The Twins ended their season with a 11-4 loss to the Cheyenne (Wyoming) Post 6 Sixers on Thursday at The American Legion Northwest Regional Tournament in Cheyenne.
The local nine finishes with a 32-10 overall record, including a 16-2 league mark that was second-best in Alaska, and the American Legion Alaska State Tournament championship — the fourth in the program’s history.
The one area where the Twins came up short was with the two losses at Northwest Regionals. The Twins have now been to end-of-season, Outside tournaments five times and have not recorded a win.
“It’s a really good experience for the kids and the coaching staff to get out here and see how these teams act and how they perform,” Twins coach Robb Quelland said. “We’ve seen what it takes to be an elite team in the region.
“The players saw the setups of the programs, what they do in practice and game preparations. It’s something we can bring back to our program and instill in our kids.”
One thing the Twins learned is state champions like the Post 6 Sixers can’t be given anything. The Twins actually outhit Cheyenne 9-7 but still ended up way behind on the scoreboard because Twins pitchers walked 10 and hit three more. Cheyenne issued one walk and had one hit batter.
“It’s different than playing teams in Alaska,” Quelland said. “You have to have your best game offensively and defensively or you come up short, and it didn’t help we gave up 13 free bases.”
Matthew Daugherty got the start and pitched four innings, giving up six runs (five earned) while yielding four hits and walking seven.
“He was on or off,” Quelland said. “At times, he looked brilliant. At other times, he looked sloppy.”
Gavin Petterson pitched the last four innings for the Twins, giving up five runs (four earned) on three hits while walking three.
Cheyenne starter Connor Redman gave up runs in each of the first two innings, but settled in after that and didn’t give up a run in his last five innings as the Sixers, who scored in every inning, pulled away.
Kenny Griffin was 2 for 5 with two RBIs for the Twins, while Josh Darrow also was 2 for 5. Calvin Hills and Cody Quelland each had a hit and a run, while Petterson had a hit and an RBI. Paul Steffensen added a run, while Tyler Covey and Matthew Daugherty had hits.
Quelland said some age stipulations are up in the air, but that about five kids will age off the team.
But with a junior varsity team that lost just two games, Quelland likes where the program is at.
“This speaks volumes for the quality of players we have on the peninsula,” he said.
The Twins don’t get much time to savor the season. They were scheduled to leave Cheyenne early Friday morning to return to Alaska.
