Twins on tear heading into playoffs
The Glacier Twins A squad secured the top record in the conference after a strong finish to the regular season last week.
Glacier was 18-3 in conference play this season and next heads to the Montana Legion Baseball ‘A’ district tournament in Polson.
Last week, the Twins notched wins over Missoula, Mission Valley and Kalispell.
“We played a lot of baseball, but the boys stayed focused,” Glacier head coach Bob Rupp said. “Our bats exploded at times.”
After dropping a pair to the Bitterroot Bucs, 4-1, 9-3, Glacier bounced back and nabbed two wins Wednesday over the Mission Valley Mariners, 10-3, 11-0.
Then they grabbed a pair from the Missoula Mavericks, 8-1, 6-5 on Friday.
The last game of the week featured a cross-valley 4-1 win against the Kalispell Lakers A.
AJ Wetsch went the distance on the mound. Jayce Fagerland had two of the Twins’ five hits in the win.
Saturday’s game marked the final home game for veteran players Jayce Fagerland, Kyler Howke, Austin Robbins, Kaleb Veneman and Ryley Nahrgang. All five seniors started the game.
“It was an emotional night for our seniors playing their last game for the Twins at their home field,” Rupp said.
The victory over Kalispell comes as the team fine-tunes its play heading into the district tourney this week where they open against Eureka.
“We’re right where we want to be,” Rupp said.
Rupp says the team has been carried all season by a strong pitching rotation and small-ball offense.
“I have a bunch of young men that are students of the game,” he said. “They do all the little things. They just love the game.”
Kalispell hosts the state tournament on July 30.
Kalispell 000 000 001 — 1 5 1
Glacier 100 010 20x — 4 5 4
WP—AJ Wetsch; LP—Jackson Pepe.
KALISPELL — Pepe 0-3, Jonas Nyman 3-4, Spencer Pisk 0-1, Gunnar Marsh 1-4, Haydn Schlepp 0-4, Eric Seaman 0-4, Torin Bowden 1-4, Dawson Smith 0-4, Jaycob Serrano 0-4, Keaden Morisaki 0-2.
GLACIER — Jayce Fagerland 2-4, Kyler Howke 1-2, Tyler Murphy 0-4, Ryley Nahrgang 0-3, Austin Robins 1-4, Vinny Smith 0-1, Kaleb Veneman 0-4, Jesse Walburn 1-3, Wetsch 0-4.
Missoula 001 000 0 — 1 4 4
Glacier 211 040 0 — 8 14 3
W Sapa L — Ricky Stevens.
MISSOULA — Hunter Paulson 0-2, Davis Walker 1-4, Spencer Schock 0-4, Kyle Pollack 0-4, Ryan McHugh 1-2, Koty Rehban 3-3, Kaaden Wilson 0-3, James Martin 0-3, Dylan Barkley 1-3.
GLACIER — Colten Parker 2-3, AJ Wetsch 0-1, Jayce Fagerland 3-4, Kyler Howke 1-4, Vinny Smith 1-4, Jesse Walburn 3-4, Tristin Steinwand 0-3, James Sampson-Keck 1-2, Austin Robins 2-3, Ty Murphy 0-2.
2B — Rehban, Fagerland. RBIs — n/a.
Missoula 000 020 3 — 5 8 4
Glacier 210 003 x — 6 11 3
WP — Jesse Walburn. LP — Koty Rehban.
MISSOULA — Hunter Paulson 2-4, Davis Walker 2-4, Spencer Schock 0-3, Kyle Pollack 1-3, Ryan McHugh 3-4, Koty Rebhan 0-3, Drew Leonard 0-1, Kaaden Wilson 0-2, James Martin 0-1, Dylan Barkley 0-3.
GLACIER — Colten Parker 2-3, Jayce Fagerland 2-3, Kyler Howke 0-3, Vinny Smith 2-4, Jesse Walburn 2-3, Tristen Steinwand.
2B — Walker, Paulson, Bistodeau, Smith. RBIs — Walker (2), Schock (2), McHugh; Howke, Smith (3), Bistodeau.