The Southeast Performance Pump midget AAA Twins won one of five games during the past week, but assistant coach Kent Phillips says that the lone victory is indicative of the talent the team possesses.
The Twins (6-17) defeated the Regina Wolfpack 7-0 on Monday afternoon at Lynn Prime Park in the first game of a doubleheader between the two teams. But then the Wolfpack, who lead the league with a 17-4 mark, responded with a 12-1 win.
In the first game, the Twins scored four times in the fourth inning to break open what was a close 3-0 game. Burke Lyons and Trent Dorrance each had two runs batted in to pace the Twins offence.
“It was huge, because we were scoring the guys in scoring position,” said Phillips.
Ty Nikolejsin, meanwhile, had a great performance on the mound, going the full seven innings and allowing just five hits and a walk while striking out four.
But the following game, the Wolfpack scored three times in the second inning, five times in the third and three more in the fourth to take an 11-0 lead. Aiden Krafchuk knocked in the Twins only run in the fourth, but the Wolfpack scored in the top of the fifth to lead by 11 runs again.
The mercy rule kicked in after the Twins didn’t score in the bottom of the fifth.
Lyons gave up 11 runs, four of them unearned, in four innings of work. He allowed eight hits and walked two.
Rhett Krafchuk was tagged for the final run.
“In the first game, we had timely hitting, scored our base runners, didn’t make any errors and pitched ahead in the count all of the time,” said Phillips. “In the second game, we didn’t seem to be ahead in the count all of the time, we left base runners on.”
The Twins players also committed a number of errors during the game.
It’s frustrating when they go from such a strong game to one where they struggle, Phillips said.
“It’s too many times that we haven’t been able to put our offence and our defence and our pitching all together in the same games, which is unfortunate because we have a very talented group of players,” said Phillips. “It’s just we’re young and sometimes we play that way.”
Two days earlier, the Twins lost 10-6 and 8-7 to the Regina Athletics. Phillips noted the Twins had the lead in both games, as they led 6-3 in the sixth inning before giving up seven in the bottom of the sixth in the first game, and 7-6 in the fifth inning of the second game before surrendering four in the bottom of the fifth inning.
“We should have won both,” said Phillips.
They also dropped a 5-2 decision to the Regina White Sox on June 27 in Weyburn.
The Twins have a couple of upcoming double-headers on the road, as they will visit the Saskatoon Cubs on July 7 and the Swift Current 57s the following day.
Phillips said they are nearing the end of their season, and he hopes the Twins can make it to AAA provincials. The top eight teams in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League will advance to provincials, while the bottom two teams will compete at the AA level.
The Twins and the 57s are currently tied for the eighth and final playoff spot with six wins each.
