Legion State Game 13: Great Falls 15, Laurel 14

Great Falls had home runs from Scott Held and Jayse McLean and powered their way to a 15-14 lead over Laurel in the Class A State Tournament.

The Electrics scored five runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a commanding 13-5 lead, but Laurel scored six in the top of the ninth and almost rallied back for the win.

David Swecker hit a three-run homer (his fourth home run of the tournament) in the top of the ninth and Cody King doubled to score three more runs but the comeback sputtered after that for Laurel.

For Great Falls, Held finished the game 3-for-5 with a HR, double and five RBIs. McLean was 4-for-4 with a HR and 2 RBIs. They also got seven innings from starting pitcher Dalton Cook, who struck out seven.

The game means that Great Falls will play Mission Valley tomorrow at noon, and the winner of that game will play Laurel in the championship game at 4 p.m.

Laurel - 030 -020 - 027 - 14
Great Falls - 300 - 551 - 01x - 15

Laurel - 18 hits and 2 errors. Great Falls - 15 hits and 1 error.

Laurel Hitting - Kenny Nilles 4-5, Justin Linse 1-4, Zach Cortese 1-6, Jay Dempster 1-4, Cole Dooper 3-5, David Swecker 3-5, Jordan Henke 0-3, Kyler Worden 0-5, Ryan Caron 2-3, Cody King 2-2, Anthony Panella 0-1, Dakota Cortese 1-1.

Doubles - Linse, Zach Cortese, Dooper, King. Home Runs - Swecker. RBIs - Nilles 2, Dooper, Swecker 3, Henke, Worden, Caron, King 3.

Laurel pitching (Kyler Worden catching): Kenny Nilles (3 2/3 IP, 4K), Zach Cortese 2 1/3 IP, 1K, Anthony Panella (2 IP).

Great Falls Hitting - Anthony Bonilla 1-5, Tanner Lee 1-5, Dalton Cook 2-4, Scott Held 3-5, Justin Pfennigs 1-5, Sam Wingerter 1-4, Jayse McLean 4-4, Tyler Pfennigs 1-3, Derik Powell 1-4.

Doubles - Held. Home Runs - Held, McLean. RBIs - Bonilla, Cook 2, Held 5, Justin Pfennigs 2, McLean 2, Powell 2.

Great Falls Pitching (Justin Pfennigs catching): Dalton Cook (7 IP, 7K), Anthony Bonilla (2 IP).