Twins headed to state tourney

The Glacier Twins are headed for the state American Legion ‘A’ baseball tournament in Lewistown after beating the Bitterroot Bucs in the consolation final 8-1 of the Western A District tournament July 26 in Kalispell.

The Twins lost to the Mission Valley Mariners in the championship game 12-8 after the Mariners shot out to a 7-1 lead after three innings. The Twins rallied to make it 10-7 after seven innings, but Mission added a couple of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to put the Twins away.

Against the Bucs, Twins’ catcher Dakota Bridwell was 3 for 5 from the plate with a pair of RBIs to help the team advance to the finals. The top two teams qualified for a state tournament berth, so the championship was for seeding at state more than anything.

Jonny Sapa had a great game on the mound against the Bucs, allowing just one hit.

The Twins opened the tournament July 23 by walloping Kootenai Valley 16-1. Sapa was stellar on the mound while the Twins Colten Parker was 2 for 3 with two doubles, two stolen bases and four RBIs. Colton Gove also went 2 for 3 and doubled and Jayce Fagerland had an RBI single in the rout.

The next day the Twins beat the Bitterroot Red Sox 9-2 to advance to semifinals against Mission Valley. Kyler Howke and Parker each went 2 for 4 from the plate with a pair of singles. Tyler Murphy pitched the final two innings for the Twins, allowing just one hit.

In the semifinal, the Mariners got the best of the Twins, beating them 12-2 on July 25. Glacier then had to beat the Bitterroot Bucs to advance to the championship in the double elimination tournament.

Glacier was to play Gallatin Valley at 1 p.m. Tuesday after presstime at the state tournament.