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Glacier Twins Take Legion State Title

Twins defeat Dodgers to win American Legion Class A state championship and advance to regionals

By Dillon Tabish

The Laurel Dodgers won the first meeting handily, but the Glacier Twins won the one that mattered most.

“The boys never gave up,” skipper Bob Rupp said.

The Twins are state champions.

In dominating fashion, Glacier dropped Laurel 8-4 Saturday to claim the American Legion Class A state championship in Lewistown.

AJ Wetsch tossed a no-hitter through six innings, Colton Gove had 2 RBI and Colten Parker, Tristan Steinwand and Jesse Walburn each knocked in a run apiece to lead the Twins to victory.

The team now leaves for Alaska on Wednesday to play in the Northwest A Regional in Anchorage. The Twins’ opening game is Friday at 3 p.m. against Alaska’s No. 2 team.

“They bonded as a team. At the beginning of the year, we had individuals playing,” Rupp said. “And then these guys came together. At the state tournament they played as a team. It was fun to watch.”

The Twins rallied back after losing 9-1 to Laurel in the quarterfinals last week. Against their conference foe, the Mission Valley Mariners, the Twins won a slugfest on Friday, defeating the Mariners 11-9. Vincent Smith had two RBI to lead the way.

“Our pitching was unbelievable. They stepped up and did the job,” Rupp said. “Our hitting was really good, too. We went to bat with one thing in mind: not letting them strike us out.”

Belgrade beat Laurel 8-7, handing the Dodgers their first loss of the tournament. Then it was Glacier’s turn, and the Twins toppled Belgrade 14-4 to advance to the state championship game, where the boys needed to beat Laurel once.

“We just rolled,” Rupp said. “This is a young team, but they played like an older team. Out goal at the beginning of the year was to get to the district tournament, and then get into state and go to Alaska. They played to succeed and they never lost that goal.”

Glacier jumped ahead 4-0 after four innings and added another run in the seven. Laurel scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to get within one run, but the Twins closed added another three runs in the top of the eighth and held on from there.

Glacier 8, Laurel 4
Glacier 020 200 130 — 8 11 4
Laurel 000 000 400 — 4 5 2
AJ Wetsch, Jonny Sapa (7) and Tyler Murphy. Jacod Worden, John Preller (4), Mitch Kaufman (8) and Mason O’Donnell. WP-Wetsch. LP-Worden.
GLACIER — Colton Gove 1-5 (2 rbi), Jayce Fagerland 1-4, Colten Parker 1-6 (rbi), Vincent Smith 0-5, Kyler Howke 2-4, Tristan Steinwand 2-5 (rbi), Jesse Walburn 1-3 (rbi), Austin Robins 1-4, Tyler Murphy 2-3.
LAUREL — Kameron Fisher 1-4 (rbi), Trevor Meier 05 (rbi), Mason O’Donnell 1-5, Jacob Anderson 1-3 (rbi), Dawson Cortese 0-3, Anthony Panella 1-4, Karson Kukes 1-4, Bryson McGann 0-2, Kade Osborne 0-4.
2B–Parker, Steinwand.

 

Glacier 14, Belgrade 4

Glacier 030 110 027 — 14 19 2
Belgrade 101 001 100 — 4 8 3
Jesse Walburn, Vincent Smith (6), Austin Robins (8) and NA; Trevor Mahn, Joshua Gier (5), Connor Clay (9) and NA. W—Walburn; L—Mahn.
GLACIER — Colton Gove 4-7, Jayce Fagerland 1-4, Colten Parker 2-5, Smith 4-6, Kyler Howke 1-6, Tristan Steinwand 1-5, Jesse Walburn 2-4, Dakota Bridwell 2-4, AJ Wetsch 0-2, Robins 2-3.
BELGRADE — Koby Ruff 1-3, Mahn 0-4, Christian Schreckengost 1-3, Gier 1-3, Joshua Browning 1-4, Matthew Molzahn 1-4 Emmanuel Eudave 1-3, Connor Clay 1-4, Trey Mounts 1-3.
2B—Robins (2), Gove, Smith (3); 3B—Gove; RBIs—Gove (3), Parker (3), Smith, Steinwand (2), Robins; Browning, Clay.

 

Glacier 11, Mission Valley 9
Glacier 122 003 030 — 11 14 3
Mission Valley 000 105 030 — 9 13 8
A.J. Wetsch, Austin Robins (6), Colten Parker (6), Vincent Smith (9) and Dakota Bridwell. Ryan Pablo, Trevor Paro (5), Bradley Pichler (8) and Alex Killian.
GLACIER — Colton Gove 1-5, Jayce Faerland 2-4, Colten Parker 3-4, Vincent Smith 2-5, Kyler Howke 2-5, Tristan Steinwand 0-4, Jesse Walburn 2-3, Tyler Murphy 0-1, Dakota Bridwell 1-5, Austin Robins 1-3. RBIs: Gove, Fagerland, Parker, Smith 2, Howke, Walburn, Murphy.
MISSION VALLEY — Bradley Pichler 1-5, Zeke Webster-Yaqui 1-3, Alex Killian 3-5, Jared Young 0-2, Ryan Pablo 1-2, Derek Peel 2-5, Jacob Harrod 1-3, Brenen Abromeit 1-4, Trevor Paro 1-5, TJ Olson 1-3, Nyqolas Gillingham 1-3. RBIs: Webster-Yaqui, Killian, Pablo 2, Peel, Harrod, Abromeit 2.