The American Legion Twins opened their season by topping Dimond 16-3 on Tuesday in Anchorage.
The Lynx fall to 0-1 in the league and 2-2 overall.
The Twins had players in the lineup from Southcentral Conference rivals Kenai Central, Soldotna and Kodiak. The players were all competing against each other at the Division II state tournament last weekend, but quickly got together to dominate the opener.
Twins pitchers gave up just one hit on the day.
Colby Sturman, who was scheduled to be Soldotna’s first reliever in Saturday’s championship against Kenai but was not needed, got the start and went 3 2-3 innings, giving up two runs — one earned — on no hits while walking two and striking out three.
Charlie Chamberlain, who provided key relief in the state semifinals to get the Kards to their first state final, recorded an out while giving up an unearned run. Chamberlain had a walk.
Atticus Gibson, the 2022 Soldotna graduate who was the winning pitcher in the 2022 Division II state title game, pitched the final three innings, giving up no runs on a hit while walking one and striking out two.
The Twins scored in each of the first four innings to enter the bottom of the fourth up 7-0. Dimond struck for three runs in the bottom of the fourth, but then went scoreless the rest of the game. The Twins scored nine times in the top of the seventh.
Hunter Williams, of Kodiak, went 3 for 5 with three runs and two RBIs from the leadoff slot. Kenai’s Braden Smith scored two runs, while Chamberlain had two runs and three RBIs.
Soldotna’s Derrick Jones was 3 for 4 with four runs.
The Twins stay on the road to face Service on Wednesday at 1 and 3 p.m. The first game is league, while the second is nonleague.
