Glacier Twins earn second in Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial
Glacier Twins players Willie Roche, left, and Kyler Blades cross home plate during an 8-0 victory against the Lethbridge Elks at the Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial Tournament last Thursday. (Photo by Matt Baldwin/Whitefish Pilot)
The Glacier Twins made an inspirational run at the 25th annual Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial Tournament in Whitefish last weekend, finishing in second place after falling to Lethbridge 11-0 in the championship game.
The Twins started the tourney on fire, winning the first three games by outscoring their opponents 20 to 8.
In the opening game July 8, the Twins dropped Spokane 6-4 behind the pitching arm of Trevor Miller. Miller struck out seven and allowed just six hits. Kyler Blades went 2-for-3 with a double.
On Thursday, Glacier's Kyle Knox allowed just four hits, and the Twins found their offensive stroke against the Lethbridge Elks, winning 8-1 with 13 hits.
Blades was impermeable at second base, diving to tag out an Elks base runner for the final out in the fourth inning and knocking down hard-hit balls throughout the game to keep Lethbridge's scoring in check.
Blades led off the fifth inning with a single followed by a Cody Elek base hit. Miller knocked in Elek with an RBI-single to extend the Twins' lead. Blades drove in a run with a single, and Elek had a two-RBI single. Elek, Blades, Willie Roche, Chris King and Adam Pisk each had two hits.
Later in the evening, the Twins tallied their third consecutive win of the tourney by dropping the Pullman Patriots, 6-3. The Twins put two runs on the board in each of the first three innings to take an early edge. Starting pitcher Roche injured a hip in the fourth inning, giving up just two hits through the third. He was relieved by Pisk, who held Pullman to just one hit.
Roche knocked in two runs with a double and King batted in another.
To finish pool play, the Twins lost to the Kalispell Lakers 6-2 Saturday morning. The Lakers broke a 3-3 tie, scoring three times in the sixth inning. Elek was 2-for-4. Pisk drove in two Glacier runs.
Glacier and Kalispell both finished with 3-2 pool play records, but the Twins advanced to the title game via a tie-breaker. The nod went down to the fewest walks allowed.
The championship game was a rematch of Thursday's contest with the Lethbridge, this time with the Elks cruising to victory for the tournament title behind the two-hit pitching of Mitch Maxwell. Glacier's only hit was a Elek double in the fourth inning.
The Twins finished the tourney with a 3-3 record.