Twins surge late to win on Day 1 of Idaho AA American Legion state tournament

Jul. 24—Out of the heat and the smoke, the Lewis-Clark Twins emerged like a phoenix with a second life late in the contest to defeat Idaho Prime of Pocatello 8-6 in the first round of the Idaho AA American Legion state baseball tournament Thursday at Harris Field in Lewiston.

“Just a great way to start off a tournament,” Lewis-Clark coach Micah Brown said. “A real scrappy win there, team win. Great for all momentum moving forward. Something to build off of.”

With the victory, the Twins advanced to Day 2 of the tournament without a blemish on their record and will face the Middleton Vikes at 6:30 p.m. today at Harris Field.

A late offensive surge

Going into the sixth inning, Lewis-Clark (22-11) was down 5-3, but used a three-run sixth to get back into the game and a two-run seventh to cement the win.

For the Twins’ offense, the top of the sixth started with a pop-up in foul territory, then a hit by pitch, a single, a walk and a strikeout.

The bases were loaded with two outs in the inning when Ty Collins walked to score a run and cut the lead to 5-4.

Then, one of the main leaders and the No. 1 batter in the order, Guy Krasselt, came up to bat.

Krasselt, a Lewis-Clark State commit, drove a hard-hit single into right field, which scored two runners and gave the Twins a 6-5 lead. Krasselt finished the game 3-for-3, with a triple, three runs scored and two RBI.

“That’s what you want out of your leaders, out of your guys that have been here and done that,” Brown said of Krasselt. “It’s awesome for him, and this team looks up to him. And for him to come through like that, (that’s) big time.”

In the bottom of the sixth, the Prime (20-10) answered back with a run of their own to tie it up.

But the Twins weren’t quite done with those two-out rallies.

In the top of the seventh, with two outs and no one on, Tucker Green doubled to deep center field.

Immediately after that, Sam Hall, a Cumberland (Tenn.) of the NAIA commit, drilled a ball down the right field line and darted for third base to score Green and give Lewis-Clark a 7-6 lead.

“I knew it was a solid contact, fair off the bat,” Hall said. “I was just hoping that first baseman didn’t get some hops on him. … After I saw I got over the first baseman, yeah, I was trying to go for three. I was looking at my third base coach after I hit second, seeing what he was calling for.”

Hall had two hits, two runs scored and the crucial RBI triple.

Jackson Casey then singled to left-center field for Hall to score and to give the Twins the last run of the ball game at 8-6.

In the bottom of the seventh, Lewis-Clark State commit Cody Ells quickly closed out the game on the mound with a walk, a strikeout and then a forced groundout into a double play.

‘Play for the team’

Brown said it was a total team effort for the Twins to come out on top.

“One thing I mentioned before the game is we’re never out of the fight,” the coach said. “Play through seven innings, stay together as a team, and that really put us to the test. Proud of my guys for staying together.”

Hall said that playing in near-100-degree heat was tough, but knowing his teammates were going through the same thing helped him through the process. The day also featured hazy skies from wildfire smoke in the area.

“It was hard, but staying mentally focused was a big thing, and staying here for my teammates,” Hall said. “It was hot, but we all had each other. We were all hot, so we all had to deal with it.”

Brown said he made it clear to his players what mentality they would need to have for the Twins to advance in the state tournament.

“Just play for the team, man,” Brown said. “Take yourself out of the equation. Play for the team.”

Looking forward

From this point on, the Twins can win the state title if they stay perfect or go 4-1 throughout Monday. They can afford to take one loss.

When Lewis-Clark takes on Middleton, Brown said the plan is to keep their heads straight.

“Keep our focus,” Brown said. “It’s easy to get excited and lose focus on the next job, and the next job is to go win tomorrow and play a clean game.”

He said the plan is to keep a neutral mindset and not get too high or too low, and to keep the excitement of the win and take the good from it, but move forward to the next game and the rest of the tournament.

Brown also said it would be significant to be able to win the state title in Lewiston.

“You love to win for your home crowd, your community,” Brown said. “American Legion’s all about playing for your community, and to have it here and to win it in front of these folks would be something special.”

Twins 101 013 2—8 11 3

Prime 012 111 0—6 4 5

G. Peterson, C. Ells (6) and C. Robbins; S. Tilley, N. Randall (6), A. Ellett (7) and C. Eddie.

Twins hits — G. Krasselt 3 (3B), S. Hall 2 (3B), T. Green 2 (2B), J. Casey 2, C. Ells (2B), C. Henson.

Prime hits — A. Scott 2 (2B), M. Glenn, C. Colonel.

Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, tjunt@lmtribune.com or on X @TrevorJunt.