MISSOULA, Mont. - Many of the Lewis-Clark Twins wrapped up final exams Friday morning before boarding a bus for Missoula, Mont., to play in the Mavericks Memorial Tournament later that day.
So it's understandable that they showed signs of fatigue during their season opener - a 7-4 loss to the Spokane Expos. Only, the Twins weren't content with the result and made sure to respond in the nightcap, beating the Missoula Mavericks 6-0 to forge an opening-day split.
Lewis-Clark (1-1) continues tournament play this morning at 8:30 PDT against the Spokane Cannons.
During Friday's opener, the Twins were held hitless through the first four innings. The Expos pounced early, scoring six of their seven runs through the game's first three innings.
"That's not good," Twins coach Kyle Blackwell said, "so I was happy that we bounced back."
Behind an inspired effort on the mound from starter Julian Washburn, Lewis-Clark tallied 11 hits in the second game and got out to a 3-0 lead through the first three innings before tacking on three more runs in the fifth.
"He definitely set the tone for the day and he filled it up and made big pitches when he needed to," Blackwell said of Washburn, who went the distance. "He pitched with some guys in scoring position and got out of some jams. I was really impressed wit him tonight."
Jake Munoz led the efforts at the plate with three hits, including a triple. Josh Moore had three hits with a double while Riley Way and Luke White each collected two hits.
"The offense bounced back from not taking care of business in the first game," Blackwell said.
Spokane Expos 412 000 0-7 9 0
Lewis-Clark Twins 000 031 0-4 4 4
Jeremy Yelland, Carston Schmidt (5) and Dom Bonilla. Michael Murphy, Mikel Jensen (2) and Cole Grijalva.
Spokane hits - Gabe Martin 3 (2B), Jordan Ross, Tyler Bailey 2, Bonilla 2, Schmidt.
Lewis-Clark hits - Riley Way, Chandler Tibbits (3B), Josh Moore, Danny Robinson.
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Lewis-Clark Twins 102 030 0-6 11 1
Missoula Mavericks 000 000 0-0 2 2
Julian Washburn and Jackson Fuller. Dylan Barkley, Nick Yovetich (3), Derek Potter (6) and Spencer Shock.
Lewis-Clark hits - Way 2, Jake Munoz 3 (3B), Moore 3 (2B), Luke White 2 (2B), Colt Olson.
Missoula hits - Hunter Paulson, James Martin.
Merchants blanked twice
POST FALLS - In what coach Jeff Wilson called a "rough day" for his club, the Orofino Merchants mustered only five hits, but committed that many errors and were shut out by both of their opponents at the Post Falls Tournament.
In the day's opener, Orofino lost to Miles City of Montana 8-0 before being trounced by Missoula 10-0.
Both games were called early due to the mercy rule, which awards victory if a team is leading by eight or more runs through five innings.
"We played two extremely good teams who ran right over us," Wilson said.
In the opener, Miles City posted two runs in the bottom of the first and two more in the second to steal a 4-0 lead before inducing the mercy rule with a two-run fourth and a two-run fifth.
Chase Adkison and Hayden Wilson secured Orofino's only hits and were the only Merchants to show up in the hit column during the second game.
Adkison finished 3-for-5 on the day.
"We played poor defense in both games and struggled even more at the plate," said Wilson, whose team committed a handful of its errors in the outfield.
The Merchants open tournament play at 9 this morning against host Prairie (Post Falls).
Orofino 000 00-0 2 2
Miles City 220 22-8 5 0
Dunaway, Brink (3), Olson (5) and Adkison. Monroe and Petersen.
Orofino hits - Adkison, Wilson (2B).
Miles City hits - Monroe, Morrow (3B), Warren (2B), Petersen (2B), Kappel.
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Missoula 104 23-10 8 0
Orofino 000 00- 0 3 3
Brooks and Bardwick. Wilson, Coomer (4), Olive (5) and Adkison.
Missoula hits - Bool (2B), Lopez 2 (2B, 3B), Bowden (3B), D. Bardwick, Williams, C. Bardwick 2.
Orofino hits - Adkison 2, Wilson.
