The American Legion Twins went three for four on the road Friday and Saturday, sweeping two league games Friday in Anchorage, then winning a league game Saturday over Dimond 7-4 before losing a nonleague contest to South 7-6.
Friday, the Twins played a pair of games against the North Pole Post 30 Wild in Anchorage. The Post 20 Twins collected a doubleheader sweep with a 6-4 and 20-2 league wins.
The successful road trip left the Twins 9-3 in league play and 16-8-1 overall this summer. The Twins are tied for third place in the American Division with Dimond, both with 39 points. But Dimond has played three more league games than the Twins, and standings award four points for a win and one point for a loss.
The Twins scored all seven runs against Dimond in the third inning after going down 2-0 early. After the Twins loaded the bases with walks drawn by Logan Smith and Davey Belger and a single by Jeremy Kupferschmid, Mose Hayes tied the game with a two-run single.
Harrison Metz then gave the Twins a 4-2 lead with a two-run double. Ultimately, the Twins brought 12 batters to the plate and had five hits in the frame.
The Lynx threatened to come back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Metz shut them down with 1 2-3 innings of relief to finish the game. Other than allowing one baserunner on an error, Metz held Dimond hitless and scoreless.
Harold Ochea started and lasted 5 1-3 frames, giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits and six walks.
Post 20 outhit Dimond 7-6, led by Smith, who went 2 for 3 with a run.
Then Saturday against South, the Twins gave up two runs in the bottom of the seventh to take the loss.
Post 20 scored three times in the top of the first inning on the way to taking a 4-2 lead after three innings. South cut it to 4-3 after four innings, but the Twins scored in the top of the fifth and sixth innings for a 6-3 lead. South then fought back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth and two more in the seventh.
Chris Jaime worked the first five innings for the Twins, giving up four hits and three runs — one earned, while walking none and striking out three. Davey Belger then came in and took the loss, giving up two hits and four runs in 1 2-3 innings. Belger walked three.
The Twins had just two hits in the game, but were able to draw eight walks. Mose Hayes had both the hits and also scored two runs.
Friday in the first game against Fairbanks, the Twins caught a spark from David Michael, who scored the first of five runs in the first inning on a solo homer over the wall. The next four Twins batters scored as the team batted around to stake out a commanding 5-0 lead. Michael ended Friday with two yard shots, including one in the second game.
However, the Wild chipped away at the lead to bring it back to 5-4. Fairbanks scored two runs in the third and sixth innings to close the gap. Both runs in the sixth came home on pitching mistakes; a wild pitch and a passed ball by Jeremy Kupferschmid.
Kupferschmid ended up helping his own cause in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI triple to get a run back.
Logan Smith got the start and pitched three innings of two-hit ball, giving up two runs (both unearned) with one walk and four strikeouts.
Harrison Metz, Kupferschmid and Seth Adkins finished the game in relief. Metz gave up a run on one hit over two innings with two strikeouts, Kupferschmid gave up one unearned run in an inning of hitless ball, and Adkins walked one in a single frame of work with no runs.
The Twins outhit the Wild 6-3, led by Tanner Ussing, who hit 2 for 3 with an RBI.
In the second game of the day, the Twins offense went wild, scoring 20 runs on 11 base hits while taking advantage of eight Fairbanks errors.
The Twins took a 4-0 lead in the first inning, then scored three more in the second and fourth to take a 10-2 advantage.
Michael led off the top of the fourth with his second solo blast of the day. Post 20 capped the day with a 10-run sixth inning burst, as 19 batters came to the plate.
Hayes had the most productive day in the second game, going 3 for 4 with four runs and two RBIs. Michael went 2 for 4 with three runs and three RBIs, Kupferschmid went 1 for 4 with three runs, and Seth Adkins was 2 for 3 with four runs and a double. Pinch hitter Andrew Carver also had a big day, hitting 2 for 2 with four RBIs.
Hayes got the start and pitched five innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on just two hits and three walks, while whiffing four. Davey Belger tossed the last inning scoreless and gave up two hits and a walk with one strikeout.
