Glacier Twins look for repeat performance at state baseball tournament
GREAT FALLS — Coming off a 23-2 loss doesn’t usually inspire confidence.
But for the Glacier Twins A, Sunday’s loss in the Western District championship game to the Bitterroot Red Sox means they enter this week’s Montana/Alberta State A American Legion tournament as the second seed from their district, and that’s a familiar feeling.
It’s the same spot the Twins were in two years ago when Glacier won the tournament and reached the Northwest A Regional championships in Alaska.
“We saw this in 2014 when where we were in the same situation that we are now,” Twins coach Bob Rupp said. “Everybody’s healthy and we’re ready to play.”
The lopsided result in the district championship game was as much a result of fatigue as anything else, coming mere hours after Glacier’s come-from-behind 11-10 over the Kalispell Lakers A in a game that determined which of the two clubs would reach the state tourney.
“We went into [the Lakers] game with the mentality that we had to win that game,” Rupp said. “When we started playing the Red Sox it was kind of a release because some of the guys had a long week.”
Glacier’s (36-22) lineup against Bitterroot was filled with youngsters while tired veterans rested, and the Twins are eager for another crack at the district champs despite going 0-6 against the defending state champions so far this year.
“The Red Sox are a good team. If you put the ball anywhere near the strike zone they will hit it,” Rupp said. “It wasn’t the result that we wanted but we knew it was OK because we would get another shot at them if we play the way we think we’re going to play at state.”
The double-elimination state tournament begins today and Glacier opens up against the Eastern District champion Laurel Dodgers at 1 p.m. Tournament qualifiers include the top two teams from four different districts in Montana and Alberta.
Laurel will host this year’s Northwest A regional tournament August 3-7 and has automatically qualified for that event. The winner of the state tournament — or the runner-up, if Laurel wins — will also reach the regionals, the final event of the year for Class A teams. There is no American Legion Class A national tournament.
The Twins will likely go as far as their terrific top three starting pitchers will take them, with either A.J. Wetsch or Tyler Murphy slated to draw the start in today’s game. Jonny Sapa joins those two atop the rotation.
Wetsch was the Most Valuable Pitcher at the state tournament two years ago when the Twins won, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the championship game, coincidentally an 8-4 defeat of Laurel. Wetsch is 4-3 this year with a 3.38 ERA in 12 starts.
Murphy is Glacier’s best pitcher by the numbers with a 2.25 ERA, 1.17 WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) and just 46 hits allowed in 72 innings. Murphy also has 75 strikeouts and fired a no-hitter against the Kootenai Valley Rangers on June 21.
Sapa also has a no-hitter to his credit this year, shutting down the Mission Valley Mariners on June 15. He is 2-0 with a 3.11 ERA and 40 strikeouts against 13 walks.
The Twins also have depth offensively, with six regulars batting .350 or better entering the state tournament. Vinny Smith, who will play at Miles City Community College next year, leads Glacier with a .405 average, 24 extra-base hits and 54 RBIs. Smith has struck out only seven times in 193 plate appearances.
James Sampson-Keck paces Glacier in on-base percentage (.477) and boasts a .401 average of his own. Wetsch (.378 average), Colten Parker (.374), Murphy (.363) and Jesse Walburn (.350) are the other regulars with an average of at least .350.
The majority of tournament games will be played at Centene Stadium, home of the Pioneer League’s Great Falls Voyagers. If the Twins win today they will play again Friday at 4 p.m. at Centene against either the Livingston Braves or Great Falls Chargers.
2016 Montana/Alberta State A Tournament
At Centene Stadium (Great Falls)
Thursday
First Round
10 a.m. — N1 Vauxhall Spurs vs. S2 Belgrade Bandits
1 p.m. — E1 Laurel Dodgers vs. W2 Glacier Twins
4 p.m. — W1 Bitterroot Red Sox vs. E2 Billings Cardinals
7 p.m. — S1 Livingston Braves vs. N2 Great Falls Chargers