Legion state tourney: Twins top Ketchikan with 6-run rally in bottom of 8th

Published 9:01 pm Friday, July 25, 2025

The Post 20 Twins defeated Ketchikan Post 3 11-10 on Friday at the first day of the 73rd Alaska Legion Baseball State Tournament at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

After giving up five runs in the top of the eighth inning, the No. 2 overall seed Twins responded with six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against the No. 7 Kings to win for a 15th straight time.

Post 20 joins No. 3 Wasilla Post 35, which scored seven times in the bottom of the seventh inning for an 11-10 victory over No. 6 West Post 1, at 1-0 in the Alyeska Pool.

The Twins take Saturday off before playing Wasilla at 4 p.m. Sunday and West at 4 p.m. Monday.

The top two in the pool advance to Tuesday’s semifinals.

Making Post 20’s rally in the eighth more impressive is that it happened without Ketchikan recording an out.

“We have faith in the players,” Post 20 head coach Robb Quelland said. “They don’t stop believing in themselves.

“Everything I did today, it just did not work out the way we wanted it to be. It was just one of those games. We had a couple miscues in the outfield that cost us runs. Some dominant pitchers just weren’t dominant.”

The main thing that worked for the Twins was the top five in the order.

Daniel Steffensen was 2 for 4 with two runs, Matthew Schilling was 2 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs, Jacob Joanis was 1 for 4 with two runs and an RBI, Jayden Stuyvesant was 2 for 4 with two runs and three RBIs, and Jett Brophy was 2 for 5 with two runs and an RBI.

No. 9 hitter Clyde Clemens got the rally in the eighth started with a single, then Steffensen followed with a single.

Steffensen had missed the last two regular season games and the week of practice before the tournament due to a church camp.

“He didn’t miss a beat,” Quelland said.

Schilling then tripled to cut it to 10-7, then Joanis tripled for a 10-8 game. When Stuyvesant stroked a single to left, it was suddenly 10-9.

Brophy then got on with a bunt and Tristen Roberts reached on a error, with Stuyvesant scoring to tie it.

When Samuel Graham squared to bunt, it caused a passed ball and Brophy scored the winning run.

“They just keep growing,” Quelland said of his team. “We’re a very young team, and we’ve seen more mature teams, more experienced teams, fold under these conditions.”

Quelland said the atmosphere in the final couple innings was unique, because the Team of Excellence awards ceremony was right after the game.

He said what had been a small crowd dealing with rain throughout the game swelled into a big, festive crowd enjoying the back and forth.

Ketchikan had taken a 2-0 lead after four innings against Schilling, who went 3 1-3 innings, giving up two runs on three hits.

The top five in the order came through for the Twins in the fifth with five runs, but Ketchikan refused to die.

“Ketchikan was a very feisty, scrappy team,” Quelland said. “They are good. They just kept coming back.”

Malakai BeDunnah kept the Kings off the board for 1 2-3 innings, but the Kings got three runs on three hits in 1 1-3 innings against Jack Harper, who is one of the top pitchers for the Twins.

In the eighth, Ketchikan struck for five runs — four earned — against Stuyvesant, the other top pitcher for the Twins.

Graham got the final two outs.

Quelland said the Twins had not played for a week and it showed.

“It’s just how these young players get into a routine,” he said. “No matter how much we practice, how much we simulate, it’s not a game.

“It took them quite a few innings to get back to the place where they were.”

The good news for the Twins is all the pitchers are still available for the round-robin games except Schilling, who would be available for Tuesday’s championship should the Twins make it.

“It actually kind of helped that some of these guys got into games after being off a week,” Quelland said. “Now they’ll be ready to go Sunday and Monday.”

Twins put 3 on Team of Excellence 1st team

The Twins put three players on the first team of the Team of Excellence announced Friday, with Quelland also getting named co-coach of the year.

Harper made it as a pitcher for going 7-0 in the regular season with a 2.15 ERA in 42 1-3 innings pitched.

Joanis also made the team at infielder. He hit .375 in 29 games with 24 RBIs and 27 runs.

Schilling earned the nod in the outfield by hitting .438 in 21 games. He had 18 RBIs and scored 24 runs.

Post 20 put two on the second team, but Stuyvesant made that team twice.

Stuyvesant made it at pitcher, going 2-0 with two saves in 12 appearances. He had an ERA of 0.76.

Stuyvesant also earned the nod at utility player. He hit .313 in 29 games, knocking in 28 runs and scoring 14 runs.

Steffensen made the second team in the outfield. He hit .356 in 25 games, scoring 29 runs and collecting 16 RBIs.