TWIN FALLS, Idaho - Offensive firepower has been the story line for the Lewis-Clark Twins all summer long, but commanding pitching helped the team punch its ticket to the Idaho Class AA Legion baseball championship round Friday night.
Cooper Lund held Twin Falls scoreless for the first seven innings of play to lead his team to a 5-3 win in front of a packed crowd in Twin Falls. The victory leaves Lewis-Clark as the only unbeaten team remaining in the tournament.
"That was a huge game," Twins coach Kevin Maurer said. "You have to be able to go in there and be battle-tested. Coop had two walks in that first inning and gave up a hit, but after that he pitched a real dominant game
The Lewis-Clark pitching staff opened the tourney with 25 straight shutout innings and has now surrendered just three runs through 27 innings.
"Our pitching has been great all three games, I can't say enough about what our guys on the pitching side have done," Maurer said. "We just asked them to challenge every single guy and make them earn their way on base. If you attack hitters, not too many guys are going to be able to hit doubles because you're living in the zone and willing to challenge them."
The Twins (35-9) entered the fifth with a one-run lead, but a two-run homer from Luke White over the right-center field fence highlighted a three-run outburst for the squad.
"The first couple of innings they threw a soft lefty at us and we weren't able to sit back," Maurer said. "He was living at the knees and we had to make an adjustment to look for something at the belt."
Jaden Phillips led the offensive effort with three hits, while every member of the lineup recorded a base knock in the win.
"Jaden's been great for us all year at the plate," Maurer said. "He had a couple at-bats I know he wasn't happy with, but he was able to get the right mindset in that game and produce some quality hits for us."
Lewis-Clark also received a clutch relief appearance from Nate Savolainen, who took the mound in the eighth with a runner on first.
"The spot Nate had to come into was very difficult," Maurer said. "The home crowd was energized and real loud and that's a huge pressure situation. For him to get out of it and go into the ninth and shut them down in a real tight game says a lot about him."
The victory earned an automatic berth for the Twins in the championship game Sunday. Lewis-Clark returns to the diamond today for a 6 p.m. PDT meeting with Mountain View, while Idaho Falls and Twin Falls stand as the other two squads still in the competition.
victory gives the Twins an advantage in the title game, with the opposing team needing two wins to claim the title. An L-C loss sets the stage for a winner-take-all showdown.
victory gives the Twins an advantage in the title game, with the opposing team needing two wins to claim the title. An L-C loss sets the stage for a winner-take-all showdown.
"We've played really good baseball for three days now, but it's not over," Maurer said. "We understand as a team that we don't settle for being OK; when we show up tomorrow that's the most important thing in our minds. We are going to be focused from the first pitch of the game and won't think about anything else until the last pitch."
Lewis-Clark 000 131 000-5 14 2
Twin Falls 000 000 030-3 7 1
Cooper Lund, Nate Savolainen (8) and Chase Adkison. Lucas Young, Cade Greenfield (6) and A.Scholes.
Lewis-Clark hits - Riley Way, Alex Light 2, AJ Davis 2 (2B), Luke White (HR), Jaden Phillips 3 (2B), Chase Adkison, Danny Robinson (3B), Chris Powell (2B), Colt Olson.
Twin Falls hits - Nolan, Stutznan, Brann, Holcomb, Greenfield, Eller (2B), Scholes.
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