Pros and Preps

With all the buzz surrounding the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft and the impending arrival of the 2010 Missoula Osprey to the Garden City in a week, many have overlooked some special baseball already being played here in town.
Tonight (Thursday) at 7 p.m., the Class AA Missoula Mavericks begin their Western Conference campaign with a nine-inning game against the Kalispell Lakers at Lindborg-Cregg Field.
Despite ominous weather reports calling for scattered showers this evening, tonight would be a perfect time to check out a ballclub that’s set the standard for legion ball in the state to this point of the season.
The Mavs have rolled to a 31-1 record, winning each of their last 23 ballgames. And local baseball fans are starting to take notice as evidenced by the Mavericks’ largest home attendance of the season Sunday, when Missoula scored 31 runs and smacked 27 base hits in a doubleheader sweep of the Bitterroot Red Sox.
Under the guidance of 18th-year AA manager Brent Hathaway, these Mavs are playing like the odds-on favorite to win the state tournament in late July, something Missoula hasn’t accomplished since 1998.
The Mavs feature outstanding defense combined with the most intimidating legion batting order I’ve seen in my time at the Missoulian. That has this Maverick team primed to break its state-championship drought.
So if you’re a baseball junkie (like myself) and don’t mind dodging raindrops, come out to support your local boys on the diamond this evening. You won’t be disappointed.
– Michael Heinbach

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