GREAT FALLS — The Great Falls Chargers are roughly 30 games into their 2021 American Legion Baseball campaign, and at this point the team says there's plenty to work on but also plenty to be excited about.
Great Falls was 15-13 heading into Thursday’s showdown with Billings. The Chargers suffered a few close conference losses to some of the top teams in the state, and even took second recently at a tournament in Williston, North Dakota. Strong pitching has kept them close in a lot of games, and head coach Tony Forster is encouraged the rest will work itself out.
"I think our pitching has been really good for us, especially the last two, three weeks. I think our pitchers give us a great opportunity to win ballgames," he said. "The sticks, we're a little inconsistent. But I feel like we do have a lineup that can hit the ball. And if we're on that day, we're going to be tough to beat."
The Chargers are in a challenging stretch now, however. Because the league’s Canadian teams still can’t come down to play, Great Falls has a gap in its schedule where it's on track to go more than a month without a home game. The Chargers will be back at Centene Stadium on July 14 against Kalispell.
Luckily, this group of players is resilient.
"You travel a lot. You get used to it," said pitcher/infielder Cameron McNamee. "I remember two years ago was pretty bad, similar to this. You miss your own bed. Besides that, can't really let it get to you."
The Chargers were excited about having more players on the roster this year, and so far that’s been a huge strength. Forster said contributions from everyone have been key.
"With these guys, you just never know. When their name is called, someone decides to step up. It's great to see," Forster said. "So, we don't have to rely on just one guy and we get some clutch hits from different guys and pitching."
