Sometimes, the best games aren't the highest-scoring—they're the ones where every pitch, every play, and every defensive gem matters most.

That was the story Thursday at Griffin Field, where the Glacier Wolfpack defended their home turf with a gritty 7-6 Crosstown victory over the Flathead Braves. While the rematch didn't match the offensive fireworks of their first meeting, it delivered all the drama a baseball fan could ask for.

Kyler Croft was the workhorse on the mound, tossing 6 2/3 innings of determined baseball. He struck out two, walked just one, and fired 111 pitches before the pitch count forced him out of the game. "Had to take him out, had no choice," Wolfpack coach Erik Brink admitted. "He probably should have finished the game, but we had some unforced errors... He was out of gas the last two innings, but I think the last innings and two-thirds were his best innings in the whole game."

Croft kept his approach simple: "I think my biggest thing tonight was just throwing down the middle and letting my guys work. They did a really good job of that; I knew the guys had my back the whole time."

And those guys—especially Beau Schulz and Brady Buckmaster—came up huge when it mattered most. Buckmaster made a critical tag at the plate on Braves third baseman Leum Saisbury, who tried to score on a fly ball that disappeared into the lights. Then, with the game on the line, Schulz sprinted from his shortstop position deep into left field, colliding with teammate Neil Pepe after making the game-ending catch.

The Braves jumped out early, scoring three runs in the first inning on a soft comebacker that Croft couldn't handle, a single from Carter Wigginton, and a throwing error. But the Wolfpack answered in the third, capitalizing on six walks, two balks, and a Kaeden Kahler single to grab a 4-3 lead.

"We had a couple walks in that inning and then Ryne Gillette comes up and gets a big hit for (Glacier)," Braves coach Richard Burland said. "Overall, I am proud of my boys and how they fought. I'm proud of how they hit, they hit the ball like no other."

Flathead didn't back down. Back-to-back RBI singles from Hunter Fann and Liam Rech gave them a 5-4 lead in the fourth. But Glacier had an answer again: Tate Kahler scored on a passed ball to tie it, and then Gillette laced a go-ahead double down the left-field line, scoring Teagan Dixon from first. Gillette was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple, but the damage was done.

The Braves made one last push in the seventh. Saisbury and Engle both hit routine fly balls that got lost in the lights, turning into doubles. Miles Arrowsmith reached on a high throw that allowed Engle to score, pulling Flathead within one. But with the tying run at the plate, Sullenger's fly ball found Schulz's glove in left field, sealing the Wolfpack's 7-6 win.

"A little bit of play under the lights was fun, obviously it affected a bit of the play," Brink said. "It was fantastic, this was a battle and we are all fighting for a playoff spot."