Twins drop heartbreaker to Missoula Mavs

A back-and-forth contest swung in favor of the Missoula Mavericks on Saturday, as the Lewis-Clark Twins dropped a 5-4 battle during the third day of the Dwight Church Tournament at Harris Field. The Twins (6-2) entered the final frame with the game knotted at 4-4, but a wild pitch with two outs gave the Mavericks the late-inning victory. "We had an opportunity to win that game, but it was one of those where we end up beating ourselves," Lewis-Clark coach Kevin Maurer said. Kyle Van Boeyen propelled the Twins pitching staff with a strong start, while Luke White took the bump midway through the fifth to close the game. "Kyle walked himself into some really tight situations, but he ended up giving us 4 2/3 strong innings," Maurer said. "Luke came in after and did a phenomenal job of living in the strike zone." The Twins were dealt an initial blow when Riley Way hurt his knee in the opening inning. AJ Davis made the transition from second base to shortstop and lifted the team with his defensive play. "The first three balls of the game were hit to him at second," Maurer said. "And then he moved over and immediately had some more hit his way." Davis also provided an impact at the plate with two hits, including an extra-base knock for Lewis-Clark. "All season long he's been very consistent for us up there," Maurer said. "He has quality at-bats and gives us a lot of opportunities." The Mavericks trailed by a single run entering the bottom of the sixth, but a trio of errors allowed Missoula to steal a 4-3 lead. "We just had some mental lapses in that inning that we could have been out of with no harm," Maurer said. "That's just baseball sometimes, it's something we're going to have to learn from. In those tight situations, we need to play clean baseball, and this is a group that is capable of doing that." The Twins limited the Mavericks to six hits on the night, but Maurer said Missoula found a way to generate offense when it needed to. "Credit to them, they put the pressure on us, and that's what you've got to do on the offensive side," Maurer said. In other tournament action, the Hanford Flames beat the Spokane North Stars by a score of 4-1. The Stars also fell to the Mavericks in a 13-5 loss. The Southridge Bandits pulled out a pair of wins during the day, besting Hodgen Distributing 11-10 and handing the Flames a 4-3 defeat. Lewis-Clark still has an opportunity to reach the tournament championship today, but the Twins will first have to go through Hanford in a 3 p.m. matchup. Missoula sits as the only unbeaten team left in the tournament. The Mavericks square off with the Bandits in a noon matchup. Hodgen will also take the diamond for a 9 a.m. meeting with Spokane. "It's still up for grabs," Maurer said. "I know this team will be ready to go tomorrow." Lewis-Clark 210 000 1-4 9 5 Missoula 001 012 1-5 6 2 Kyle Van Boeyen, Luke White (5) and Nate Savolainen. Drew Leonard and Spencer Schrock. Lewis-Clark hits - Riley Way, Julian Washburn, AJ Davis 2 (2B), Luke White, Jaden Phillips (2B), Nate Savolainen 2, Ryder Scholuts.