Twins give Lakers a scare, end with a win
By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot
The 2008 season ended on a positive note for the Glacier Twins on Sunday evening at Memorial Park in Whitefish as they downed the Great Falls Electrics 8-6 for their second Western AA conference victory of the season.
"We won our first game of the season and the last game of the season, I just wish we had gotten a few more wins in between," first-year head coach Ryan Hadfield said philosophically.
The Twins finished the season 2-22. Their other conference victory came against Lethbridge.
Twins 3, Great Falls 7
Twins 8, Great Falls 6
On Sunday night, after losing their first game to the Electrics 3-7, the Twins decided they wanted get the bad taste out of their mouths.
In the sixth inning, Wayde Martinson bunted and scored Dustin VonFeldt to tie the game at 6-all. The Electrics then committed an error on fielding a grounder by Bridger Beach, allowing Scott Palmer and Zane Ridings to score the final two runs for the win.
Wes Beougher started on the mound for the Twins, pitching four solid innings. He gave up four runs in the fifth, however, and was relieved by Scott Palmer.
In the seventh and final inning, the Electrics put the game-winning runner on second base with two outs. Scott Palmer fanned the next batter, earning the win.
Zane Ridings went 2-for-3 on the night. Beach, VonFeldt and Martinson each had a hit.
"It was nice to get a win in the last game," Hadfield said.
Twins 3, Lakers 5
On Thursday, the Twins almost spoiled the Kalispell Lakers' chances of going to the state tournament.
Down 0-3 in the final inning, Glacier forced extra innings by orchestrating a huge rally in the top of the ninth.
Beach got things started with a lead-off double. Ryan Caron walked, then Martinson followed that up with a two-run double to the left-center fence. Martinson stole third, then scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 3-all.
The Lakers had a chance to tie it up in the bottom of the ninth, but Scott Yogodzinski struck out Adam Olson to send the game to overtime.
Yogodzinski was superb on the mound, going 10 innings, but he was finally relieved by his little brother Kyle after hitting a batter in the 10th inning.
Hadfield went to the mound to talk to him in the bottom of the ninth, but "Yogi" convinced the coach to let him keep throwing.
Yogodzinski he gave up four hits for the game, striking out five and walking two. He hit five batters altogether.
Kalispell pitcher Brian Sneck struck out nine and gave up nine hits. He left in the ninth inning.
It was an exciting inning for the Twins, as the Lakers' hopes to make the state tournament were on the line. Glacier gave them a scare, but in the end it wasn't quite enough.
Kalispell's Zach Broston belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th to give the Lakers the victory. It was Broston's only hit of the game.
"The kids stuck it out," Hadfield said. "Scott Yogodzinski was awesome, but I think he tired out at the end. He threw something like 130 pitches in that game. As far as the rally, swing the bat and good things happen."
The Twins lost two games to Medicine Hat, Alberta, on Saturday by scores of 7-8 and 2-15.