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Twins make their own luck, advance at State
Twins make their own luck, advance at State
- Twins make their own luck, advance at State
Jul. 25—The ball left Lewis-Clark Twins leadoff man Guy Krasselt's bat like a rocket.
One problem.
It found the Middleton Vikes third baseman's glove almost immediately.
The bottom of the first started almost identically to the top of the frame.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA hard-hit ball directly to the third baseman, except this ball fell out of Carson Henson's glove and onto the dirt.
The Vikes used their extra life to manufacture three runs in the first inning.
The game had just begun.
After a stroke of early misfortune, the Lewis-Clark Twins created their own luck.
And it proved to be more than enough to beat the Middleton Vikes 9-4 and advance in the Idaho AA American Legion state baseball tournament Friday at Harris Field in Lewiston.
Twins pitcher Zavier McFee fired five consecutive scoreless innings after his first-inning snafu to backup a Lewis-Clark offense which scored in bunches, fueled by Henson, who more than redeemed himself with a 3-for-4, two RBI, one-run day at the plate.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"We're not letting one inning shake us. We know our ability. We know what we can do," Twins coach Micah Brown said. "Came right back and answered, which was awesome, and something that shows that this team's ready to move forward and compete no matter what."
With the win, the Twins remained unbeaten heading into Day 3 of the double-elimination tournament and will face the Twin Falls Cowboys at 4 p.m. today back at Harris Field.
With three runs and three hits conceded in the first, McFee began to manufacture his own luck, flinging a pickoff to first baseman Cody Ells, who collaborated with second baseman Jackson Casey to tag out the Vikes runner in a pickle to end the inning.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWalking off the mound with his team in a 3-0 hole, McFee said he relied on his mental focus to help him hit his spots the rest of the game.
That keen awareness by McFee and his fielders repeated in the fourth frame after he struck out consecutive batters and a Middleton base runner attempted to steal second before McFee had committed to throwing a pitch.
"He just went before I went in my motion," McFee said. "Everyone told me to step off, (then I) got him out."
That kind of teamwork benefited the Twins all night, including in the fifth when a hard-hit liner found Casey's glove, who fired to Ells at first for the inning-ending double play.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMcFee allowed three runs (one earned) off five hits, while striking out five and walking four.
To McFee, Friday's game represented everything he has enjoyed about playing for the Twins this summer.
"I like the guys," McFee said. "We bond really well together. We just play good baseball together."
Twins score in bunches
It didn't take long for the Twins' bats to heat up fresh off a third consecutive triple-digit day in the valley and surrounded by the lingering smoke from wildfires ravaging the Pacific Northwest.
Tucker Green led off the top of the second with a walk, stole second and then zipped over to third on Casey's flyout, putting him in perfect position to race home on Morgan Bunch's RBI single.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementVikes 3, Twins 1.
A Henson bloop single later, Ty Collins laid down just about the most perfect bunt possible, squeezing the ball onto the grass just to the right of the third base line, and sprinting to first base, while Bunch scored and Henson advanced to third.
It wasn't a situation where teams may typically bunt, Brown said, but it was exactly what the team needed.
"Just finding a way to get on for your team, man," he said. "Being in that nine hole and getting our No. 1 hitter up, I just thought it was a great execution on his part, and the team loves that stuff and it gets them fired up."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWith Collins swinging the door wide open to the top of the order, Krasselt capitalized, drilling a deep RBI single to tie the game at three.
Following McFee's first of five scoreless frames, the Twins wasted little time taking the lead.
Catcher Cal Robbins slugged a leadoff double in the top of the third and Sam Hall hit pinch runner Makhi Durrett home to give Lewis-Clark a 4-3 advantage.
In the fifth inning, the Twins cranked up their lead from slight to sensational, spanking the ball to the outer reaches of Harris Field.
Casey got the party started with a long RBI single to the left-field wall to score Green. Bunch unleashed his own missile to right-center, which fell at the Middleton outfielders' feet, scoring Casey.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThen, it was who else but Henson who slapped a single to extend the Twins' lead to 7-3, merely a precursor to his RBI-base hit to center in seventh inning, which accounted for the Twins' ninth run of the night.
Pitcher Cooper Thomas covered the bottom of the seventh for the Twins, securing the game's final three outs to lock in the victory.
Middleton made a few mental mistakes, Brown said, but the Twins discipline helped them take advantage of those opportunities.
"Trying to reiterate stringing good at-bat, after good at-bat, after good at-bat and getting the guy behind you up to the plate," Brown said. "So just sticking with good approaches and discipline throughout a game really helped us take advantage of those big innings."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe player at the center of nearly every offensive explosion was Henson, a rising junior at Lewiston High who has fit right in with the upper-level Twins, where some players are preparing to step onto college campuses in a matter of weeks.
"Carson — he's a great player, man, and he's an anchor for this team," Brown said. "He just stays the same, and he does his job. And a lot of guys look up to him, even as a young kid. So when he's up in spots, I'm always confident because he seems to always come through."
The Twins, and their Day 3 opponent Twin Falls, are the lone unblemished teams left in the AA state tournament. Four wins is the key to the championship, and Lewis-Clark is halfway there.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHow can Lewis-Clark finish the job?
"Playing 'us,'" Brown said. "Just competing for seven innings, playing hard, trusting our ability, and letting the cards fall where they may."
Cards require a bit of luck.
Lucky for the Twins, they proved they can create it.
Twins 031 030 2—9 13 1
Vikes 300 000 1—4 7 1
Z. McFee, C. Thomas (7) and C. Robbins; N. Menendez, E. Romero (7) and D. Cervantes.
Twins hits — C. Henson 3, G. Krasselt 2 (3B), S. Hall 2, C. Ells, C. Robbins, T. Green, J. Casey, M. Bunch, T. Collins.
Vikes hits — Roberts 2, Cervantes 2, Larson, Rounds, Romero.
Other AA state scores
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCDA Lums 7, Prairie Cardinals 4 (loser-out)
CDA Lums 20, Nampa Chiefs 4 (loser-out)
Idaho Prime 10, Minico Storm 1 (loser-out)
Post 4 Runnin' Rebels 9, Idaho Prime 6 (loser-out)
Twin Falls Cowboys 9, Idaho Falls Bandits 8 (11)
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, staylor@lmtribune.com, or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.
Story byLewiston Tribune, Idaho