Tough loss for Twins
<p>Glacier Twins Cody Elek slides into second base on a steal in the bottom of the third inning against the Spokane Cannons Friday evening at Memorial Park.</p>
<p>Glacier Twins catcher Jim Jumper tags out a Spokane Cannons runner who tagged up after a fly ball to left field in the top of the second inning at Memorial Park Friday night.</p>
The Glacier Twins fell to 0-2 in the Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial Tournament in Whitefish Friday after a 3-2 loss to the Spokane Cannons.
The loss was in stark contrast to the Twins' first outing, a 15-10 slugfest of a loss to the Kalispell Lakers that kept the Memorial Field lights illuminated until midnight Wednesday.
But Glacier coach Lindsay Fansler was anything but disappointed with his team after Friday's outing.
"They're playing well," Fansler said of the Twins. "We never want to lose a baseball game but I'm happy when we play well and stay competitive."
Glacier's Cody Hill and Spokane's Justin Altmeyer dueled with equally impressive outings on the mound.
Both pitchers gave up only six hits and had no problems finding the strikezone throughout the seven-inning affair.
It was Altmeyer who got the win, though, after Spokane scored three runs in the sixth and seventh innings to take away the lead that Glacier held for most of the game.
Hill, who registered eight strikeouts in the loss, gave up a leadoff single to Thomas Wakem to start the sixth.
Austin Neil walked two batters later and both he and Wakem scored on wild pitches to make the score 3-2
Kyler Blades hit a single to get the Twins started in their half of the sixth, but Altmeyer retired the next three batters to escape the inning.
Nick Motsinger belted a triple to right field to start the inning for Spokane. He scored on a perfectly-placed squeeze bunt off the bat of Taylor Keetan, who also reached first base safely.
Glacier put itself in a position to win in the bottom of the seventh. Carl Talsma belted a single and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by pinch-hitter Jack Cronin.
The next batter, Jimmy Jumper, nailed a line drive that landed in the glove of David Hauschild, who tagged second and put out Talsma for the unassisted double play to end the game.
"It was just a well-played ball game," Fansler said. "It's tough, but that's the way it goes."
Glacier scored its' only two runs in the top of the first inning powered by a Jeremy Nielson single and a double by Chris King.
Fansler praised Hill for his performance after the game
"I felt like he did a great job throwing strikes," Fansler said. "And their pitcher did a great job too."
Glacier was slated to play a game with the Chino Reds Thursday night. The game was on pace to start at about 9:30 p.m. and the final score had not been reported as of press time. Check Sunday's Inter Lake for that score.
The Twins will play the Apple Valley Packers today at 5 p.m.
The Kalispell Lakers, who lost 10-9 to the Packers Friday, will play the Lethbridge Elks at 2 p.m.
In other tournament action Friday, the Spokane Cannons topped fell to the Chino Reds 4-3 and the Lethbridge Elks routed the Belgrade Bandits 11-3.
The tournament championship will be played tonight at 8 p.m.
Spokane 000 002 1 3 6 1
Glacier 200 000 0 2 6 1
Justin Altmeyer and Emmitt Stangel; Cody Hill and Elek. W - Altmeyer. L - Hill.
SPOKANE - Nick Motsinger 1-2, Taylor Keeton 1-4, Justin Liu 2-4, Thomas Wakem 1-3, Cody McGlockin 0-3, David Hauschild 0-1, Austin Neil 1-2, Stangel 0-2, Kyle Primm 0-2, John Schmedding 0-4.
2B - Liu; 3B - Motsinger. RBI - Keeton
GLACIER - Jeremy Nielson 1-4, Devyn Rocker 1-2, Kyler Blades 1-3, Elek 1-3, Geoff Streeter 0-3, Chris King 1-3, Carl Talsma 1-3, Connor Donahue 0-2, Jack Cronin 0-0, Jimmy Jumper 1-1.
2B - King; RBI - King