Young Glacier Twins A look to turn the corner

Fresh faces will abound today when the Class A Glacier Twins entertain the Kalispell Lakers.

First-year head coach Lindsay Fansler leads a Glacier squad that is greener than the outfield grass at Glacier Twins Stadium at Memorial Park. Catcher Adam Pisk and pitcher Will Beasley are the Twins' only returning athletes from last season.

"We're definitely a younger team," Fansler said. "Most guys either went up to AA or didn't come back out."

Today's 5:30 p.m. American Legion baseball game was originally slated as Glacier's home opener, but the Twins agreed to a last-minute pair of home games against Cranbrook, British Columbia, last week.

And while the AA Twins have sprinted to a 7-1 record, Fansler's club has stumbled out of the blocks, losing both games to Cranbrook and one apiece to Mission Valley and Kootenai Valley in Eureka.

"It's kind of a shock for the kids to come out of Babe Ruth and be playing against 18- and 19-year-olds, in some situations, so you have to get used to that jump," Fansler said.

A Billings native, Fansler looks to lead Glacier's resurgence, along with AA coach Jarod Grubb.

"It is nice to have kind of a blank slate to work with," Fansler said. "Our priority as a team is we like to preach 'Control the things that you can,' which is catching and throwing correctly, good base running and limited mental mistakes."

Glacier's rotation will be fronted by two rangy pitchers. Kyle Knox and Kyle Yogodzinski are both more than six feet tall, and each will benefit from Pisk's experience behind the plate.

"He's been kind of the offensive leader, and will be relied on to take his experience and help the younger guys," Fansler said of Pisk, who will sharing catching duties with Cody Eleck.

Knox and Yogodzinski will alternate at first base when they're not on the mound, and Michael Calbick looks to man second.

Shortstop Wayde Martinson will set Glacier's tone offensively, batting leadoff.

"He's going to be one of the main guys in the offense," Fansler said.

Third baseman Dustin Vonfeldt rounds out the infield.

David FauntLeRoy, Sean Sagen and Trevor Miller will anchor the outfield.

A Billings Senior alumnus, Fansler played outfield and first base at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore. He then transferred to Willamette University - also in Salem - and played independent league baseball in Georgia in 2001.

Fansler moved from Billings, where he coached youth baseball and occasionally assisted the Billings Royals, to the Flathead Valley last fall. He spent the summer of 2000 here as a AA Twins assistant.

While Fansler hopes for a strong 2007 campaign, he knows it is crucial to keep Glacier's young talent on board from year-to-year to avoid a chronic rebuilding process.

The solution for retaining his players?

"Just having success and having a good experience with baseball in general," Fansler said. "Just seeing the community get behind some of these kids and baseball in general."