The Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Legacy Twins showed some promising signs on Sunday, but weren't able to get the job done.
The Twins lost by scores of 3-2 and 17-3 in a road doubleheader against the Swift Current Indians.
Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast (2-6-1) now sits 10th in the 12-team Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League. Swift Current (4-4-2) is sixth.
Sunday's first game was encouraging for the Twins, who had to face one of the top pitchers in Saskatchewan in Justin Kehler.
"He is probably, if not the best pitcher in the province, he's top three," said Twins coach Tom Copeland.
The Twins found they were able to hit him, leading 1-0 through five innings as starter Justin Chuckry mowed down Indian hitters.
"We started calling his pitches for him and it made a world of difference," Copeland said of Chuckry.
Trenton Kauf came in for the sixth and struggled to throw strikes. The Indians capitalized and went up 2-1.
The Twins tied it 2-2 in the top of the seventh, but with the bases loaded and only one out, they missed an opportunity to win the game.
Swift Current made them pay for it in the bottom of the inning by poking in the winning run against reliever Nolan Axten.
But, as Copeland said, "to be able to play with Kehler was pretty encouraging."
Looking to parlay that into a win in the second game, the Twins instead reverted to poor fielding as the grind of the day wore them out.
"I think we had eight or 10 errors and that ain't gonna get 'er done. That's the story of that game. It was a mess," said Copeland.
Mackenzie Lamontagne took the loss after going two innings, which was the plan all along.
Copeland said the team's biggest need is more consistency, particularly from the pitching staff and in the field.
Another problem is arm strength, with some errors coming when throws come up short of the bag.
"For a lot of them, it's mental fatigue. It's a young team and they're not prepared to play at a high level for 14 innings in one day. They gotta learn to be able to do that."
But the Twins will get a huge boost this weekend when they get Estevan shortstop Tyler Kendall back.
Kendall has been away at college and figures to be one of the top players in the league.
"He's going to make a huge difference in a lot of ways," Copeland said.
As of Monday, the Twins were hoping their home opener would go ahead last night against the Regina Mets.
They play at a tournament this weekend and are next in action next Tuesday when they visit the Mets and Regina Athletics.
