American Legion Baseball Twins rolling into West A District Tournament
By DAVID LESNICK
The Daily Inter Lake
The Glacier Twins are riding two key streaks heading into the West A District Tournament.
They have won their last 11 American Legion baseball games and their final 17 district games. Those numbers delivered a district regular season title for the Twins.
“We’re playing on the upswing right now,” Twins coach Scott Murray said.
“That’s a good thing.
“We are getting to the point where we can play great baseball,” he continued.
“We’ve played good baseball.”
Glacier wrapped up the regular season with a 30-15 mark overall. In league action the Twins were 17-3.
“The last 11 games we have been solid,” Murray said.
“We’re excited about going (to the district tournament).”
District action starts today with four games. The first- round lineup at Hamilton:
n 10 a.m. — Kalispell Lakers (fourth seed) vs. Mission Valley Mariners (fifth seed)
n 1 p.m. — Glacier Twins (first seed) vs. Libby Loggers (eighth seed)
n 4 p.m. — Bitterroot Bucks (third seed) vs. Missoula Mavericks (sixth seed)
n 7 p.m. — Bitterroot Red Sox (second seed) vs. Cranbrook Bandits (seventh seed)
The top two teams advance to state Aug. 1-5 in Miles City.
Glacier has missed out on state play the last two years. The Twins won state in 2014 and also advanced in 2015.
“The beginning of the year we fought through injuries, didn’t play great baseball,” Murray said.
“A lot of errors. Our pitching (struggled). It was a cold spring, but we sure felt it. So did everybody.”
Murray said the team hung in there and eventually managed to turn it around.
“This team has always believed in themselves,” he said.
“We have seven last-year guys who know each other and know what they can do. It was a touch schedule in the spring, but they understood that. They knew they would take their knocks, but it would make them better. They always knew it would get better.”
The Twins success starts with a strong pitching staff. Coby Clark-Dickenson, who missed much of the season, is finally healthy.
Nathan Hader, Zach Veneman, Forrest Kobelt, the team’s lefty, and Matt Morrison have all been superb.
“We have a great closer in Jack Schwaiger,” Murray said.
“He comes in and throws strikes.
“If those guys have average to good games, we’ll be fine,” he continued.
“If they have great games, we will do well. We follow our pitching.”
But the Twins are more than pitching. The offense has been red hot down stretch. They have scored 10 or more runs in 10 of their last 13 games.
“That has to do with opportunity ... hits and moving guys over when they need to,” Murray said.
“Our base running has also been very good.”
Glacier played Libby four times, winning all four games. With that in mind, Murray has warned his players that anything can happen tournament time.
“They are very well coached and we will face their No. 1 (pitcher),” he said.
“He’s (Libby’s Kelly Morford) is one of the best coaches in Montana.
“They are a lot better now than they were at the beginning of the year,” he added.
“Much better than when we played them last.”
As far as what to expect for the tournament ...
“I think the West is as good, or better, than any of the districts,” Murray said.
“The West has won state every year since 2014. We’ve (West teams) been on a pretty good run.”
Morford said the Twins and second-seed Bitterroot Red Sox are the two teams to beat.
“They are really talented,” he said.
“Those guys and the Red Sox are the clear favorites.”
But ...
“Crazy things have happened,” he said come tournament time.
“The deck is stacked against us, but we have a chance if we play good ball. Then good things could happen. It’s all about who is hot at the right time and who can string a couple wins together.”
Although it’s been a long, tough campaign at times for the Loggers, Morford and his players remain upbeat.
“We play good ball for stretches, then errors seem to catch up to us,” he said.
“We have played pretty well at times.
“We wanted to do better, but as tough as it has been on the W and L side, the kids have done a good job hanging in there. The kids have all hung in there. They are still committed and ready to go. It’s not easy to do that after a season like that, but they’ve done a good job of hanging in there.”
The Lakers and Mission Valley kick things off with an early start today.
The two teams met six times — four in league play and twice in tournament action — and split with three wins each.
“We got a couple great wins in Cranbrook, lost a couple of tough ones to Twins,” Lakers coach Jesse McFarland said to close out the regular season.
“We were competitive (in the losses to the Twins).
“When we play clean baseball, we can play with anybody,” he stressed.
“We’re excited for the weekend to see what we can do down there.”
The Lakers will be without of its top players for district play as Wes Palmer has been moved up to the AA Lakers for their state tournament. Palmer played third base and pitched for the A team.
“A good ballplayer,” McFarland said of Palmer.
“He will help the AA team win a game at state.”
Ryan McDonald will start on the mound for the Lakers.
“His second year with us,” McFarland said.
“He’s been a great leader for this group. Watching him grow up has been pretty awesome. He has gotten tougher mentally, always had good stuff as far as his pitches.”
Defensively, McFarland says the Lakers have been pretty consistent, stronger than in previous seasons. That could be a key factor in how far the team advances in tournament play.
“We are pretty confidence where we are at,” he said.
“Anything can happen (at this tournament). There has been more parity in our district in the last four years. The Twins and Red Sox are always tough, but I think I’ve seen every team, 1 through 8, they have all done some good things. Everyone has a shot.”
The Lakers, seeded sixth last year for the district tournament, advanced to the final, losing to the Red Sox 3-0.
The Red Sox also won the district tournament the year before.
West A District
Final Regular Season Standings
League Overall
W L W L
Glacier Twins 17 3 30 15
Bitterroot Red Sox 16 4 28 7
Bitterroot Bucs 11 9 29 25
Kalispell Lakers 9 11 25 23
Mission Valley Mariners 9 11 25 22
Missoula Mavericks 7 13 36 29
Cranbrook Bandits 7 13 13 19
Libby Loggers 4 16 5 28
Kalispell Lakers
Top Hitters — Wes Palmer .476; Payton Davisson .423; Ryan McDonald .393; Ben Corriveau .359
1B—Davisson 58; Corriveau 51
2B—Davisson 16; Thomas O’Connell 13
3B—Davisson 4; Nate Kelly 2
HR—Davisson 6; Kelly 1
RBIs—Davisson 61; O’Connell 39
Top Pitchers — Chad Queen 5-1; McDonald 6-3; Palmer 4-2; Reid Barrows 4-2
ERA —Palmer 2.44; O’Connell 2.92; McDonald 4.41
SO— Barrows 40; Queen 37; McDonald 37
BB—Queen 47; Barrows 37; McDonald 31
Glacier Twins
Top Hitters — Coby Clark-Dickenson .465; Terek Bistodeau .444; Ryan Veneman .394; Jack Schwaiger .387; Forrest Kobelt .371; Tom Hellwig .361
1B—Bistodeau 54; Veneman 50, Clark-Dickenson 43
2B—Hellwig 12; Veneman 11; Clark-Dickenson 9
3B—Clark-Dickenson 7; Kobelt 2; Veneman 2; Bistodeau 2
HR—Hellwig 3; Dan Seymour 2; Clark-Dickenson 1, Kobelt 1; Schwaiger 1; Bistodeau RBIs—Bistodeau 50; Clark-Dickenson 44; Veneman 35
Top Pitchers — Clark-Dickenson 7-1, Nathan Hader 6-3, Matt Morrison 3-1; Kobelt 3-3
ERA — Clark-Dickenson 3.092; Hader 4.378; Kobelt 4.615; Morrison 5.143
SO—Clark-Dickenson 56; Hader 54; Kobelt 48
BB—Kobelt 33; Bistodeau 31; Morrison 25
Libby Loggers
No stats available