Twins A team outlasts the Lakers
By DAVID ERICKSON
Whitefish Pilot
It was the definition of clutch.
With the game on the line, Glacier Twins pitcher Kyle Knox stepped to home plate in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night at Memorial Stadium. There was almost nothing he could do to save his team from a bitter loss. With two outs, two strikes and two runners on base, his team was down 5-3 against their Class A Legion baseball foe, the Kalispell Lakers.
For everyone else, the game was over, but Knox wasn't quite ready to send his homefield audience to the parking lot. The pitch came in, and Knox belted a beautiful two-RBI single up the middle of the field to tie the score and send the game to extra innings.
The Twins not only came back from the dead but went on to claim their first Western A victory this season, 6-5, over the Lakers, who suffered their first conference loss.
"As I've been saying, we've been looking for those big two-out base hits with runners on all year, and that was just a perfect time to do it," Twins coach Lindsay Fansler said. "Obviously, it was crucial."
Knox wasn't the only savior for Glacier in the game. In the 10th inning, Adam Pisk relieved Knox on the mound, then earned himself a win by connecting with a 1-1 pitch to right-center field, sending Trevor Miller home from third to end the game.
"We were battling back, and it was great to get that win, because you hate to play that hard then lose a game," Fansler said.
Pisk also relieved Knox of the burden of a loss, because it was Knox who gave up a three-run homer to Kalispell's Zach Brosten during the top of the first inning, allowing the Lakers to hold the lead for most of the game. After that hit and the wild cheers from the Kalispell dugout, Fansler had a talk with his young pitcher.
"I asked him if he could get the job done, and Knox said he wanted the ball," Fansler said.
Although the Kalispell batters were licking their chops after seeing a home run come so quickly, Knox quickly tempered their enthusiasm. He focused on keeping his pitches coming over the top instead of from the side. He allowed just one run and two hits during the next seven innings, although he didn't strike out a single batter.
"You have to give credit to our defense," Fansler said. "It's not easy to get 30 defensive outs."
The Twins kept themselves in the game by scoring once in the second inning, once in the fourth and tying it up 3-3 in the seventh. Glacier also out-hit the Lakers 11-6 and capitalized on eight Kalispell errors.
Kalispell, however, scored in both the eighth and ninth innings, and it was only Knox's big hit that saved the day for the Twins.
Knox, Miller and catcher Will Beasley led Glacier with two hits apiece. Brosten and second basemen Austin Roehl led Kalispell with two hits apiece.
Fansler credits his entire team with the win because he could only suit up nine players due to football camps over the weekend.
"It was a big win, especially coming after those tough losses to Libby and Kalispell earlier this season," Fansler said.
The Twins (6-14, 1-3) were rained out in Eureka on Sunday but are home in Whitefish for the Ed Gallo Tournament starting Wednesday. The Lakers (13-12, 8-1) will be there as well, presumably looking forward to a rematch. If it's anything like this one, it should be another thriller.
Kalispell 300 000 011 0 — 5 6 8
Glacier 010 100 102 1 — 6 11 2
Evan Ploeger, Caleb Sibley (6), Toby Liechti (8), Ben Sansaver (10) and Reid Buckley and Zach Brosten (5). Kyle Knox, Adam Pisk (9) and Will Beasley. W — Pisk (NA). L — Liechti (3-2).
KALISPELL (13-2, 8-1) — Sansaver 0-4, Drew Forster1-4, Austin Roehl 2-4, Zach Brosten 2-5, Liechti 0-3, Buckley 0-1, Ploeger 0-1, Sibley 0-1, Chase Decker 0-1, Ryan Andrews 1-3, Josh Stratton 0-3, Darin Olson 0-1, Jarrett Stearns 0-3, Blaine Metulevich 0-1.
GLACIER (6-14, 1-3) — Wayde Martinson 1-6, Jack Cronin 1-4, Pisk 2-5, David FauntLeRoy 0-4, Kyle Yogodzinski 1-4, Knox 2-5, Jeff Streeter 0-5, Beasley 2-5, Trevor Miller 2-5.
RBIs — Kal. 4 (Brosten 3, Roehl), Gla. 5 (Miller 2, Knox 2, Pisk). HR — Kal. 1 (Brosten), Gla. 0. 3B — Kal. 1 (Forster), Gla. 0. SB — Kal. 4 (Andrews 2, Sansaver, Roehl), Gla. 3 (Cronin 2, Streeter). SAC — Kal. 2 (Sansaver, Buckley), Gla. 0.