Twins go 2-1 on trip

The Post 20 Twins avenged earlier league losses to West and Dimond, but then lost to Eagle River on a weekend road trip.

“Overall, we’re excited,” Twins coach Robb Quelland said. “We took two of three against very good teams. We would have liked to go three for three, but we’re excited and happy to get the two.”

The Twins are 7-5 in the league and 10-7 overall. They open their play in the Bill Miller Wood Bat Tournament with two games at Coral Seymour Memorial Park on Tuesday — 4 p.m. vs. Walla Walla, Washington, and 7 p.m. vs. West.

In Friday’s game, the Twins avenged a pair of losses to West on June 18 with a 10-6 victory.

“West came off a couple of really high-level wins this week,” Quelland said. “Coming in and playing them helps set the bar as to how much we’ve improved over the past couple of weeks.”

The Twins led 6-1 after three innings, but West came back to tie the game at 6 after five innings. But Post 20 scored once in the seventh, twice in the eighth and once in the ninth to salt away the victory.

Mose Hayes got the start for the Twins and gave up six runs and three hits in 4 2-3 innings, although just one of those runs was earned. Hayes walked three and struck out six.

Calvin Hills shut the Eagles down over the last 4 1-3 innings to collect the win. Hills gave up just two hits while walking one and striking out five.

Adam Brinster led the 13-hit attack for the Twins at the plate by going 4 for 5 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Hayes was 2 for 5 and Porter Fannon was 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI. Hill and Paul Steffensen each scored a pair of runs for the Twins.

Saturday, the Twins started out the day with a 15-11 victory over Dimond. The Twins had split with the Lynx on June 17, but Dimond had taken the league game.

The top four in the lineup keyed the victory. Steffensen was 4 for 4 with four runs and three RBIs, Cody Quelland was 3 for 5 with a run and three RBIs, Kenny Griffin was 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI, and Hills was 3 for 6 with two runs and two RBIs.

The Twins, who put up 14 hits, also got two runs from Seth Adkins. Quelland said the week off before the road trip really helped the players get some rest to pour into their offensive abilities.

“It’s a long season coming right out of high school into legion,” he said. “Our schedule was front-loaded so it was nice to have a small break and get everyone some time back in the cage.”

Logan Smith went 7 1-3 innings, giving up seven runs — five earned — on 10 hits, walking two and striking out five. David Belger pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up just a hit, while Adkins finished up with an inning, giving up three runs on four hits.

The Twins then finished their Saturday with an 11-6 loss to Eagle River.

Quelland said the two previous nine-inning games had left the Twins a bit thin on pitching, so four were called on to get the team through the game.

Harrison Metz took the loss, going one inning and giving up six runs — five earned — on three hits. David Belger yielded two runs on three hits in three innings, while Quelland gave up three runs — two earned — in an inning, and Steffensen pitched a scoreless inning.

On offense, Quelland was 3 for 3 with three RBIs, while Hayes was 2 for 2.