HELENA — It is hard to pick out your favorite win in a 19-game winning streak.
For Butte Miners coach Jim LeProwse, however, it looks like Saturday’s win was it.
Butte rolled its winning streak to 19 with a 4-2 win over the Glacier Twins on Day 2 of the 27th Annual Keith Sell Tournament at Kindrick Legion Park. The win lifts Butte (23-5) to 2-0 in the tournament. (Boxscore)
“That was a big win,” LeProwse said after the Miners topped one of the top Class A teams. “They’re legit. They’ve got some kid who can swing it, and their pitcher is super-efficient.”
Starter Kenley Leary got some help from Trey Hansen to top Glacier pitcher Talon Murphy. Leary worked five and a third innings, striking out seven and walking four. He gave up just five hits and two runs, one of which was unearned.
Leary improved his record to 5-0. His ERA is a minuscule 0.649. Hansen, who got the final five high-pressure outs for probably his biggest work since moving up from the Muckers, picked up his second save.
“Trey came in and did a great job and closed it out,” LeProwse said.
Eric “Chooch” Hart tripled and drove in a run to lead Butte’s seven-hit attack. Leary, Sean Ossello, Aidan Lee, Cayde Stajcar, Rye Doherty and Evan Starr singled. Lee, Doherty and Lester drove in runs. Stajcar scored two.
LeProwse pointed out that the Miners stranded 11 Twins on base. That was aided by the Miner defense, which committed an uncharacteristic four errors.
“That one could have gone either way,” LeProwse said. “They were one hit away from blowing the doors open. Our pitchers did a nice job buckling down.”
The Miners will play the Calgary Cardinals at 3 p.m. Sunday before taking on the Calgary Bucks. One win could send the Miners to Monday’s championship game. Two victories will for sure.
LeProwse said Doherty will start one game tomorrow. Hansen, who needed just 13 pitches for the five outs, could start the other. Stajcar is also an option to start Sunday or Monday.
In all, the Miners have won 22 of their last 23 games.
Leave a Comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *