Glacier may field best squad in 3 years

Twins will be young, but roster has solid backups, deep pitching staff

WHITEFISH - Changes abound for the 2005 Glacier Twins - deeper outfield fences, new uniforms and a host of fresh faces.

"We're going to be young," Twins coach Jack Helber said. "It's exciting. I think this will be the best group of guys I've had in my three years."

The Twins may be young, but they are also deep, boasting solid backups throughout the lineup and a 12-deep pitching staff.

"We've got a lot to learn, but I think we're going to be OK," said Helber, who is in town this week helping with camps and fundraising.

"The conference is going to be wide open, and I figure that we'll be part of it, and I look forward to the challenge."

Justin Cooper is back from last year's team and will be Glacier's No. 1 starter. Behind him will be Billy Marcial and Jesse Paulson.

"Justin Cooper will be our ace this year, and he did a heck of a job for us last year," Helber said. "We've got a kid that has transferred in from Washington, Jesse Paulson, and he'll do a good job for us. He'll also play the outfield and be in the middle of our lineup.

"We need to find a fourth and maybe a fifth starter, and that fourth or fifth guy may be in the person of three people, sort of a three-man job.

"We've got nine other guys that can pitch. (Chris) Barnes will be a good left-hander for us. Brian Newbury is another kid coming up who should do a good job for us on the hill."

Right now there is no established closer, but Helber plans to use the first few games of the season to audition candidates.

"We haven't identified him, but we think we have four or five guys that could fill that role," he said.

Nik Caron moves in from third base to catcher, replacing Ben Lemieux. Chase Kolodejchuk gets a promotion from the A team to play third.

"Shortstop is up for grabs, but we have two or three candidates to fill that," Helber said. "At second base, we have Morgan Phelps and a kid from the A team, Zac Wooten, that I really like. I think we'll be in good shape in the infield."

The improved depth for the Twins this year presents a pleasant problem for the coaching staff - getting everybody enough playing time.

"We've been talking that the challenge is going to be to find appropriate roles for everybody," Helber said. "We don't want anybody on the bench and not getting anything.

"In that regard, we have people we can put out there, and whoever's hot is hot, and we'll keep them out there until the time comes they cool down a little bit and somebody else gets a chance.

"We will be playing a lot of ballplayers."

Another strength of the team will be speed, and to that end the Twins have moved back the fences at Memorial Field to help with extra-base hits, thought Helber concedes the main reason is to keep other teams from hitting it out.

"I think we're going to be able to run," he said. "We've got some speed and it should be an interesting part of our game."

Among the schedule highlights is a trip to Southern California in June, when the team will attend major league games in San Diego and Anaheim, plus the Sapa-Johnsrud and Wood Bat tournaments.

"We're looking forward to a big improvement, and I think we'll have a good ballclub this year," Helber said. "We have a lot of chess men that we can move around and put in different spots."

The season starts with the Black-White scrimmage today at 4 p.m. The regular season begins May 7 with a doubleheader against Helena at Memorial Field.