Legion State Championship - Laurel 8, Mission Valley 1

Laurel won their third straight state championship with an 8-1 win over the Mission Valley Mariners on Monday in Polson.

Laurel collected 12 hits overall while starting pitcher Cole Dooper pitching a complete game and struck out five. The Mariners did get 9 hits but Dooper was able to scatter them to minimize the damage.

Laurel opened up a 3-0 lead and then scored four in the top of the sixth thanks to a Ryan Caron 2-RBI double, then a wild pitch that allowed Caron to score and then Justin Linse singled to drive in a run as well.

Mission Valley scored it's lone run in the bottom of the sixth when Austin Von Tom made contact with the ball and Laurel committed a fielding error which gave Robbie Gauthier enough time to score from second base.

Dalton Molzhon finished the game 2-for-3 for the Mariners.

Laurel got a bunch of production from Caron, who finished the game 3-for-4 with two doubles and 4 RBIs. Kyler Worden was 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.  

Laurel - 110 - 104 - 100 - 8
Mission Valley - 000 - 001 - 000 - 1

Laurel - 12 hits and 2 errors. Mission Valley - 9 hits and 2 errors.

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

Doubles - King, Worden 2, Caron 2. RBIs - Linse, Dempster, Worden, Caron 4.

Laurel Pitching (Kyler Worden catching): Cole Dooper (9 IP, 5K)

Mission Valley Hitting - Jack Humphreys 1-5, Justin Evertz 1-5, Chris Clary 1-3, Robbie Gauthier 1-4, Josh Rustad 0-4, Austin Von Tom 1-3, Kevin Hagedorn 1-3, Dalton Molzhon 2-3, Justin Linse 1-4.

Mission Valley Pitching (Jack Humphreys catching): Kellen Hoyt (5 1/3 IP, 1K), Bradley Pichler (1 IP, 2K), Josh Rustad (1 2/3 IP, 3K)