Twins struggle to play with consistency

For the Hungry Horse News

Glacier Twins coach Jack Helber was perhaps left shaking his head in frustration a bit after his team's 3-5 showing last week. The Twins did hit the ball and pulled out three wins in four doubleheaders, but they also let significant leads slip through the cracks in four of the five losses.

None were more costly than during a doubleheader loss to the Lethbridge Elks Monday on the road. Glacier led 6-0 in the opener, but couldn't hold on during a 15-14 loss. The nightcap was worse. Glacier went ahead 8-2 after two innings, but gave up seven runs in the third and lost 11-9 for a discouraging sweep at the hands of the Elks.

"It's very, very, very frustrating that we couldn't keep those leads," Helber said. "We're just not holding leads…our pitching couldn't hold them."

The highlight of the week for Glacier? That would be the pitching of left-hander Billy Marcial, who had no trouble holding leads. Marcial won both his starts, including a sparkling complete game performance in a 4-3 victory over Lethbridge in the opener of a doubleheader last Wednesday at home. Later in the week, Marcial stymied the Great Falls Stallions in a 9-5 Twins win.

Against the hard-hitting Lethbridge team, Marcial yielded just six hits and struck out five in going the distance atop the mound.

"Billy did a great job throwing strikes," Helber said of Marcial's pitching effort. "He's always around the plate and he has worked hard on his change-up, which has become a good pitch for him."

Not only did Marcial get it done on the mound in the opener against Lethbridge, but he also went 2-for-4 at the plate to spearhead Glacier's eight-hit attack. Outfielder Marty Richter also came up big with an RBI single in the fourth that plated Glacier's third run. Richter later scored what proved to be the game winning run and eventually finished 1-for-3.

Morgan Phelps and Ben Schwanz both collected two hits during Glacier's first game victory. In the second game, Lethbridge scored 14 runs in the fourth inning to grab a 20-0 mercy rule win. The Elks chased Twins starter Justin Cooper in the inning and a bases-loaded triple off reliever Brad Bell opened the floodgates for Lethbridge.

The Twins hit the road over the weekend for a pair of doubleheaders at Great Falls. They split with the Great Falls Electrics on Friday and with the Stallions the next day. But the underlying theme for Glacier was once again blowing big leads. The Twins bolted to a three-run lead in the first inning of the opener against the Electrics, but they ended up losing 8-6.

"That was definitely a game we should have won," Helber said.

Glacier rebounded with a 7-3 victory in the nightcap to salvage the split. The Twins rode Chase Kolodejchuk's right arm and some clutch hitting for the win. Kolodejchuk pitched a complete game to pick up the win and catcher Nik Caron went 2-for-3 with two RBIs to pace the bat attack. Ryan Stultz and Jarred Krueger both went 2-for-3 and Stultz knocked in a run for the Twins.

It was the same story the next day during the opener against the Stallions. Glacier led 7-6 heading into the sixth inning, but Great Falls scored 11 runs to rally for 17-7 victory.

Thanks to Marcial, Glacier again salvaged a split with the 9-5 win in the second game. Schwanz, the team's shortstop, also had a big game at the plate. He went 2-for-4 and drilled a two-run single in the third to punctuate Glacier's six-run inning. Schwanz finished with three RBIs and Phelps went 2-for-3 with a ribbie.

Glacier didn't have any problem swinging the sticks at Lethbridge on Monday. The only problem for Glacier, however, was that the Elks raped the ball at even a better clip. Despite the 15-14 loss in the opener, the Twins got a big effort from Jesse Paulson, who went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs. Stultz went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Brad Bell was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

Richter pitched three innings of solid relief for the Twins. He struck out two and allowed just three runs.

In the second game, Krueger broke out his power stroke in the 11-9 loss. Krueger was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple and four RBIs. Phelps also posted a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The Twins host Medicine Hat for a Saturday twin bill that kicks off at 1 p.m.