Twins' offense heats up in 18-6 victory over Libby

WHITEFISH - Maybe it was the weather?

It may not have been the 70 degree temperatures that heated up the Glacier Twins' bats on Wednesday night.

But something sure did.

The AA Twins (5-5) had 18 hits, including a home run, two triples and three doubles en route to an 18-6 American Legion baseball win over the Libby Loggers at Memorial Park.

Devyn Rocker picked up the win for the Twins as he held Libby to one hit in four innings work. Rocker struck out four and walked one.

"With 18 hits, it's clear we hit the ball well. And with no errors, we played great defense. It was fun to see the kids come out and hit the ball. Makes it easy as a coach," smiled Glacier head coach Lindsay Fansler.

"Devyn Rocker did a great job setting the tone on the mound, throwing strikes and giving our offense a chance," Fansler said.

It didn't take Glacier long to ignite that offense - it had five runs on six hits in the second inning, then added 10 more runs in the fourth inning. The Twins batted all the way around in both of those innings.

Chris King and Cody Elek led the way. King was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second of the season) and Elek was 3-for-5 with a triple and a double.

"With Chris King and Cody Elek in the center of our lineup, we really think we have a chance to score a lot of runs," Fansler said.

There were some bright spots for the Loggers, too.

For one thing, the Loggers were down 15-0 after four innings, but battled back with three runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and two more in the seventh.

Plus, Micah Germany hit the first home run of his career - a two-run shot in the seventh inning.

But the Twins just had too much firepower.

"The life and times of an inexperienced team is all it is. We're a heck of a lot better now than we were two weeks ago," said Libby coach Kelly Morford.

"I was glad that we kept playing and came back and scored a few runs. That's a good sign as far as character goes," he said.

"We just made a few silly mistakes. We don't have to make extraordinary plays - just the routine ones. But they are coming along and we'll be fine in the long run," he added.

"I thought the Haggerty brothers (Andrew and Luke) swung the bat well. We're solid at the top half of the lineup. We get some of those other guys going, we'll be a lot better offensively."

Libby 000 031 2 - 6 7 3

Glacier 050 (10)12 x - 18 18 0

Micah Germany, Tate Wilson (4), Will Reichel (4) and Jared Winslow, Micah Germany (4). Devyn Rocker, Connor Donohue (5), Cody Elek (7) and Jeremy Nielsen. W - Rocker. L - Germany.

Libby - Justin Wicka 0-3, Jared Winslow 0-3, Cody Benefield 0-0, Micah Germany 1-3, Alex Cislo 1-3, Tate Wilson 1-3, Andrew Haggerty 2-3, Luke Haggerty 1-4, Dylan Berget 0-2, Gunnar Bradeen 1-1, Will Reichel 0-2.

HR - Germany. 2B - A. Haggerty. RBI - Germany 2, Bradeen 1, L. Haggerty 1.

Glacier - Jeremy Nielsen 3-5, Devyn Rocker 0-4, Cody Elek 3-5, Chris King 2-4, Jack Cronin 3-3, Kyler Blades 1-3, Connor Donohue 0-1, Cody Hill 3-4, Isaac Venezio 2-3, Jim Jumper 1-5.

HR - King. 3B - Elek, Cronin. 2B - Nielsen, Elek, Hill. RBI - Nielsen 3, Rocker 1, Elek 4, King 4, Cronin 1, Donohue 1, Isaac Venezio 1, Jumper 1.