Twins zap Gonzaga
Glacier Twins pitcher Skyler Warner delivers a pitch against the Gonzaga Prep Bulldogs during the Twins’ 11-3 victory in the Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial Baseball Tournament on Thursday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake_
Glacier Twins’ Nathan Hader slides home for the game-ending run against the Gonzaga Prep Bullpups in their opening game in the Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial Baseball Tournament on Thursday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)
WHITEFISH — The Glacier Twins thought it would be tougher this weekend.
Several AA and even AAA American Legion teams are present for the Sapa/Johnsrud Memorial Tournament, an annual event hosted by the Twins.
The higher level of competition may catch up to the Twins, winners of 22 of their past 25 games, at some point, but it certainly wasn’t a problem Thursday night.
Coby Clark-Dickenson went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, Skylar Warner pitched five solid innings and Glacier took full advantage of a plethora of mistakes by visiting Gonzaga Prep in an 11-3 thrashing of the Bullpups.
“A lot of it’s confidence, building confidence in a AA tournament like this,” Clark-Dickenson said.
“We’re going to see a lot of tough teams, and that’s going to prepare us. Keeping our confidence up is going to help us throughout the whole tournament if we can keep doing this for at least a couple games.”
The Twins jumped out to a quick lead in the first inning the same way they tacked on many more runs later — thanks to a Gonzaga Prep error.
Greyson Bistodeau, who went 3-4 with two RBIs in his return to the lineup from injury, scored one of his two runs when a potential Ryan Veneman double-play ball was thrown away by the Bullpups’ shortstop.
The visitors committed a total of six errors in the game. Just three of the Twins’ 11 runs were earned off Gonzaga Prep starter Josh Grimes.
“Capitalize, and try to minimize,” Glacier head coach Scott Murray said of the mistakes.
“They did good that way.”
The Bullpups made two more errors in the second inning, and the Twins capitalized with four runs, giving themselves an early cushion.
Bistodeau doubled to deep center field to drive in Dan Seymour and later came around to score on Tom Hellwig’s two-run single to left field.
Hellwig, who advanced to second after his single thanks to Gonzaga Prep’s second error of the inning, scored on Veneman’s sacrifice fly.
That provided ample help to Skyler Warner, who allowed just one earned run over his five innings.
“He kept them (to) short contact,” Murray said.
“That’s kind of what he does. Going the distance tonight, he left us some pitching for this weekend.
“He didn’t throw his changeup much. (He threw) fastball and curve. We like to get it mixed up, but if it’s working, it’s working.”
It indeed worked just fine for Warner.
He allowed five hits and walked only one in an economical 73-pitch outing.
“Tonight, I was just planning on kind of letting them hit it,” Warner said.
“That’s always been my approach. Just let them hit it. If it’s blowing by them, it’s blowing by them. But let them hit it. We’ve got a great defense behind me.”
The defense wasn’t perfect for the Twins — they had three errors — but it was plenty good enough to protect the lead that grew continuously larger throughout the game.
Clark-Dickenson’s two-run single to center field keyed a three-run fourth inning that put the game away, and Bistodeau and Dan Seymour each had RBI singles in the fifth to put a stamp on an emphatic win for the Twins in the opening round of pool play.
They’ll look to continue their recent run of success tonight at 8 p.m. against the Lethbridge Spitz Elks.
With one tough team behind them, Glacier is well aware of what still remains ahead.
“We’ll make it close every game, knowing this team,” Clark-Dickenson said.
“It’s going to be tight. They’re good teams, but I think we’ll fight through it.”
Gonzaga 110 01x x — 3 5 6
Glacier 240 32x x — 11 11 3
WP: Skyler Warner LP: Josh Grimes
GONZAGA PREP BULLPUPS AAA — Lucas Struck 1-2, Carsen Snyler 1-3, Nick Drynan 1-3, Phil Reynolds 0-3, Jeff Young 0-2, Bo McGinn 1-2, Davis Wright 0-2, Taylor Kelly 0-2, Grant Bradley 1-1, Josh Miller 0-1
GLACIER TWINS A — Greyson Bistodeau 3-4, Tom Hellwig 2-3, Ryan Veneman 0-1, Coby Clark-Dickenson 3-3, Derick Kastella 0-3, Tyler Murphy 1-3, Dan Seymour 2-3, Terek Bistodeau 0-1, Jack Schwaiger 0-3
2B: Carsen Snyler, Bo McGinn. Greyson Bistodeau, Tyler Murphy, Coby Clark-Dickenson. 3B: Lucas Struck. RBI: Carsen Snyler, Bo McGinn. Greyson Bistodeau 2, Tom Hellwig, Ryan Veneman, Coby Clark-Dickenson 3, Dan Seymour.