The Post 20 Twins defeated West Post 1 5-3 on Monday at the 73rd Alaska Legion Baseball State Tournament at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.
The Twins, the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament, and the No. 6 Eagles were playing for a spot in the semifinals.
Coming into the game, No. 3 Wasilla Post 35 had already won the Alyeska Pool at 3-0, while No. 7 Ketchikan Post 3 had been eliminated at 0-3.
The Twins finished 2-1 in the pool to move to 26-6-2 overall and advance to the semifinals for the third time in four years.
West ends its season at 18-15-1.
In Tuesday’s semifinals, No. 8 Eagle River faces Wasilla at 4 p.m. and Kenai plays No. 1 overall seed and defending champion Service at 7 p.m.
The final is at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
To beat the Eagles, the Twins had to rebound from a 12-2 loss to Wasilla on Sunday during which Post 20 committed seven errors and collected just three hits.
It all started with a two-hour practice before the game Monday.
“We had to get back into baseball mode,” Twins head coach Robb Quelland said. “That was just a bad showing for our program, our team, our community and the kids.
“We responded well to it, then came out and played a really good game against a very good team in West.”
Post 20 also took in Eagle River’s victory over Chugiak Post 33 before playing the Eagles. Quelland said the game was good. He reminded his players they had beaten both those teams quite often during the season.
“It was mostly just attitude,” Quelland said. “They came out and you could see their confidence. I mean, this was a team that had a phenomenal regular season.”
The Eagles made the Twins work for it in a quality game in which the only error was committed by Post 20.
Post 20 led 2-0 after the first inning. When West responded with a run in the second inning, the Twins scored a run in the bottom of the inning.
In the fourth, the Eagles cut it to 3-2, but the Twins made it 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth. West tacked on its final run in the top of the fifth.
The Eagles left 11 on base and finished 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position, while the Twins left nine on and were 5 of 14 with runners in scoring position.
Jacob Joanis, one of three full-time starters returning from last year, worked five innings for the win. He gave up three runs — two earned — on seven hits while waking four and striking out three.
Quelland got Joanis out after 94 pitches. Jayden Stuyvesant, another returning starter, pitched a scoreless final two innings for the save, yielding only a hit and a walk.
Joanis and Stuyvesant also came up big at the plate. Stuyvesant was 4 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Joanis was 2 for 4 with a double, two runs and an RBI.
“They have a lot of pride,” Quelland said of Joanis and Stuyvesant. “Their feelings were hurt (Sunday).”
Also for the Twins, Clyde Clemens was 2 for 2 with a run, Malakai BeDunnah had a hit and a run, and Daniel Steffensen had a hit and an RBI.
Ari Miller helped stop a rally in the sixth by throwing out a runner trying to steal second.
Quelland said the semifinals is a nice accomplishment for a team that returned just three starters from last season, and also will age out just two players after the season.
It also shows the value of getting players 30 games a year at the A level before moving up to AA. Post 20 has won the A state tournament the past three years.
“Most of these young men have played two seasons of Legion A ball with 30 extra games a year,” Quelland said. “They’re not surprised and they’re not scared.”
Post 20 lost in the state semis in 2022 and 2023, with the 2023 loss coming to Service.
The Cougars are looking for a fourth straight appearance in the title game.
The Twins, who won state titles in 1991, 1995, 2012 and 2016, are looking for an eighth appearance in the state title game.
Quelland said he’s happy with the state of the pitching staff headed into the game.
“They’ve broken our heart many times, but we’ve broken their hearts too,” Quelland said. “Service is the premier team of the year in our league. We don’t fear them, but we respect them.
“They’re going to give us a handful. I think, if we come out and play like we did today, we’ll give them a handful.”
