POLSON — With the weather in Polson seeming to hold off just long enough to crown a Class A/B state baseball champion, Bigfork took home the program’s first state trophy Saturday at O'Malley Park.
It was hard for either team to get the offense going in this game, but Dillon jumped ahead in the top of the second with Levi Stonebreaker hitting a single scoring Kanin Engelhardt from second, and the Beavers took an early 1-0 lead.
But that all changed in a heartbeat when Hayden Mayer, with two outs and the bases loaded, hit a bases-clearing double to make it 3-1 Bigfork in the top of the third. Then Mason Lewis added insurance right after. Mayer did not time his slide well and crawled his way home to make it 4-1 Bigfork.
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In the top of the seventh, with Bigfork up 4-2, Mayer drove in another RBI to put the Vikings up three runs.
Mayer would later be driven in by Lewis after Bigfork scored on a stolen base, and they went to the bottom of the seventh up 7-2.
The Vikings took care of business on defense in the bottom of the seventh and took home their first state championship in program history with a 7-2 win.
Mayer was the standout player in this one. To go along with the clutch hits, he also threw a complete game, allowing only two runs.
“Being a part of it is something special,” Mayer said. “This group of guys is really special, I think, and I don’t know if there’s going to be many more years like it. This is the team.”
For complete scores from the tournament, click here.
