Twins fall to Lakers in season opener

The Glacier Twins AA team, under new head coach Billy Sapa, kicked off their 2009 American Legion Baseball season last Tuesday against the Lakers on Griffin Field in Kalispell.

The Twins kept things close for four innings, but the Lakers' Michael O'Connell blasted a two-RBI line drive in the bottom of that frame that started a tear for Kalispell.

The game finally ended in the eighth inning on the 10-run mercy rule, as the Twins fell 5-15.

A low point for Whitefish came when starting pitcher Kyle Knox dislocated his finger while going for a fly ball in the first inning.

Knox is also a heavy contributor at bat for the Twins, and he will be out indefinitely. Trevor Miller filled in and finished with seven strikeouts in six innings of work on the mound.

The Twins actually jumped out to an early lead when shortstop Wade Martinson blasted a two-run line drive to left-center in the second inning. The Twins capitalized on four Lakers errors in the first two innings, which resulted in three unearned runs.

The Twins then developed a case of errors themselves, allowing the O'Connell shot to left field in the fourth frame.

Cody Hill, Willie Roche and Brandon Prescott each had hits for Glacier, along with Martinson's 2-for-4 performance.

Sapa said his team is looking good so far.

"We're a very young team, so we're going to take our lumps," he said. "But I can tell you that we're going to be better than last year, and we're going to work hard. The kids are excited."

The Twins travel to Great Falls on May 2, with a trip to Libby on May 5. Their next home game is on May 8 when they host the Kootenai Valley Rangers.

Glacier 130 010 00 - 5 5 7

Kalispell 200 502 33 - 15 9 3

Kyle Knox, Trevor Miller (1), Josh Schott (7), Jacob Rogers (8) and Devon Rocker. Mario Venturini, Matt O'Brian (5), WP — Venturini. LP — Miller.

GLACIER — Willie Roche 1-5, Brandon Prescott 1-3, Wade Martinson 2-4, Knox 0-0, Miller 0-0, Cody Elleck 0-1, David FauntLeRoy 0-1, Cody Hill 1-2, Jeff Streeter 0-3, Zach Mason 0-1, Chris King 0-4, Devon Rocker 0-3.

2B — O'Connell; 3B — Pistorese; RBI — Martinson3;O'Connell 5, Sansaver, Brosten, O'Brian, Stacy