Impact Rolls in GSL College Series Treasure Valley Kickoff Opener

BOISE - Carson Bay and Cooper Elliott teamed up to toss a sparkling two-hitter and the Missoula Impact Baseball Club pounded out 10 hits to defeat Mayhem Baseball, 11-3, in the first pool play game of the GSL College Series Treasure Valley Kickoff on Friday night at Bishop Kelly High School in Boise, Idaho. 

Brennan Labbe and Nate Dill each crushed a triple to deep centerfield and Missoula squared up the ball all night. Labbe, Dill, and Bay each notched two hits, and Cole Smith, Weston McCullough, and Davin Nau each ripped line drive hits to key the offensive onslaught in the five-inning, run-rule victory. Labbe, Dill, and McCullough each drove in two runs.

The game may have marked a turning point in the season for what has been a banged-up Impact ballclub. Missoula started the season with 16 players but was beset by injuries and had to get by with only 10 or 11 active players several times in the last two weeks. The return of super-seniors Cooper Elliott and Matty Herzog was a welcome sight as Impact fielded 13 players. 

“Tonight was the first time we have been near full strength all season and we proved we can play,” said Michael Hutcherson, Impact Baseball Club Manager. “All facets of our game were clicking. Pitchers were pounding the zone and the bats were on. We're a tough team when we play like we did tonight.”

Bay, Impact’s starting pitcher, set the tone from the outset by setting the Mayhem side down in order the first two innings, notching four strikeouts. The talented junior leadoff hitter also ripped sharp singles in his first two at-bats. 

Labbe ignited the Missoula attack in the bottom of the first with a booming triple to the centerfield wall, plating Bay. Dill lined an RBI single to right field, making it 2-0. Missoula poured it in on the second inning. After walks to Hunter Johns, Dillon Gunlock, and Shane Hutcherson, a line drive single to left field by Nau, an error, and single by Bay, Labbe ripped a two-RBI single to right. Two batters later, McCullough drove in two more runs with a single to center. 

Mayhem scored three unearned runs in the third as a result of two Impact errors but Elliott came in with traffic on the bases and got out of the jam on a fly out and grounder to shortstop. Smith smoked a line drive single down the right field line to lead off the third but Impact couldn’t score. Landin Ramsay did likewise in the fourth with a beautiful bunt single but Impact left runners on base again. 

Dill put the game away in the fifth with a screaming line drive two-RBI triple over the centerfielder’s head, then scored on a passed ball to seal the run-rule victory. 

Missoula (14-7) plays two more pool play games on Saturday with a chance to make the tourney’s semifinals on Sunday at the majestic home field of Bishop Kelly High School, Idaho’s 4A State Champion in 2021 and 2022, and third-place finisher this high school season. Impact may have a chance to play Bishop Kelly’s 18U varsity summer team in bracket play.