Loggers drop a pair to visiting Twins

The Libby Loggers ran into a buzz saw Wednesday evening at Lee Gehring Field. The Loggers couldn’t slow down the Glacier Twins offense, losing 20-9. 

Loggers Manager Kelly Morford spoke about his team’s effort after the game.

“It is pretty hard to win a ball game giving up 23 hits,” he said. “We didn’t do a good job on the hill of throwing good pitches. We are stuck in the mode of just trying to throw strikes instead of showing control inside and outside of the zone.” 

The Loggers got down early, but Morford liked that his team was able to bounce back. “We got down by eight early, but we had a few good innings that got us back in the game.”

The Loggers were down 8-2, before scoring five runs during the bottom of sixth inning to pull within one run. The Twins scored six runs in the eighth and ninth innings to pull away from the Loggers.

Collin Johnson, Luke Haggerty, Jared Winslow and Oliver Grupenhoff led the Loggers offense, as they combined for 10 of the 11 Loggers hits and drove in six of the nine Loggers’ runs. 

“The top half of our line up is really swinging the bat well,” Morford said. “If we can get the rest of the guys to be a bit more consistent at the plate, we will be rolling offensively.”

Grupenhoff went four for four at the plate, with a pair of doubles and drove in two of the Loggers’ nine runs. 

“Oliver really stands out as the guy that is driving us from the offensive side,” Morford said. “He is really seeing the ball well and is hitting with power to all parts of the field. It has been fun to watch him do his thing at the plate the last few games.” 

The Loggers fell to the Glacier Twins on Monday evening, 19-3. The Twins blew the game open with an 11 run seventh inning. Oliver Grupenhoff had a two-hit night and drove in two of the three Logger runs. 

The Loggers are now 5-12 on the season and will play their next two games away from Lee Gehring Field. Their next home game will be Wednesday, June 17, against the Kalispell Lakers at 5 p.m. 

Morford hopes his team learns from these defeats. 

“We are still a work in progress as a team,” he said. “We need to learn how to not give up those free bases defensively. We also have a lot of maturing to do as pitchers, so hopefully we learn from these last few games and get better going forward.”

Box Score: Wednesday, June 10

Loggers: 000 025 002 9 11 4

Twins: 101 330 066 20 23 4

Logger Batting

2B: Luke Haggerty, Jared Winslow, Oliver Grupenhoff 2

TB: Haggerty 3, Dylon Lane, Winslow 3, Gruphenhoff 6, Collin Johnson 2

RBI: Haggerty, Lane, Winslow, Grupenhoff 2, Johnson 2

Twins Batting

2B: Jayce Fagerland, Kyle Howke, Vinny Smith, Austin Robbins, Derek Kastella, Caleb Yeneman

3B: Colten Parker

TB: Parker 4, Fagerland 3, Howke 3, Smith 5, Triston Steinward 2, AJ Wetsch, Tyler Murphy 2, Robbins 3, Kastella 5, Yeneman 3

RBI: Parker 2, Smith, 2, Steinwand, Wetsch, Murphy 3, Robbins, Kastella 2, Yeneman 2

Box Score: Monday, June 8

Loggers: 000 1200 3 7 7

Twins: 017 00011 19 9 1

Loggers Batting

2B: Olver Grupenhoff

TB: Luke Haggerty, Dylon Lane 3, Grupenhoff 3, Collin Johnson

RBI: Erik Lauer, Grupenhoff 2

Twins Batting

2B: Vinny Smith, James Sampson, AJ Wetsch

TB: Colten Parker, Smith 4, Triston Steinwand, Sampson 2, Wetsch 2, Tyler Murphy 2

RBI: Smith 4, Steinwand, Sampson 3, Wetsch 3, Murphy, Austin Robbins