THREE FORKS — The Butte Miners will head to Laurel to defend their Class 'A' Legion state title next week.
They beat the Belgrade Bandits 2-1 in the third round of the South A District tournament on Saturday to clinch the state bid and the district championship appearance on Sunday.
Despite great hitting from both teams, there were little runs cashed in.
The first run of the game came from the Miners in the bottom of the second.
Cade Stajcar slid home off a wild pitch from the Bandits.
The Bandits would quickly respond in the top of the third with a run of their own.
Cam Ueland flies out to center field, and Ryas Olson tags up and runs home to tie the game 1-1.
The score stayed stagnant until the bottom of the sixth.
Bases loaded, and Zach Tierney steps up to bat.
He'll fly out to the mitt of Aidan Kulbeck, with a hit that almost made it past the fence.
Kevin Donaldson tags up, then runs home for the 2-1 lead.
The Bandits had a chance to come back in the game in the top of the seventh with Diego Casas on second.
Keenan Kraft came up to bat and has a great hit that's just a little too hard, falling into the hands of Sean Ossello for the final out of the game.
Butte clinches in the top of the seventh, winning 2-1, and also clinches a bid to state to defend their title.
The Miners play in the championship game at 2 p.m. on Sunday, while the Bandits fall to the loser's bracket and play at 11 a.m on Sunday with the chance to win their way back into a rematch.
