Twins go 2-2 at Ed Gallo tourney

By DAVID ERICKSON

Whitefish Pilot

The Glacier Twins A team split four games as they hosted eight teams from Montana and Washington for the 18th annual Ed Gallo Memorial Invitational Baseball Tournament at Memorial Stadium in Whitefish.

The tournament began in 1990 as a tribute to Ed Gallo in recognition of his work to keep the Whitefish and Columbia Falls American Legion Baseball programs alive and successful.

June 23

Glacier 0, Laurel 7

The Twins covered the entire spectrum from blazing hot to ice cold during last week's tournament, but the spark faded too early.

Glacier came into the title game coming off two huge wins, but the momentum from those victories didn't carry over. The Laurel Dodgers, with an impressive performance by pitcher Jade Stricker, topped Glacier, 7-0, on Saturday night to win the tournament championship.

Twins coach Lindsay Fansler attributed part of his ball club's disappointing night to a combination of lethargic offense, bad luck and fatigue.

"The kids were a little bit taxed from that big win Thursday night, and we had a few unlucky bounces in the first inning," he said. "That kind of set the tone for the rest of the game."

The Twins earned a spot in the championship game by squeaking past the red-hot Mission Valley, 9-8, on Friday night, ending the Mariners' 13-game win streak with a dramatic single by Jack Cronin in the bottom of the final inning.

They also blew away Kootenai Valley on Thursday night, 14-4, and anyone would have said they were red-hot themselves. The Dodgers put the ice on them, however, and a series of errors and no-hit innings sealed the Twins' fate.

Twins pitchers Adam Pisk and Justin Goode held the Dodgers to just seven hits, but eight Glacier errors let Laurel run away with the game. Laurel led 3-0 after five frames, but Dodgers' center fielder Chris Mjelstad belted a two-run triple in the sixth inning to give his team a 5-0 lead. It was the only extra-base hit of the game.

"We try to focus on the positives, but there weren't many in that game," Fansler said. "Pisk gave us five innings with only three infield hits, and Geoff Streeter had a good game, but other than that it was disappointing."

Laurel's Joe Binstock went 2-for-4 with two runs and a stolen base to earn player of the game and tournament MVP honors. He went 8-for-15 over four tournament contests, as well as making plays at shortstop.

Streeter, the Twins catcher, led Glacier with two singles. Shortstop Wayde Martinson and pinch-hitter Cody Elek both singled, but only two Twins runners reached third base.

Laurel committed no errors, and Stricker threw seven strikeouts and allowed only four hits. He also went 2-for-4 on the plate.

June 22

Glacier 9, Mission Valley 8

The Twins beat one of the hottest teams in the state Friday night in one of the most exciting games of the Twins 2007 Western A Legion baseball season so far.

For the Mission Valley Mariners (28-6), a chance to add to their 13-game win-streak was on the line. For the Twins, it was a chance to prove that they were better than their record (8-15) indicated in front of their hometown audience. They did not disappoint.

The clutch performance of the game went to Glacier's Jack Cronin, who came up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied and one runner, Cody Elek (running for Geoff Streeter), on third base. Cronin singled to right field, and even before Elek reached home, the Twins dugout erupted in wild cheers. Coach Fansler knew his team was up to the task.

"We played (Mission Valley) tough earlier in the year, and we were tied with them up until the third inning, so we knew we could play with 'em," he said.

The game went back and forth all night, and the audience was as loud as they've been all year. Glacier flew out of the gates early on, leading 5-1 after three innings, but they failed to close the door on the feisty Mariners, who scored four runs in the top of the fourth to tie it at 5-all.

The Twins then scored three runs in the fifth, only to watch Mission Valley tie it up again at eight-all, scoring three runs of their own in the top of the sixth. Kyle Knox (4-4), who was relieving Mike Hader, finally got his team off the field to pick up the win and pave the way for Cronin's winning single.

"It was a gutty performance," Fansler said of Hader's pitching. "He walked a couple guys, but we avoided a lot of errors. We were definitely coming off a roll from our 14-4 win over Kootenai the night before."

Streeter, who has only been playing with the Twins for two weeks this year, led with four hits. He led off the sixth inning with a single up the middle and was replaced by Elek.

Dustin Vonfeldt sacrificed Elek to second, and a single by Knox put Elek in scoring position. The victory advanced the Twins to the championship game Saturday night against the Laurel Dodgers.

"We didn't celebrate like we won the World Series or anything because, like I've been telling my guys, we need to start expecting to win every time we come on the field," Fansler said. "But it felt good."

No other stats were available from Friday's game.

June 21

Glacier 14, Kootenai Valley 4

Before the fifth inning Thursday night, with his team down 3-4 against Kootenai Valley, coach Fansler gathered his young players around him. He paused in silence for a moment, then ripped into an unfit-for-print tirade. The light-hearted atmosphere temporarily evaporated.

"Now let's get out there and get something going," Fansler ended, pumping his fists in the air.

Then, as quickly as he had started, he abruptly turned away and stormed to his position by first base, letting his words hang in the air for effect.

The result of his motivational speech? A 12-run tear in the last two innings to give the Twins a 14-4 mercy-rule win in six innings over the Rangers in the second night of the tournament. Fansler's strategy seems to have worked beautifully.

"You heard about that?" he asked, referring to his mid-game pep talk. "I don't do that often, but I was frustrated with our team not taking advantage with opportunities. It makes them focus a little. They understand that I expect a lot from them. We want to start to foster a winning attitude with our program."

Twins' second baseman Adam Pisk seemed to have heard Fansler's words. He sparked his team by leading off the fifth inning with a single, stole second and scored the tying run on Justin Goode's double to right-center.

"It was helpful. He got us fired up," Pisk said. "We were kind of slacking, and we just started playing like we could."

Pisk finished the game 3-for-4 with three runs.

Goode, Cronin, Elek and Streeter had two hits apiece. Goode led the team with three RBIs, and Cronin, Elek and David FauntLeRoy had two each.

The Rangers made a game of it until the fifth inning, leading early in the first inning, 2-1. Kootenai Valley totaled five hits, with a double by second baseman Alex Lesowski.

June 20

Glacier 4, Pullman 8

Justin Goode tried his best to get the Twins going, but it just wasn't enough to overcome an six-point deficit as the Pullman Posse beat the Twins 8-4 on Wednesday night.

It was the opening night of the Ed Gallo tournament, and the Twins never quite got the rust shaken off.

Goode ripped a two-run homer in the top of the fifth to bring the score to 4-6, but the Posse scored twice more in the sixth inning to shut the door.

No stats were available for the game.