Twins lose two in state tourney

Give the Glacier Twins credit. Despite a season marred by a pesky losing streak that dates back to May, the Twins gave it their all at last week’s Class AA Legion baseball tournament in Whitefish.

Each member of the club walked off the field with their head held high after their final outing of the summer, a close 8-9 loss to the Billings Scarlets that could have gone either way.

“I told them you can’t hang your head,” Twins coach Scott Murray said. “You gave it everything you got.”

The Twins lost both their games in the double-elimination tournament, finishing off a tough season on the diamond. The club went 6-47 overall and 0-25 Western AA play. The Twins earned a spot in the state tourney by default as the host club.

The Twins first loss of the tourney came at the hands of the Billings Royals. Billings chipped away at the Twins pitching, putting up three runs in each of the first three frames en route to a 14-2 win in six innings.

The Twins made it interesting in the loser-out game against the Scarlets. After three innings of scoreless ball, Billings blew open the game with seven runs in the fourth. 

The Twins weren’t down long. The club responded in the next frame with five runs of their own. Nielsen got it going with an RBI single that scored Slaybaugh. Houston singled to left field to score Carl Talsma, and Bryce Wehrli added an RBI double to make it 5-7.

Billings tacked on another run in the sixth to make it 8-5, but the Twins came back again with a three-run eighth inning to tie the game. Talsma’s sacrifice fly scored Donahue, and Davis hit an RBI single to center in the frame.

The Twins were held scoreless in the top of the ninth, giving Billings a final at bat to close the deal. With men on base, Billings’ Winston Cox lined a single to left bringing home the winning run and ending the Twins season.