The Big Sticks took on the Tommyknockers for the fifth time in five days as they began a three-game series in Butte, Montana Friday night. Game 1 saw Justin Butz get the start for the Big Sticks while Marty Carnahan got the start for the Tommyknockers. The first 3 innings of the game were painless for both pitchers as each starter gave up just 1 hit. The Big Sticks struck first in the fourth inning when a Matt Olive solo Home Run gave the Big Sticks a 1-0 lead. The lead didn’t hold for long as the Tommyknockers got the run back in the bottom half of the fifth inning off a sacrifice fly. In the following inning, the Tommyknockers chased off Big Sticks starter Justin Butz. After getting into a bases loaded situation with no outs, Kenny Stewart came on in relief for Butz. Stewart was unsuccessful in keeping the runners at bay as the Tommyknockers scored 3 runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning to take a 4-1 lead. The Sticks responded though with 2 runs of their own in the top half of the seventh inning to get within one run. After the seventh inning offensive display, the Big Sticks offense would be held in check the rest of the game. The Tommyknockers went on to put up 2 more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to extend their lead to 6-3, which wound up being the final score of Friday night’s game. Marty Carnahan received the win on the mound for the Tommyknockers and Dylan Wilhelm was credited with a save while Justin Butz received the loss for the Sticks.

Game 2 saw Colin Smith get the nod for the Big Sticks on the mound while Zach Camp was Smith’s opposition on the mound. The Big Sticks started the scoring early as they put up a run in the top of the first inning after a Ryan Stafford triple and a Derek Gellos RBI groundout scored Stafford from third to give the Sticks an early 1-0 lead. The next inning saw the Sticks put up 4 more runs including 1 off a solo Home Run from Eric Martinez and 1 off an RBI double from Derek Gellos. The Tommyknockers finally got on the board after getting a runner across home plate in the bottom of the third inning. The fifth inning saw Big Sticks starter Colin Smith get into some trouble as he worked himself into a bases loaded situation then gave up an RBI single that scored 1. After the RBI single, Kenny Stewart came on in relief for his second relief appearance in as many days. The Tommyknockers would go on to score 5 more runs in the bottom half of the fifth to take a 7-5 lead. The Sticks battled back and tied up the game in the next half inning at 7-7. The Tommyknockers and Sticks both went scoreless in the seventh inning, but the Tommyknockers scratched across a run in the bottom of the eighth inning off a sacrifice fly to take an 8-7 lead going into the ninth inning. Dylan Wilhelm came on in the ninth inning for the Tommyknockers to try to close the door on the Big Sticks but was unsuccessful. What seemed like a routine groundball hit to first base by Derek Gellos wound up being the tying run for the Sticks. Here is what happened: After an errant throw from the first baseman to the pitcher, Gellos got on base due to the throwing error and advanced to second base. Then, as he tried to advance to third base, an errant throw by the catcher allowed Gellos to get across home plate. Although the Big Sticks looked like they had all the momentum, they went down in order after the unusual play to begin the top of the ninth. Lundmark came on to pitch the ninth inning for the Sticks and got the Tommyknockers to go 3 up 3 down to force the game into extra innings. Anthony Garrett came on to pinch run for Eric Martinez at second base for the Sticks and Austin Bunn came in to pinch hit for Travis Ray Jr in the top of the tenth inning. A sacrifice bunt by Bunn moved Garrett over to third base with one out. A sacrifice fly by Carson Lundmark in the next at-bat scored Garrett to give the Sticks a 9-8 lead over the Tommyknockers. Lundmark stayed on to pitch the final frame and was able to get the Tommyknockers to go down in order to give the Big Sticks the win in extra innings. Lundmark received the win, while Dylan Wilhelm received the loss for the Tommyknockers.

Game 3, which was scheduled to be played on August 1, was not played as the Tommyknockers forfeited the game. The Big Sticks were declared winner and now have the lead for the second playoff spot in the Lewis Division.

Next up for the Sticks is a 3-game set with the Canyon County Spuds. This will be another crucial series for the Big Sticks as the Spuds are 1.5 games behind the Sticks in the standings for the second Lewis Division playoff spot. The series will begin on Monday, August 2 as first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 MDT.