Impact Crushes Billings UpperDeck Expos to Sweep Twin Bill on Opening Day

MISSOULA – Brennan Labbe and Nate Dill each tossed a sparkling one-hit shutout masterpiece as the 2023 edition of the Missoula Impact Baseball Club lived up to the hype of a promising season in crushing the Billings UpperDeck Expos 18U A team, 10-0 and 15-0, on Saturday at Playfair Park in Missoula.

In a matchup of the two premier high school baseball clubs in Montana, Missoula Impact issued an early-season statement by dominating in all aspects of the game – lights-out pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting – in notching successive run-rule victories.

Carson Bay, Landin Ramsey, and Hunter Sellers set the tone with two hits each in the first game and Impact got contributions up and down the lineup in the nightcap, including two hits by Orion Plakke, a screaming RBI triple by Labbe, and solid line drive singles by Hunter Johns, Andrew Hall, and Shane Hutcherson. Cole Smith doubled and had four RBIs on the day and Sellers also drove in three runs. Most impressively, especially for an opening day performance, was the fact that neither Labbe or Dill issued a walk.

Labbe, the talented junior southpaw, used a devastating slider and nasty changeup to completely stifle the Expos bats in the opener. After an error on a tapper to the mound by the leadoff hitter in the first inning, Labbe slammed the door allowing only a single hit batsman over the first four innings. Catcher Dillon Gunlock squelched the only rally by gunning down a base-stealer in the first inning. Labbe was literally unhittable over a three-inning stretch, notching seven consecutive strikeouts. Billings broke up the no-hitter with a ground ball single into rightfield in the fifth inning, but Johns made a great running catch in leftfield, Plakke handled a liner to centerfield, and Labbe put the exclamation on the victory with a final strikeout. Labbe finished with 10 strikeouts and no walks.

Dill was equally dominant on the hill in the nightcap. The senior right-hander used a knee-buckling curveball and tailing fastball to make quick order of the Expos through four innings, facing only the minimum of twelve batters thanks to his catcher, Plakke, nailing the one Billings runner of the game attempting to steal second in the first inning. Dill notched seven strikeouts and issued zero walks.

“This is how you draw it up for opening day,” said Michael Hutcherson, Missoula Impact Head Coach. “Normally early in the season good pitching beats good hitting but we took it to them in all facets of the game today. Our guys committed to the plan we have and our philosophy by executing at all levels. We showed today how good this team can be this year.”

In the opener, Missoula got its bats going in the second inning. Ramsey, a sophomore, and the smallest player on the field, came up big with a soft liner to left field to plate Davin Nau who had walked and stole second base. Bay lined a single to right, Sellers ripped a screaming line drive single to center, Smith was hit by a pitch, one of his three for the day, to drive in a run, then Dill delivered an RBI groundout to open the lead to 4-0. In the third inning, Gunlock walked, Ramsey laced a line drive single to right-center, then Sellers drilled a sharp two-RBI single to left field to blow the game open, 7-0. Missoula piled three more runs on in the fourth thanks to three walks, an error, and Bay lacing a two-RBI line drive single to left.

In the nightcap, it was more of the same with that patient Impact hitters running up the pitch count and drawing walks, then Missoula hitters lacing timely hits. Missoula jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings without the benefit of a hit, then poured it on in an offensive outburst in the fourth inning. Smith led off with a walk, Labbe drilled a triple into the right field corner, Johns laced a line-drive RBI single to left, and freshman Maxwell Racela crushed a ball to deep right-center for a long single. Dawson Mentzer walked, pinch-hitter Andrew Hall and Plakke rifled line drive RBI singles, Weston McCoullough walked, and Smith delivered a two-RBI double to left field. Eighth grader Shane Hutcherson put the final stamp on the 15-run rule victory with a line drive RBI single to left-center.

The Impact defense was solid all day with only the error on the leadoff hitter in the first game. Johns was particularly impressive with the stellar running catch in left field and two sparkling plays at third base which included a nice stretch by Racela at first base.