Twins win West A title, 11-10 over Mariners

POLSON — The Glacier Twins took the long route to a district title, and it could have been longer.

Mikey Glass, Tristan Butts and Jake McIntyre all homered, and the Twins rallied from a 7-5 deficit before holding off Mission Valley 11-10 in the West A District Legion championship Sunday.

The slugfest featured five home runs, including one each from Mission Valley’s Wyatt Wadsworth and Hunter Emerson. The Mariners went into the final unbeaten, so an if-necessary game could have been played Monday. Instead, the Twins (28-9) — who beat the Bitterroot Bucs 6-1 earlier Sunday to make the title game — will take the West’s top seed into the State A tournament that begins Wednesday in Laurel.

The Mariners (24-15), who beat the Twins in winner’s bracket action on Saturday, grabbed the second and final seed out of the West.

Twins 11, Mariners 10

Wadsworth’s RBI double sparked a three-run first inning for Mission Valley, before Glass and McIntyre hit two-run home runs in the bottom of the inning, putting the Twins up 4-3.

The Mariners were down 5-4 when Emerson hit a three-run blast to get his team back in front, in the top of the fourth.

In the bottom of that inning Glass hit a bases-loaded, RBI single and Butts followed with a grand slam to put Glacier back in from 10-7. Maddox Muller added a sacrifice fly for the Twins in the fifth.

That was just enough cushion because Wadsworth belted a two-out, three-run homer for the Mariners in the seventh. Butts, who came in to pitch in the fifth inning, then got a strikeout to end the game.

Butts and Glass each drove in four runs, and Glass and Muller each scored twice.

For Mission Valley, Wadsworth drove in four runs and scored twice. Espn Fisher, who started the game on the mound and finished it catching, scored three times. Dawson DuMont and Emerson each scored twice.

The Twins will take on the South District’s No. 2 seed, the Butte Miners, in the State A’s first game Wednesday at 10 a.m. At 1 p.m. the Mariners will battle the South champion Belgrade Bandits.

Mariners 300 400 3 - 10 14 3

Twins 410 51 x - 11 11 0

Espn Fisher, Cole Wadsworth (4) and Hunter Emerson, Fisher (4). Dayne Tu, Tristan Butts (5) and AC Chilson.

MISSION VALLEY MARINERS — C.Wadsworth 3-5, Fisher 2-4, Dawson DuMont 2-3, Wyatt Wadsworth 2-5, Emerson 1-4, Cymian kAULEY 1-2, Aiden Gfroerer 1-4, Zak Mauzquiz 2-4, Landon Shoemake 0-4.

GLACIER TWINS — Maddox Muller 1-3, Mikey Glass 3-4, Butts 1-4, Kellen Kroger 2-4, Jake McIntyre 2-4, Michael Miller 0-3, Sam Hall 0-1, Connor Venezio 0-2, Tu 1-1, Josiah Ruthr 0-2, Chilson 1-3.

2B — W.Wadsworth, Muzquiz, DuMont, Chilson. HR — W.Wadsworth, Emerson, Butts, McIntyre, Glass. RBIs — W.Wadsworth 4, Emerson 3, DuMont, Kauley, Gfroerer, Glass 4, Butts 4, McIntyre 2.

Twins 6, Bucs 1

Buttes went 4-for-4 at the plate and scored three times to back the pitching of Glass (four innings, two hits and four walks allowed, with five strikeouts) and Muller.

Muller, who threw three scoreless innings, fanning three, was 3-for-3 with two runs scored.

Kellen Kroger’s two-run double in the first inning set the tone for the Twins, who also got an RBI single from Kroger in the fourth inning and a sacrifice fly from Dayne Tu in the third inning,

The Bucs ended up third in the tournament, with a 34-11 record..