Belgrade drops league opener to Bucks

 By Mike Brandt • Staff Writer

BOZEMAN — Belgrade’s players got their first taste of a Class AA American Legion conference game Wednesday night at Heroes Park in Bozeman. The Bucks took advantage of of four Belgrade errors and hammered out 16 hits en route to a 10-0 win.

Bucks pitcher Gabe Weidenaar kept the Bandits off balance through six innings, striking out 13 in the process. Belgrade ace Kole Mickolio took the mound for the Bandits, but wasn’t nearly as successful and was pulled after just three innings of action.

“Basically, if Kole had been cruising along we would have left him out there,” Belgrade manager Brian Ayers said. “He threw a lot of pitches early and we’ve got a tournament coming up (this weekend). When you have Gabe throwing as well as he’s throwing it’s not a matter of what we do on the mound any more. At that time we were trying to keep it close. It wasn’t really worth keeping him out there.”

Weidenaar was nearly perfect on the mound. The right-hander allowed just one hit, a single to left field by Mickolio in the first inning, and didn’t allow another base runner in the game.

Ayers brought in Kevin Peters to relieve Mickolio and worked him for three innings before Joel Barnett closed out the game on the mound.

“We were able to get some other guys out there to see how we match up against their hitters,” said Ayers. “We saw some good things out of Peters. But he started leaving the ball up. When he got the ball in the zone he was fine. They punished him. They’re a disciplined team. They hit the ball well.”

Barnett worked the seventh inning when the Bucks scored the 10th run to end the game early.

“Joel was the same. When he kept the ball down he had success and when he got the ball up they punished him,” said Ayers. “They will figure some things out. You have to be sharp with good teams.”

Bozeman (16-3) struck early, scoring two runs in the first inning, then adding three more in the third for a 5-0 lead.

Weidenaar led the Bucks from the plate, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and a triple. Sean Potkay also went 3-for-3 with a home run in the sixth inning.

The Bandits played well defensively at times, but the four errors were costly in the contest.

“We had four errors. Four errors against a team like Bozeman is too many,” said Ayers. “We need to come out and play a flawless game defensively.”

Belgrade (7-14) will be in Great Falls this weekend for the Tom Taleff Tournament. The tournament begins today and runs through Monday.



Bozeman 10, Belgrade 0

Belgrade 000 000 0 - 0 1 4

Bozeman 203 202 1 - 10 16 0

Kole Mickolio, Kevin Peters (4), Barnett (7) and CJ Berberet, Connor Schultz. Gabe Weidenaar, Loren Carosell (7), and Anthony Rinard.

BELGRADE (7-14) - Peters 0-3, Keldon Graff 0-0, Dan Kristensen 0-2, Jordan Prester 0-1, Mickolio 1-3, Berberet 0-3, Andy Freund 0-2, Barnett 0-2, Jeff Hoffman 0-2, Brynn Harris 0-1, Schultz 0-1, Phil Prickett 0-1, Matt Thibault.

BOZEMAN (16-3) - Weidenaar 3-3 (2 2B, 3B), Trevor Peck 1-4, Caleb Schlender 3-5, Sean Potkay 3-3 (3B, HR), Rinard 1-4, Andy Pike 3-3, Chris Schmidt 2-4, Brendon Phillips 0-3, Jeff Squire 0-2, Carosella.