The American Legion Post 20 Twins dropped their season opener to the Eagle River Wolves 13-3 on Wednesday at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai.
On paper, the game looked like a juicy matchup to start the season. Eagle River has won the last three state Legion titles and just finished second in the Division I state baseball tournament.
The Wolves are led by Bill Lierman, who has three state Legion titles as Eagle River head coach, three titles as Chugiak head coach and three as a Chugiak player.
The Twins were knocked out in the semifinals of the last two state tournaments, losing each contest by a run.
Six of the 14 players on the roster — Andrew Pieh, Ari Miller, Derrick Jones, Levi Mickelson, Matthew Schilling and Jayden Stuyvesant — just finished winning a third-straight Division II state title for Soldotna.
Five more — Gabe Smith, Gabe Joanis, Jacob Joanis, Kalani Beddow and Keoni Beddow — are from a Kenai Central program that was second in Division II last season and third this season.
Hunter Williams and Malakai Olson represent Kodiak, while Henry Wedvik is from Homer.
The sizzling matchup on paper never took shape, as the Wolves led 9-1 after three innings.
Part of the reason was the weather. Rain pelted the field throughout the game and the infield was kept — barely — playable. The nonconference, second game of the doubleheader was canceled due to field conditions.
“It was hard for all these kids,” Twins coach Robb Quelland said. “It was wet and miserable.
“We had to change a lot of elements of the game, and I’m sure Eagle River did too. The run game was gone.”
The other factor that influenced the game is Eagle River added a few players to its high school team, while Quelland is combining players from four schools.
“The conditions were difficult, but they were difficult for both sides,” Quelland said. “We’ve just really begun.
“We had one and a half practices and handed out uniforms. Our players are trying to find spots. Combining teams is always difficult for the first couple of weeks.”
Lierman knows not to count out the Twins.
“Coach Q is going to have these guys ready to go,” he said. “You have two teams coming together.
“You obviously have the Kodiak guy coming in, so they’re going to be a much different team. In two weeks, I would expect them to be a top three team.”
Olson, who made first team on the Team of Excellence for the Twins last summer, got the start but struggled with conditions.
Olson normally uses command and different speeds to keep hitters off-balance, but due to the slippery mound and ball, Olson was the one who looked more off-balance.
He gave up seven runs on four hits in two innings while walking five.
“It was just one of those things where it wasn’t his day,” Quelland said of Olson. “Almost any other day, he’s great.”
Smith went 3 2-3 innings for Kenai, giving up six unearned runs on seven hits while walking six. Pieh recorded an out without issue, but all told the Twins walked 11.
Tommy Molloy and Gage Rose combined to walk just four for Eagle River. Molloy gave up a run on three hits in three innings, while Rose gave up two runs on five hits in three innings.
“They didn’t walk too many guys, which was good,” Lierman said. “That was also somewhat by design.
“If we were going to miss, we were going to miss over the plate today, instead of missing out. In a game that’s a little drier, we’d probably allow more balls.”
Lierman said his hitters are tuned up from facing really good pitching at the end of the high school season. He said the Wolves did a good job of taking advantage of 1-0 counts.
Gunner Mountcastle was 3 for 5 with three runs and three RBIs, Liam Lierman was 3 for 4 with three RBIs, and Ryan Mullen was 2 for 4 with two runs.
The Twins had eight hits to the 11 of Eagle River. Post 20 showed its depth with eight of the nine players in the lineup collecting hits. Quelland said the hitting was a positive sign, because he said Division I pitching is better than Division II pitching.
“We have a great roster,” Quelland said. “They all get along and they’re doing well. It’s just going to probably take the coaching to figure it out.”
In addition to Olson, Quelland said the Twins get a ton of potential on the mound from Williams. Williams was named Top Pitcher at the state tournament in 2022, but Quelland said Williams had to deal with injuries last season.
Quelland also said Smith, Pieh and Jones will see a lot of time on the mound. Schilling and Wedvik will provide a left-handed look.
In the batting order, Quelland said Williams provides a good leadoff option, and players like Schilling, Pieh, Mickelson and Smith should flourish behind him.
There will be a three-way battle at catcher between Stuyvesant, Kalani Beddow and Miller. With the catcher, Pieh at short, Jones at second base and Mickelson in center field, Quelland said the team will be strong up the middle.
“It will take these guys probably about a week or so to be tuned up,” Quelland said. “When we talked to the players, there was nothing on the other side of the field that shocked us. We weren’t like, ‘Oh my God, we can’t compete with this.’
“It was just a bad inning and walks.”
