Montana Edges Idaho, Heads To Little League Northwest Title Game

WESTFIELD, IN — Montana defeated Idaho on Thursday in the Little League Baseball Northwest Regional tournament and will go on to play in the championship for a shot at the Little League World Series. The marquee matchup in Westfield, Indiana, was a battle of the unbeatens. The Coeur d’Alene Little Leaguers (2-0) out of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, were coming off a pair of wins while the Boulder Arrowhead Little League team, out of Billings, Montana, was coming off a shut out.

Coeur d’Alene struck first, plating three runs in the third inning. But Montana answered with a three run rally of its own in the bottom of the frame and never relinquished the lead. Boulder Arrowhead added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to pad the lead a three runs.

Montana will go on to play in the Northwest championship Saturday. Idaho will play Oregon on Friday in the semi-finals. If they win, they'll have a shot at redemption, getting another crack at Montana.

The Northwest champion will play the Great Lakes champion in the Little League World Series on Aug. 17.

Little League games often tilt based on outstanding play from one or two dominant players. But not so for Montana. It was a complete team win for Boulder Arrowhead, which saw seven players get hits. Josh Sears had a team-high two RBIs while Mason Brosseau and Cooper Freitag each scored a pair of runs. Andrew McDowell did his part to keep Montana in the game, tossing 4.2 innings of two-run ball on five hits. He struck out four batters and issued two free passes.

At first glance, Idaho's line appears very similar to Montana. Six Coeur d’Alene boys accounted for the team's seven hits, but the big hit that would break the game open never came. Christopher Reynolds was the only player with multiple hits and Austin DeBoer was the only Idahoan to notch an RBI. Avery Cherry and Nolan Christ scored the two runs. Cooper Erickson tossed a serviceable three innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits and three walks. Braedon Newby and Kyle Seman pitched another two innings of relief, allowing two combined runs, both unearned.

Coeur d’Alene is about 280 miles north of Boise and 30 miles east of Spokane, Washington.

Rosters

Idaho

Avrey Cherry

Christopher Reynolds

Cooper Smith

Austin DeBoer

Kyle Seman

Cooper Erickson

Chase Saunders

Braeden Newby

Jake Dannenberg

Karl Schwarzer

Alexander Currie

Nolan Christ

Caden Symons

Montana

Cooper Tyson

Ben Erbacher

Xavier Brackenridge

Carson Jenkins

Samuel Reinker

Cooper Freitag

Jakob Wilcox

Andrew McDowell

Nicholas Schneider

Josh Sears

Mason Brosseau

Caleb Anderson

Kade Vatnsdal

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