14-inning showdown ends in Twins loss
This one’s going to sting for a while.
The Glacier Twins AA put everything they had on the table Monday in a thrilling 14-inning showdown with Missoula at Memorial Field only to come up on the short end of a 6-5 loss.
It wasn’t for a lack of effort. Glacier made all the hustle plays — chasing down foul balls, working out of pickles, consistent on the mound — but in the end they couldn’t get the one run they needed across the plate.
Missoula’s Nathan Jewitt scored from third in the top of the 14th to give the Mavs an edge. Glacier went down in order in the bottom half of the frame to end the marathon.
The defeat marked the third time in as many conference games this week that Missoula has topped Glacier.
The Mavs never trailed en route to earning the 12-6 victory Saturday, and knocked off Glacier 2-8 on Friday.
Despite Monday’s loss, Twins coach Scott Murray said he saw some good improvement.
Pitchers Garrett Houston and Cory Davis were stellar. Houston started on the mound and pitched 6 1/2 innings giving up only a single earned run. Davis came in as relief and threw 7 2/3 innings with no earned runs allowed on five hits.
Behind the plate, Bryce Wehrli went all 14 innings, making key stops and calling a solid game.
Jeremy Nielsen had two RBI with a double and a single. Davis and Carl Talsma each had one RBI.
Glacier scratched their way back into the game in the bottom of the ninth down one run. With two outs, Wehrli singled to get on base, allowing Talsma to step up and drive home the game-tying run.
The 10th inning marked Glacier’s best chance to win. Connor Donahue bunted for a lead-off single. Nathan Carr singled to center field, moving Talsma to third. Shane Marcial was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out, but a double play later ended the inning with the bases loaded.
In Saturday’s game at Missoula, Glacier tied the score at 5-5 in the sixth following a three-run inning, but Missoula countered with six runs in the seventh frame to put the game away.
Davis got on base four times in the game for the Glacier Twins. He singled in the second and sixth innings and doubled in the seventh inning.
Nielsen finished with two hits and two RBI including a home run. Starting pitcher Donahue allowed four earned runs on four hits.
The Twins lost at Kalispell 1-16 on June 20. Lakers pitcher Hank McCleod threw five innings of shutout ball and struck out four.
The Twins scored their only run of the game on a passed ball in the seventh inning.
Glacier’s last win came May 28 against Missoula. The Twins (6-23-1) look to get back on track when they host Kalispell in a conference showdown June 27 at 8 p.m. at Memorial Park.