The American Legion Twins swept Chugiak on Sunday at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, winning the league game 2-0 before winning the nonleague game 10-4.
The Twins are now undefeated in eight games since losing the championship game of the Bill Miller/Lance Coz Wood Bat Tournament.
Five of those games have been league games, moving the Twins to 11-2 in the league and putting them in second place behind only Service, which is at 12-1. Post 20 also is 18-8-1 overall.
The Twins have only three games left — all league and all on the road — in the regular season, facing Palmer and Eagle River on Tuesday and West on Wednesday.
Chugiak, now 8-4 and 13-8, was in third place in the league heading into Sunday, but dropped all the way to fifth with the loss.
With Eagle River and West both tied for third in the league, Palmer the only team in the league to have beaten Service, and the state tourney right around the corner, the Twins have entered a stretch where pitching and defense must be airtight.
“I think we’re really getting into that tournament mode and mentality where the players are really realizing how quick the season is coming to an end,” Twins coach Robb Quelland said.
After not walking any batters and committing two errors in Saturday’s league win against Dimond, the Twins pitching and defense came through again in the league win against Chugiak.
Malakai Olson and Derrick Jones combined on the shutout. Olson went five innings, giving up two hits while walking three and not recording a strikeout.
Jones was lights out in the last two, not giving up a hit or walk and striking out three.
Quelland has been emphasizing not walking batters all year and the message is catching on.
“There’s nothing worse than walks,” he said. “You can’t defend a walk and the fielders watch that and the mood of the game just kind of slows down.”
Olson said he was happy to let his defense, which did not commit an error, work. Third baseman Charlie Chamberlain and shortstop Andrew Pieh both showed off range and an arm by each recording three assists and a putout.
“Those two are always solid,” Olson said. “They’re as big as rock and they don’t let anything by them. All my confidence goes to them.
“Just throw strikes.”
Chugiak pitchers Preston Rau and Josh Westerman also delivered strong performances.
Rau worked five innings and gave up two unearned runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out seven. Westerman gave up a hit in a scoreless inning, walking two and fanning two.
“You got two pitchers that are throwing a lot of strikes, you’ve got to play defense and you’ve got to do your job on the bases,” Chugiak coach John Sims said.
The Twins got their only two runs in the third, when Hunter Williams and Chamberlain singled with one out. Atticus Gibson then grounded to first, but a throwing error scored Williams and put Chamberlain on third. Chamberlain then scored on an errant pickoff throw from the catcher.
“It’s the little things that count and I’m really happy that we didn’t have a lot of those (mistakes) today,” Olson said. “We just need to get the bats rolling and we should be at the top.”
Quelland said the only disappointment in the game was that nine of his team’s 18 outs came via strikeout. The Twins were hypnotized by the curveballs of Rau and Westerman.
“The pitcher was good, but it wasn’t such an exceptional pitcher that the curveball should have been that scary to our batters,” Quelland said.
Sims said these are the types of games team will have to win to succeed at the state tourney.
“You look at the top five or six teams and it’s really going to come down to who can execute — who plays defense and throws strikes,” he said.
Jace Crall went 2 for 3 to lead the Twins on offense.
In the nonleague game, the Twins were able to bang out 10 hits. Williams was 2 for 5 with two runs and two RBIs, Crall was 3 for 4 with a run and two RBIs, Chamberlain had two RBIs and Trenton Ohnemus scored a pair of runs.
For Chugiak, Gabe Gruszynski had two runs while Connor Lanehart had two RBIs.
With an eye on all the league games this week, the Twins used five different pitchers. Chamberlain worked two scoreless and hitless innings, Gibson worked a scoreless and hitless inning, Williams worked two scoreless and hitless innings, Ari Miller gave up four runs — two earned — on four hits in 1 1-3 innings, and Jayden Stuyvesant worked a scoreless and hitless two-thirds of an inning.
Legion Twins pitcher Malakai Olson delivers to Chugiak on Sunday, July 9, 2023, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Chugiak’s Fischer Sims steals second base in front of Legion Twins shortstop Andrew Pieh on Sunday, July 9, 2023, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
