Senators showcase 'grit,' rally against Missoula ace
HELENA — If Jon Burnett’s Helena Senators catch fire, deepening a now five-game win streak through the Keith Sell Tournament, the remainder of June and the balance of July, Tuesday night’s 10-4 regular-season head-to-head-clinching conference victory over Missoula (28-17, 4-3 conference) will be responsible.
Connor Devine pulled into third base with a flex, two claps and a high-five from Burnett, his two-run fifth-inning triple breaking a 4-4 deadlock. A piece of Helena’s six-run frame, the Senators hung 10 unanswered on the Mavericks’ ace righty and reigning state tournament MVP, Easton Reimers.
“Prayed that it would stay fair,” Devine, Helena’s RBI leader with 32, said of his right-field rocket. “I hit it pretty well but I was just hoping it would stay fair.
“[It was] a fastball up and out. He had been throwing me a lot of off-speed that game. I was just waiting on my fastball.”
Brayden Beatty finished erasing Missoula’s four-run third, matching Walker DesRosier’s run-scoring single with a first-pitch knock. James DeMers drove home Devine, Keaton Troyer tripling home the freshman courtesy of a majestic rainbow liner into the left-center field gap.
Finn Doran, from Helena’s eight-hole, began the rally reaching first on a six-pitch walk. Helena sent 10 to the dish, including Doran for a second at-bat.
“It was a real momentum shift right at the beginning of the inning, Finn gets on that helps us a lot,” Senators center fielder Aaron Fuzesy said. “We kind of got in Easton’s head, you know?
Connor Devine. Gary Marshall, bmgphotos.com
