The American Legion Post 20 Twins ended their season with an 8-3 win over Post 15 Palmer on Monday at the 72nd Alaska Legion Baseball State Tournament at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.
The tournament is made up of two pools of eight teams.
Both the Twins and Palmer were 0-2 in the pool coming into Monday, having both lost to Eagle River and Post 4 South.
That meant Post 20 and Post 15 had no chance of making the semifinals no matter the outcome Monday.
Even with the victory, Twins head coach Robb Quelland said Monday was tough.
“It’s just reality,” he said after finishing 20-11 overall. “The season is over. It was difficult. This team was very special. They clicked early in the year.
“There was a lot of emotions at the end of the game.”
Post 20 ages out five players — Malakai Olson, Hunter Williams, Gabe Smith, Levi Mickelson and Andrew Pieh.
Quelland said Pieh and Mickelson have been with the AA team four years, while the other three have been with the team three years.
The group played a huge role in advancing the Twins program.
In 2020, when there was no Legion baseball due to the pandemic but there was summer baseball, “Alaska 20” had six wins.
In 2021, the Twins had eight wins and missed the state tournament for the first time since 1985.
Post 20 rebounded with 17 wins in 2022 and 21 wins in 2023, reaching the semifinals at state both years.
This year, the Twins earned the No. 3 seed at state, but a masterful pitching performance by David Feigner of No. 6 seed South in a 1-0 game Saturday was the biggest factor in not reaching the semifinals again.
“We built around them,” Quelland said of the departing players. “They stayed true to the commitment of the program, the rules and how we play. They did a lot of sacrifices, and they led the younger players.”
The group also was involved with advancing three different high school programs — Pieh and Mickelson at Soldotna, Smith at Kenai Central, and Olson and Williams at Kodiak.
“Probably the best part of the whole thing is they’re all from different schools,” Quelland said. “They are together for only a small part of the year — two and a half months.
“A lot of these teams, they go to the same schools.”
Quelland said all of the experience will not be easy to replace.
“We always say there’s no substitute for playing the game you love,” he said. “All these players get 40 or 35 extra games a year.
“The ones that opt not to play, they put the glove and bat down the first of June and don’t pick it back up until March. These guys all had two and a half months of baseball, and it’s good baseball.”
Quelland said he wanted to get the departing players as much action as possible against Palmer.
Olson got the start and went five innings, giving up three runs — two earned — on three hits while walking one and striking out five.
Mickelson and Smith each worked scoreless innings of relief. Mickelson yielded two hits, while Smith gave up three.
The Twins grabbed a 4-1 lead after the first inning, then Palmer cut it to 5-3 after the top of the fourth. Post 20 responded with three insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Matthew Schilling led the Twins at the plate by going 2 for 3 with two runs. He bounced back from a rough start on the mound against Service on Sunday.
“He’s a fine young man and he takes a lot of pride in what he does,” Quelland said. “He’s probably the hardest one on himself, more than anyone else around him.
“He knows his capability and what he can do.”
Williams was 1 for 3 with two runs and an RBI, Smith was 1 for 3 with a run and an RBI, and Mickelson was 1 for 3 with a run.
Also, Pieh had a run, Gabe Joanis had a run, and Ari Miller had a hit and an RBI.
The Twins A program is currently 25-2, so the future has promise for Post 20.
“We’re excited to welcome quite a few of those upper players from the A team on AA next year, and see how they compete at this level,” Quelland said.
In Team of Excellence votes announced Saturday, Trenton Ohnemus and Pieh made the first team at pitcher.
Ohnemus had an ERA of 1.07 in 39 innings pitched. He struck out 49.
Pieh made 11 appearances as a reliever, pitching 19 innings with a 1.81 ERA and 15 strikeouts.
“His calm demeanor and presence saves us so many times,” Quelland said.
Quelland was named Coach of the Year, along with Service’s Willie Paul and Chugiak’s John Sims.
The Post 20 head coach said the award was the program’s, not his. He continued to give credit to Lance Coz, the longtime head coach and general manager who died in 2020.
“This is a program Lance put his stamp on, and we’re trying to continue,” Quelland said. “We’re producing good teams and fine young men, for sure.”
Olson and Williams were honorable mention at pitcher. Olson had a 4.47 ERA in 36 innings, striking out 39. Williams had a 2.80 ERA in 25 innings, striking out 21.
Pieh and Smith were honorable mention on the infield. Pieh hit .278 with 15 runs and 14 RBIs, while Smith hit .320 with 28 runs and 15 RBIs.
Ohnemus was honorable mention in the outfield. He hit .333 with 13 runs and 14 RBIs.
Olson and Williams also were honorable mention at utility player. Olson hit .244 with 15 runs and nine RBIs, while Williams hit .253 with 24 runs and 15 RBIs.
