Saturday: Twins sweep doubleheader from Dimond

The American Legion Post 20 Twins swept a doubleheader from Dimond Lynx Post 21 on Saturday at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai.

The Twins improved to 3-2 in the league and 5-2 overall after winning their fifth straight game. Dimond falls to 1-4 in the league and 2-7 overall.

Post 20 won the league game, which was scheduled for seven innings, 3-2 in nine innings.

In the ninth, Derrick Jones opened by reaching on an error and a Gabe Joanis bunt put Jones on second.

With Trenton Ohnemus at the plate, Jones moved to third on a wild pitch, then the Twins walked off when Ohnemus drilled a single to center.

Both Ohnemus and Jones missed parts of the first two weeks of the season.

“We talked about at practice that our season started today,” Twins coach Robb Quelland said. “OK. We played a couple of games last weekend and the weeks before, but now we have our full complement of players.

“We’ll see what we can do.”

Quelland already loves where the team is at with pitching and defense. He said the Twins made two mistakes in the first game — a passed ball and dropped ball in the outfield.

“They didn’t give up,” Quelland said of his team. “They kept playing great defense.

“We had one miscue in the outfield that didn’t hurt us and one passed ball. It’s not bad. Second game of the season and you’re making two mistakes.”

Malakai Olson pitched the first four innings for the Twins, giving up a run on three hits while walking five and striking out six.

Quelland said Olson was pulled after four innings due to a high pitch count.

Gabe Smith got the win by working the final five innings, giving up an unearned run on three hits while walking none and striking out two.

“We got arms,” Quelland said. “There was no hesitation in going to Gabe Smith. And we had two other guys after him.”

The Lynx were able to counter with some arms of their own.

Colin Doherty kept Post 20 off-balance all game, giving up two runs on five hits while walking two and striking out five.

Doherty was unfortunate to give up the two runs that he did. In the first, Matthew Schilling scored on a bloop infield hit by Smith. In the third, Hunter Williams scored when Andrew Pieh, who was 2 for 4, legged out an infield hit.

“His shoulder wasn’t feeling 100% and he started off throwing easier than he normally does,” Lynx head coach Phil Doherty said of Colin Doherty. “I think it probably helped.

“I think they have a really good hitting team, and sometimes the guys that are throwing a little bit softer can really mess up a team’s timing.”

Post 21 got its two runs in regulation when Rowan Leathard, who was 2 for 4, singled in Shane Flannery in the third inning and Doherty scored on a passed ball in the fifth.

Dimond left the bases loaded twice, once after juicing them with one out.

“I’m happy that we’re getting guys on base, but we’re leaving too many runners out there,” coach Doherty said. “Again, I have to look at it in terms of earlier in the year we weren’t getting runners on base, so there was no one to leave.”

In their last game, Doherty said the Lynx also lost an extra-inning game to the Wasilla Road Warriors.

“We’re making improvements,” Doherty said. “But this is our second game in a row we had just one or two small mental errors, even more than physical errors, that cost us a run.

“In a 3-2 ballgame, that’s everything.”

Fredy Caetano took the lost for Post 21, giving up the unearned run on three hits in 1 1-3 innings of work.

In the 8-6 nonleague win for the Twins, Dimond held a 6-3 lead entering the bottom of the sixth, but the Twins scored five runs to take the victory.

Jayden Stuyvesant was 2 for 3 for the Twins, while Flannery was 2 for 3 with two runs for Dimond.

For the Twins, Jacob Joanis gave up three runs — two earned — on four hits in two innings, Jones gave up an unearned run on no hits in an inning, Levi Mickelson gave up no runs and a hit in two innings, Pieh gave up an unearned run on no hits in an inning, and Stuyvesant pitched a scoreless and hitless inning.