WHITEFISH – Winning is a lot like a good dessert. After you’ve had it once, you really want to indulge in it again.
That is exactly how the Glacier Twins’ 2015 season is going. Coming off the high of winning the state championship last year, the American Legion baseball team has once again set its sights on being the best, and halfway through the season, coaches and players say they are on track to repeat that success.
But to come away with another championship banner, the Twins are going to have to face some stiff competition, according to head coach Bob Rupp.
“We knew going into this season that we were going to face every team’s best pitcher and that’s OK,” Rupp said. “The team is not giving up and they really want to win a state championship again.”
The Twins organization was founded in the 1960s and roster a team of 16 to 19 year olds from the Whitefish and Columbia Falls area. The club won its first championship in 1986 but were unable to repeat that success until 2014, when the boys took the top honor at the Class A state tournament in Lewistown. The championship victory sent them to the regional tournament in Alaska where they finished in third place.
But this year it may be a little tougher to get to the championship, Rupp said, because the tournament is being hosted by the Kalispell Lakers. Because the Lakers are guaranteed a spot in the tournament, which runs from July 30 to Aug. 2, there is one less seed in the district. The district tournament is July 23-26 in Polson.
Following a doubleheader against the Lakers on June 21, the Twins were 21-10 overall and 11-0 in conference. Rupp said the doubleheader against Kalispell – where the Twins beat the Lakers 15-0 and 11-0 – shows that the team is heating up.
“We feel really good right now. We’ve got about a dozen conference games left and we’re rolling,” he said. “The boys are playing really well right now and they’re getting better every day.”
Rupp said there have been two primary struggles this year, one on the field and another off the field. The issue beyond the lines is one that appears every season: graduation. Rupp said that come June, the team’s veteran players are distracted with school and finals and their performance on the field understandably takes a hit. Now that school is out, though, the team is once again able to focus on the game.
The other issue the team has had this season was hitting. In recent weeks, Rupp has had the team practice hitting curve balls and other soft pitches. If the June 21 games in Kalispell were any indication, those problems are a thing of the past.
While some of the team’s younger players have said they just want to go out and have fun, some of the veterans said they feel the pressure to perform as the team inches closer to the playoffs. Jayce Fagerland, 18, a shortstop from Columbia Falls, is in his fourth and final season with the team.
“It’s almost overwhelming because you want to go out with a bang and win state again,” he said.
For more information, visit www.glaciertwinsbaseball.org.