The 2017 American Legion Baseball season opened today and the Missoula Mavericks were home to host the Great Falls Chargers for a season opening doubleheader. The Mavericks would come away with a pair of wins to start the season beating the Chargers 9-2 in the first game and then squeaking by with a 7-6 win in the second game.
In the first game the scoreboard would have double goose eggs until the bottom of the third inning when Spencer Schock would hit a single to allow Nick Yovetich to walk across home plate. The fourth inning is when the flood gates would open for Missoula as they would put up five runs, and then add three more in the fifth. The Chargers would not score until the fourth inning when they would bring a pair home. The Mavericks would get their nine runs off eight hits and commit three errors. The Chargers would score two runs off three hits and commit four errors.
Game two would be a cleaner match between the two teams as they both would bet their opening day jitters out in game one. The Mavs would score a run in six of the seven innings played, with the the first inning being the only one that they did not score, and the sixth would be a two run inning. Great Falls would play a tighter defense in the second game to keep the game close throughout, tying the game up in the top of the seventh to force Missoula to bat in the bottom of the inning.
The Mavericks will reload on Tuesday to host the Mission Valley Mariners, an American Legion A Squad out of Polson, first pitch is set for 7:00 pm at Lindborg-Cregg Field.