead.

The Red Devils would never trail again as they held onto the four-run lead on their way to the win.

Tate Bosker was the winning pitcher for Noxon-T Falls, giving up four runs on just one hit in his two innings of work. He struck out two St. Ignatius batters and walked two.

Shane Hatchel came on and threw three innings of relief for the winners, holding the Bulldogs to one hit and one earned run over three innings. Hatchel fanned three and walked one versus the Dogs.

Meanwhile, the Red Devils’ offense had 10 hits, with Risch and Lars Goedhard picking up two hits each. The Red Devils had zero hits against Eureka in the opener.

The Devils took advantage of seven walks surrendered by St. Ignatius pitching and 11 stolen bases.

Dylan Lovejoy paced St Ignatius's offense with three RBIs.

Next up for the Red Devils is a game versus Plains today (April 2) at the field in Noxon. They then host Ronan at 3 p.m. this Thursday (April 4).