Outlaws qualify for state

After a strong performance at the Class A South District Tournament in Helena, the Gallatin Valley Outlaws American Legion baseball team has high hopes for this week's state tournament in Miles City.

The Outlaws, who play their home games in Three Forks and feature three Whitehall area players, will open the Class A State Tournament Wednesday, August 1 against the Laurel Dodgers. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Miles City.

The Outlaws shared the Class A South District title last weekend with Belgrade.

Gallatin Valley opened the tournament with three consecutive wins, the first a 15-3 win over the Butte Muckers. After a 12-2 win over Livingston, the Outlaws beat rival Belgrade 4-3.

Whitehall's Ryan Murphy said beating Belgrade was a huge boost and their pitcher Michael Jones threw a great game and they were able to give him run support early.

Belgrade would bounce back with a 9-7 win over Helena that set the stage for another game with the Outlaws. The Bandits would take a 1-0 victory in the second matchup.

"In the second game their pitcher kept us off balance, and our pitcher only allowed one run on a squeeze bunt play, so it was definitely a pitchers duel," Murphy said.

Even though the Outlaws had only lost one game at that point in the double elimination tournament, they decided to not play a winner take all game against Belgrade and share the title. Belgrade will receive a one seed at state and the Outlaws are a two seed.

"We decided to share the title to save pitching because we play state games starting on Wednesday," Murphy said.

The top two teams from the state tournament will advance to regionals in Lewiston, Idaho.

Murphy feels the team is confident going into state.

"We feel like if we play our best every game we have a shot to make it the next round but we can only take one game at a time," he said.

Whitehall's Conor Johnson and Beau Hays also play for the team.

For a complete bracket, visit https://www.montanalegionbaseball.org/home