Twins end streak against Lethbridge
A big fourth inning blast from Cody Elek and all-around timely team-hitting in the sixth inning helped the Glacier Twins defeat the Lethbridge Spitz Elks on July 15.
The 6-2 victory in the ?rst half of a doubleheader was the ?rst for the Twins over the Elks in at least three years, Twins coach Lindsay Fansler said. The Twins, however, wound up with a split on the day, losing to Lethbridge 16-8 in the second game.
"It was good to get the ?rst one. The second one, we just couldn't stop their offense," Fansler said. "You play a doubleheader with one error ... you're happy with that. But they swung it to beat us and we couldn't ?nd a way to stop them."
Elek wound up 3-for-3 in the first game. Carl Talsma went 2-for-3 with a double, and Jack Cronin, Jim Jumper and Devyn Rocker each added a single to the Twins' offense.
"Cody Hill did a great job throwing strikes," Fansler said. "We talked about trying to do something special these last two weeks. He gave us a chance. We'll take that win."
The Lethbridge bats showed up right away in the second game - three pitches in, the Elks had a 2-0 lead. The Twins came back with four runs in the ?rst, but there was no way to deny the Lethbridge offense, scoring at least two runs in every inning but the sixth. The Twins simply couldn't keep the pace, trailing 12-4 after ?ve innings.
The Twins, 4-10 in league play, played a good game, Fansler said.
"But we're down to the wire here where we feel like we've got to win out to give ourselves a chance (to go to state)," he said. "Still, playing meaningful baseball in the last couple of weeks is always a pleasure. We don't feel like we are out of (the race)."
Glacier 6, Lethbridge 2
Lethbridge 000 200 0 - 2 3 2
Glacier 000 213 x - 6 9 0
Brock Groves and Ryan Aiken. Cody Hill and Jim Jumper. W - Hill. L - Groves
Lethbridge - Derek Grubel 0-4, Ryan Aiken 0-3, Braeden Heyland 1-2, Dillon Houghton 0-1, Sean Maclean 2-3, Chris Stodolka 0-3, Ren Visser 0-2, Jordan Shirakawa 0-3, Cody Lenchuca 0-1, Drew Herauf 0-3.
Glacier - Jeremy Nielson 0-4, Jack Cronin 1-2, Kyler Blades 0-3, Cody Elek 3-3, Geoff Streeter 1-3, Chris King 0-3, Carl Talsma 2-2, Jim Jumper 1-2, Devyn Rocker 1-2. HR - Elek. 2B - Talsma. RBI - Elek 2, Talsma 2, Rocker 2.
Lethbridge 16, Glacier 8
Lethbridge 222 330 4 - 16 12 3
Glacier 400 004 0 - 8 6 1
Roy Adams, Ren Visser (6) and Sean Maclean. Zach Maassen, Chase Anderson (3),Geoff Streeter (5), Carl Talsma (5), Chris King (6) and Cody Elek. W - Adams. L - Maassen.
Lethbridge - Grubel 1-4, Aiken 2-3, Maclean 1-4, Houghton 1-4, Heyland 2-4, Stodolka 2-4, Groves 1-1, Visser 2-2, Shirakawa 0-1, Herauf 0-3, Lenchuca 0-3. HR - Aiken, Visser. 2B - Stodolka, Groves, Heyland. RBI - Aiken 3, Houghton 1, Heyland 5, Groves 1, Visser 3, Lenchuca 1.
Glacier - Rocker 0-3, Cronin 2-4, Blades 1-1, Elek 1-4, Streeter 0-3, King 0-3, Talsma 1-3, Hill 0-2, Nielson 1-2. 2B - Cronin, Talsma. RBI - Rocker 1, Blades 1, Elek 1, Talsma 2, Nielson 2.