For a team that often tied its own noose last year with errors, the Southeast Legacy Twins played two extremely clean games on Saturday and came away with a split to show for it.
The Twins hosted the Moose Jaw Devons in a doubleheader to kick off their season in the midget AAA division of the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League.
Moose Jaw won the opener 1-0, but the Twins rebounded for a 2-1 win in the second game.
"The boys, defensively, played really well. We've talked about it at the beginning of the season in our preparing that we need to relax on the diamond, just let them play their game, and it was real nice, there wasn't an error today at all," said Twins head coach Dave Odgers.
In the first game, Devons second baseman and starting pitcher Bryce Crosbie gave himself a boost in the sixth inning, driving home Grayson Locken for the only run of the game.
Crosbie also racked up a staggering 12 strikeouts, along with six walks, in five and two-thirds of work.
Meanwhile, Twins starter Austin Orsted threw a complete game two-hitter, allowing just the one run, along with eight strikeouts and two walks. Orsted was also 1-for-2 with a walk at the dish.
"He's going to lead our team in a lot of aspects at the plate and on the mound," said Odgers.
Rookie second baseman Colton Gingras had the other two hits in the game for the Twins, also drawing a walk.
"Both games were very well pitched by both sides. In the 1-0 game, we couldn't quite get on the bats, and the second one, their second starter did well, but we knew we were going to break out eventually. A little bit of good running and we got it done," Odgers said.
A team that posted a dreadful 6-26 record last season rebounded to take the second game from the Devons, even though it took a while to do it.
The game was scoreless through four innings, as Twins starter John Gaab and Devons pitcher Chris Cooper recorded strong starts.
In the fifth, Jordan McInnis reached first on a bloop single that dropped in shallow left field after some communication issues. He later made his way around to third and scored on a two-out rip straight up the middle by Devons No. 9 hitter Jordan Logan.
Those were the only two hits Gaab allowed in six innings of work, striking out two, walking one and inducing a lot of ground ball outs.
"We're going to rely on John a lot this year and he's going to go deep for us in a lot of games. He's one of our veterans. John throws a nice ball, he's got a smooth delivery and he can get it done," said Odgers.
In the bottom of the sixth, after Gaab retired the side in order, the Twins got a leadoff triple from Orsted. He then scored on a fielder's choice by Lucas Lafrentz, where Orsted beat the throw home and Lafrentz scampered to second base amidst the confusion at the plate.
Lafrentz later stole third and went home when Gingras knocked the ball down the first-base line, with an error on the play.
Weyburn's Jimmy Giroux entered the game in the seventh to close it out, sitting down all three hitters he faced.
"We threw Jimmy Giroux in there to close it out and he threw hard, threw some strikes and won it for us," said Odgers.
Orsted and Ketter Hoium each hit 2-for-3 in the game.
Odgers said it was important that the players had fun on the field and didn't get too tight.
"These guys are in the prime of life, some of them are moving on, so they've gotta have fun playing ball. That's what baseball should be. They've gotta relax, have some fun. Play really competitive but at the same time, relax enough to have a bit of fun."
