Despite some encouraging performances, the results did not come through for the Southeast Legacy Twins during an important stretch of games over the past week.
The Twins lost four games from Friday to Monday, three of them at home, including one in Estevan.
The streak began Friday with a 7-1 loss to the Regina Athletics at Lynn Prime Park. Despite the lopsided score, the Twins trailed the second-place A's just 2-1 entering the seventh inning before folding.
"If we stay in that ball game (at) 2-1, we can probably manufacture a couple of runs out of that and win the ball game. But you've got to stay in it in the seventh inning," said Twins head coach Tom Copeland.
On Saturday, the team lost both legs of a doubleheader in Weyburn against the Saskatoon Diamondbacks. After losing the first game 7-4, the Twins mounted a massive comeback in the bottom of the seventh only to lose 6-5 in extra innings.
On Monday, for the third time in four games, a big inning cost the Twins and they lost 9-4 to the Regina Wolfpack in the capital city.
In that game, the Twins (4-9) surrendered seven runs in the third inning, falling behind 8-2 and never recovering.
Austin Orsted got the start on the hill but left the game after three innings, having given up eight runs, six of them earned, on eight hits and two walks. The Twins also made three errors.
Left fielder Lane Hodnefield did a lot of the damage for the Wolfpack, hitting 3-for-3 with two runs batted in.
For the Twins, Garret Fitzpatrick and Nolan Axten were each 2-for-3 with an RBI.
On Saturday against the Diamondbacks, the Twins led 4-1 after three innings, but Saskatoon cobbled together six runs in the fifth to take control of the game.
Twins starter Mackenzie Lamontagne had a strong bounce-back outing from his last start on May 30, allowing one run on no hits, four walks and three strikeouts in three innings of work.
Nate Koszman came on in relief, however, and surrendered six runs, none of them earned according to the game boxscore.
Sean Jonassen was the team's top batter, hitting 3-for-4 with two RBI.
The Twins fared a little better in the second game, although they showed little sign of life until the seventh inning.
Trailing 5-0, the Twins managed to bring in five runs in the bottom of the seventh to force extras.
Jonassen was again clutch at the plate, hitting a bases-loaded double to plate all three runners.
The Diamondbacks won after scoring a run in the top of the ninth inning.
On Friday in Estevan, the Twins were playing a textbook game against the powerhouse Athletics until it all came crashing down in the seventh inning.
Regina got on the board in the first when star centre fielder Jordan Schulz hit a sacrifice grounder to score Mark Romanow.
After getting out of a couple of jams to keep it a one-run game, the Twins would tie it in the fifth when Josh Ferris hit a lead-off double, advanced to third on a bunt by Jonassen and scored on a sac grounder by Ketter Hoium.
The A's got that one back in the top of the sixth when a single by Kyle Pirlot drove in Cole Boychuk from first base.
The Twins came close to tying it in the bottom of the inning when Lamontagne and Tanner Orsted were issued two-out walks, but a strikeout ended the inning.
All hell broke loose in the seventh.
Nolan Axten, who had been stellar in a start that spanned six and a third the night before his high school graduation, gave up a single and a walk to start the inning. He was then replaced by James Giroux, who walked the only batter he faced to load the bases.
Lefty Justin Chuckry then came in to face Schulz, who hit a fly ball, but it was dropped under the lights, scoring a run and squandering what would have been the second out.
"Jimmy (Giroux) comes in and throws a walk, then Chuck comes in against (Schulz) and we get him and we just lose it in the lights. That's kind of the turning point. That won't happen in the daytime," said Copeland.
"If we can get Jordan Schulz to go 1-for-4 with one RBI, I think we're going to be pretty happy. We did a good job of getting him up in the right spots, lead-off spots, getting him out, pitching him away, getting him into spots where we don't necessarily have to pitch to him."
The trouble wasn't over. Chuckry then walked in a fourth run, and two more came in on a double play ball that was accompanied by a wild throw to first.
Pirlot then hit an RBI double to end the Athletics' assault.
"It's a real ball club," Copeland said of the A's. "It's a good test for us and I think we showed up, other than the seventh inning. We'll take that and build on it."
He said Axten's strong start was a sight for sore eyes, both for the pitcher and the team.
"I've seen him pitch like that. That's the Nolan Axten we need. He can even be better than that ... if he gets his breaking pitch working for strikes."
The Twins were set to host the Regina Mets last night in Estevan.
