Ramsay Masterpiece Leads Impact to Split with Mission Valley

POLSON - Landin Ramsey tossed a brilliant four-hitter to lead the Missoula Impact Baseball Club to a 4-2 victory and doubleheader split with the Mission Valley Mariners on Sunday. The Mariners rallied from a five-run deficit to take the first game, 17-8, at O’Malley Park in Polson.

Ramsay displayed impeccable control of his off-speed stuff to handcuff a good-hitting Mission Valley squad. The crafty junior right-hander struck out four, walked zero, and threw only 80 pitches in six innings. Caleb Hoppe notched the save with three strikeouts in an overpowering inning in relief.

Nick Karvandi and Nolan Oschell led a potent Impact attack as Missoula pounded out 14 hits. Oschell crushed two long doubles and had four RBIs, and Karvandi continued his impressive season with another three hits. Sawyer Tackett drilled a long RBI double in his first game in the Impact lineup, Hoppe crushed a towering double, and Dillon Gunlock and Cole Smith each added two hits. Missoula barreled up balls all day but multiple line drives by Gunlock, Marek Hall, Ramsay, and Smith went for outs.

The nightcap was a crisply played affair. Dawson DuMont, the Shoreline Community College player, back home to play the summer with the Mariners as a super senior, made short order of the first two innings with his lively fastball. However, Ramsay matched his performance with an altogether different mix of pitches.

Missoula touched up the hard-throwing lefty in the third. Oschell and Joey Supola got a rally started with walks, an advanced on a passed ball. Smith battled DuMont for his second consecutive lengthy at bat, and ripped a sacrifice fly to centerfield to put Impact ahead, 1-0.

Impact tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning spurred by a walk, and infield singles by Karvandi and Hall. Oschell then delivered the key blow of the day, a blast over the right-fielder’s head for a ringing two-RBI double.

Ramsay sailed through the first five innings, striking out the side in the fifth. Aiden Gfoerer doubled to lead off the sixth and scored on an RBI groundout. With the dangerous DuMont in the on-deck circle, Ramsay made clutch pitches to fight back from a 3-1 count to retire Holden Emerson on a weak popup. Predictably, DuMont then drilled a long home run to right, making it 4-2. Ramsay got Wyatt Wadsworth to end the inning and his fine day on the mound.

Caleb Hoppe brought the juice in the bottom of the seventh, striking out the side around an infield single, to earn the save.

In the opener, Impact nearly blew open the game in the top of the third. Ramsay led off with a single, Gunlock smoked a line drive single to left, Matt Doty was hit by a pitch, Karvandi drilled a two-run single to left, and Hall walked. Oschell crushed a three-RBI double off the wall in left center to clear the bases. Tackett then ripped an RBI double in the gap to make it 6-1.

Madden Hensel, the sophomore right-hander, relieved starter Kody Evans who went out with a minor injury, and was effective in retiring two batters to end the second inning. However, Mission Valley answered with seven runs in the bottom of the third thanks to four Impact errors and several walks.

In the fourth inning, Missoula regained the lead, 8-7, on three Mariners errors but Mission Valley put up another six runs in the bottom of the frame to blow the game open. DuMont keyed the Mariners attack with a 4-for-4 day.

“Following two poor performances on Saturday, we came out with more energy and offensively we put together some runs,” said Ryan Roche, Missoula Impact Manager. “After a couple errors we let the first game run away from us. Game two, however, Ramsay set the tone on the mound and had an excellent performance up there for us. Our offense put up the runs we needed and we ended the weekend with a big win.”