The Riverton Raiders made their longest road trip of the season deep in the Big Sky Country to play in the Harley Griffith Baseball Tournament, at Miles City, Montana. The Raiders rolled a split against teams from the 406 going two-and-two on the three-day weekend.
The Raiders opened with a 17-7 10-run rule win over Great Falls on Friday and added another win shortened via the 10-run mercy rule 12-2 over Sydney, Montana in their Saturday opener.
The most competitive game of the tournament came against the host Miles City Mavericks in a 5-1 loss.
Miles City pitcher Dalton Polesky had a great game on the mound, going the distance with 98 pitches, and yielding just a single run, and four hits by the Raiders while striking out nine Riverton batters.
In their final game of the tournament on Sunday, the Raiders fell to Belgrade, Montana 11-1 in a five-inning contest.
Riverton hit well in the opener against Great Falls, amassing 14 hits. Their defense was top-notch as well, with just a single error.
Extra base hits were the story of the game with Jorey Anderson going four-for-four at the plate with a double and three singles. Nathan Hutchison ripped two triples and a single, and Hunter Hauck, Beau Anderson, and Christopher Reinig all had doubles as well.
Hauck and Joel Bever combined for the win.
Riverton hitting continued to shine against Sydney with 15 hits. Beau Anderson hit a double, as did Branson Saltsgaver, Hutchison, and Darrick DeVries. Jorey Anderson had the Raider’s lone triple.
The Raiders had trouble getting their timing against Polesky in the Miles City game. Hutchison had the lone double, with Jorey Anderson hitting a pair of singles and Hauck one in the 5-1 loss.
A tired Riverton team finished out the tournament on Sunday with just a pair of singles by Jorey and Beau Anderson, and three fielding errors in the 11-1 loss.
Riverton 3 3 1 2 5 3 – 17 14 1
Great Falls 1 4 0 1 0 1 – 7 8 6
Riverton Raiders – Joel Bever 1-3 S, Jorey Anderson 4-4 3S, 2B, Nathan Hutchison 3-4 S 2-3B, Hunter Hauck 2-3 S 2B, Darrick DeVries 0-3, Beau Anderson 1-2 2B, Brayden Baker 0-3, Branson Saltsgaver 0-3, Christopher Reinig 3-4 2S 2B. Totals 14-30
WP – Hunter Hauck (99) 7H, 1K, 6BB, Joel Bever (7) 1H, 0K, 0BB
Riverton 1 1 5 2 3 – 12 15 1
Sydney 1 0 0 0 1 – 2 5 1
Riverton Raiders– Bever 1-4, J. Anderson 3-4 2S 3B, Hutchison 3-4 2S 2B, Hauck 1-2 S, DeVries 1-4 2B, Baker 1-3 S, B. Anderson 2-3 S 2B, Saltsgaver 2-3 S 2B, Reinig 1-2. Totals 15-30
Sydney Patriots – Austen Taylor 1-2 S, Ryder Hansen 0-2, Parker Sinks 0-2, Cooper McNally 1-1 S, Cash Quilling 0-2, Braden Harris 0-2, Nathan Romo 1-2 S, Hayden Conn 2-3 2S, Cayden Heck 0-1. Totals 5-17
WP – Christopher Reinig (81) 5H, 7K, 3BB
LP – Cooper McNally (80) 15H, 1K, 1BB
Riverton 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 – 1 4 3
Miles City 2 3 0 0 0 0 X – 5 8 1
Riverton Raiders– Bever 0-3, J. Anderson 2-3 2S, Hutchison 1-3 2B, Hauck 1-2 S, DeVries 0-3, Uriah Hines 0-3, Baker 0-3, Blake Gantenbein 0-2, B. Anderson 0-2, Reinig 0-3, Totals 4-26
Miles City Mavericks – Carson Hunter 3-4 2S H4, Brennan Hager 1-3 HR, Aidan Clines 0-2, Ryder Lee 0-2, Charlie Lang 1-3 S, Dalton Polesky 0-3, Dylan Holmlund 2-3 S 2B, CJ Lang 1-2 S. Totals 8-24
WP – Dalton Polesky (98) 4H, 9K, 2BB
LP- Blake Gantenbein (21) 5H, 0K, 0BB, Beau Anderson (48) 3H, 2K, 0BB
Riverton – 1 0 0 0 0 – 1 2 3
Belgrade – 1 3 5 1 1 – 11 9 3
Riverton Raiders – Bever 0-2, J. Anderson 1-3 S, Hutchison 0-2, Hauck 0-2, DeVries 0-2, Baker 0-1, Jackson Larson 0-1, B. Anderson 1-2 S, Saltsgaver 0-2, Reinig 0-2. Totals 2-19
Belgrade Legion Post 30 – Lane Neil 2-2 2-2B, Kash Fike 1-3 S, Collin Delph 0-2, Aidan Kulbeck 1-1 S, Gavin Waters 1-3 S, Cameron Ueland 0-1 S, Drew Dunning 1-3 2B S, Wyatt Russell 0-1, Sawyer Olson 3-3 3S, Caleb Hoppe 0-0. Totals 9-19
WP – Caleb Hoppe (76) 2H, 9K, 1BB
LP – Brayden Baker (65) 2H, 2K, 5BB, Joel Bever (21) 3H, 1K, 0BB, Jorey Anderson (53) 4H, 1K, 3BB