Reds Second Best

 The Reds came into the state tournament knowing that the first game against Mission Valley was their biggest obstacle. Mission Valley was considered the tournament favorites as they could ride their pitching, and specifically their ace Justin Evertz, into the state title.

So, when the Reds delivered the most shocking upset of the tournament beating Mission Valley 4-3, it was not much of a surprise to see the Reds ride the momentum through the next few games and into the state championship.

The Reds found themselves in the championship game, after winning four straight games, with the advantage of having to be beat twice by whichever team they faced. Unfortunately, Mission Valley easily navigated the loser's bracket and made their way back to the championship.

Glasgow would have to repeat their earlier upset in one of two possible games. In the first championship game, the Mariners put Evertz on the mound in the do or die scenario for them. The Reds countered with their ace, Walt Dalbey.

Evertz started out impressively by striking out the side in the top of the first as Grant Legare, Jes Hanks and Tom Leland took a seat for the Reds.

Dalbey was unable to match the fast start. The Mariners scored three runs in the bottom half. Dalbey settled down after that as he only allowed one more run through the next four innings.

The Reds scored two in the fifth without recording a cut the Mariners lead in half, 4-2. However, the Mariners answered with a five-run sixth to put the Mariners up by seven. The Reds were unable to scratch back into and lost 11-3.

The good news for the Reds though, was the Mariners had to beat the Reds twice.

The Reds and Mariners squared off again for the final winner-take-all championship game.

The Reds put Andy Gardner on the bump while the Mariners countered with Robert Gauthier.

The Reds jumped out to the early 1-0 lead in their half of the first with a RBI double by Wacy Ortman. The Mariners countered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. The Mariners and Reds were both shutout in the second before the Mariners put up another big inning in the third as they scored four runs on only one hit.

The Reds scored one in the fourth to cut the lead to 5-2. That was the closest they would come to the Mariners for the rest of the game, though. The Mariners scored four more in the fifth and three in the ninth to beat the Reds 13-4.

The loss gave the Reds second place in the state. However, they had already grabbed a spot in the American Legion Baseball Northwest Regional Tournament in Billings on Aug. 8-13. The regional tournament will also be an eight-team double-elimination format.

Earlier in the state tournament, Dalbey earned the win in the win against Mission Valley, Gardner earned the win in a 3-2 victory over Gallatin Valley and Grant Legare earned the win in a 13-3 beating of Belgrade to send the Reds into the championship game.

Before playing in the championship game however, the Reds had to play fourth-place Libby. If the Reds won, they forced their opponent to beat them twice in the championship. Robbie Henville earned the win in the Reds' 16-6 victory.

Gardner led the team in hitting for the tournament as he went 9-for-20 with a triple and two doubles while scoring 10 times. The Reds are now 40-20 on the season.