The American Legion Twins split a doubleheader at Chugiak on Sunday, winning the first game 8-7 before dropping the second 15-3 in five innings.
The Twins are now 6-4 in the league and 7-4 overall. That currently puts them in third place in the National Division with 28 points. Chugiak is 7-4 and 9-7 and sits in second in the National Division with 32 points.
In the first game, the Twins came back for the victory.
Klayton Justice got the start and went four innings, giving up six hits and seven runs — four earned. Justice hit three, walked one and struck out one.
The Twins were behind 7-4 after the fourth inning, but Dallas Pierren came on to shut the Mustangs out for the rest of the game and set the stage for the comeback.
Pierren gave up just one hit in relief, hitting one, walking one and striking out seven.
Twins coach Hector Rivera said that without a hard thrower in the bullpen, he decided to use Pierren, who normally starts, in relief. It paid off.
On offense, Kenny Griffin was 4 for 5 with three RBIs and a run; Justin Wisnewski was 3 for 4 with two RBIs and a run; JJ Sonnen was 2 for 4; and Hector A. Rivera was 2 for 5 with two runs.
Calvin Hills had a big RBI to get the Twins within a run in the eighth.
In the ninth, Wisnewski had a double and Rivera had a single, then both scored on a game-winning single from Griffin.
“It was good they managed to come back and back Dallas,” Hector Rivera said.
The second game got out of control when the Mustangs scored 12 times in the fourth inning.
Miles Jones got the start, pitching three innings and giving up three runs, one earned, and two hits while hitting two and walking three.
But in the fourth, relievers Ben Barton, Tyler Covey, Tommy Bowe and JJ Sonnen could not hold down Chugiak.
On offense, Rivera, Griffin, Bowe and Pierren had hits, while Pierren had a pair of RBIs.
Rivera said the Twins have a different schedule this year. In the past, doubleheaders typically meant a league game followed by a nonleague game. But this year, the Twins have played just one nonleague game. With 18 players on the team, Rivera said that means getting everybody involved is tough.
The Twins do have two classic doubleheaders coming up. On Friday and Saturday, the Twins play 12:30 p.m. doubleheaders at Kodiak, with the first being a league game and the second nonleague.
