Lums end tourney 2-2

MISSOULA, Mont. - The game was nip-and-tuck until Ben Roberts' 3-run home run in the seventh highlighted a four-run inning and the Missoula Mavericks beat the Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen 11-7 at the Dale Dahlgren Memorial Day "AA" tournament on Monday.

Nathan Collier struck out five in five innings of work, Julian Burgess went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, and Mitch Bevacqua and Matt Cade went 2 for 4 with an RBI apiece for Coeur d'Alene, which finished the tourney at 2-2.

"Nathan pitched a fabulous game," Lumbermen coach Lloyd Duman said. "He kept them off balance, and Missoula is a hitting machine."

The Mavericks went on to beat the Bozeman Bucks 9-4 in the championship, for their 18th straight win.

"It was very encouraging to match up against a very good team and see we could compete at that level this early in the season," Duman said.

Coeur d'Alene will travel to Canada this weekend, taking on Cranbrook on Saturday and Trail on Sunday.

Missoula 000 331 4 - 11 17 2

Coeur d'Alene 002 301 1 - 7 10 3

Wolfe, King (4) and Reisner; Nathan Collier, Alex Gunnerson (6), Matt Cade (7) and Caleb DeHaas. W - Wolfe. L - Collier (0-1).

HITS: Miss - Roberts 2, Miller 2, Maier 2, Dwyer 2, DeYoung 3, Reisner, Jewett 2, Sopko 2, Laportle. Cd'A - Burgess 3, Bevacqua 2, Pattis, Nyquist, Cade 2, Hoffman. 2B - Roberts, Miller, Dwyer, DeYoung, Burgess, Bevacqua. 3B - Hoffman. HR - Roberts.