HELENA — All top-four seeds advanced Wednesday, setting up a Billings crosstown showdown and the lucky 13th head-to-head meeting between Helena and Missoula Thursday night.
10 innings
Walker DesRosier’s 10th-inning squeeze bunt perched itself on the third-base foul line like a seagull searching for worms, looking up at Helena’s rowdy celebration.
“Definitely not,” DesRosier said when asked of the bunt’s perfection." Actually, yeah, probably. Definitely, yeah.”
Squaring at a pitch above his head, DesRosier secured the Senators’ second walk-off in as many nights, propelling Helena into Friday night’s undefeated game against the Billings Royals at 7.
DesRosier was mobbed by his teammates near first, but broke free to perform a backflip, a celebration that originated two years ago and offered following home victories.
The heart-stopping Helena Senators.
“High, very high [heart rate] right now,” Senators head coach Jon Burnett said. “That was one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of in my 24 years in baseball…
“[The Mavs] played a helluva game, we played a helluva game. Just very excited right now.”
Tycen Mooney, photo by Gary Marshall, BMGphotos.com
Aaron Fuzesy, photo by Gary Marshall, BMGphotos.com