The North Shore Twins have had a lot of success over the years — including three straight B.C. Premier Baseball League titles from 2007 to 2009 — but this season they’ve added a brand new feather to their baseball caps.
On Sunday the Twins wrapped up regular season play by splitting a doubleheader against the Whalley Chiefs, closing out the campaign with a 34-10 record. That stellar mark earned the team first place in the league, giving the Twins their first-ever BCPBL regular season League Championship.
“When you look at 44 games and we’ve only lost (10) — we’re doing pretty well there,” said longtime head coach John Haar. “That’s a pretty good accomplishment.”
Pitcher Matteo Vincelli, in his senior year with the Twins, said the players were motivated to earn the title for the 71-year-old Haar, a Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame member who earlier this year also earned a spot in the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.
“That’s a huge motivator — we all want to do it for him,” Vincelli told the North Shore News last week, just before the Twins clinched the pennant. “He’s a very knowledgeable guy, he’s been around the game for a long, long time. He gives a lot of advice and if you could just take one or two things from everything he says, you’re going to become a better baseball player. He’s here to help us and it’s awesome. That goes for all our coaches. They’ve been good to us.”
There’s no time for celebration, however, as the playoffs arrive this weekend with the Twins hosting the eight-place Abbotsford Cardinals, 18-26 in regular season play, in a best-of-three series at Parkgate Park. Game 1 will be Saturday starting at noon with Game 2 to follow as part of a doubleheader. Game 3, if necessary, will start at noon on Sunday.
The matchup seems to line up well for the Twins but the team has been missing some of its biggest bats recently, including catcher and hard-hitting cleanup hitter Nicolas Favaro and outfielder Geoff Ehresman, who normally bats third. Favaro finished first on the team with two home runs and second with 28 RBIs despite playing in only 25 out of the team’s 44 games.
“We’re just trying to get healthy,” said Haar, adding that most of the injured Twins should be ready to go this weekend. “When a couple of your key guys in the middle of your lineup are missing it puts a little added pressure on other guys. Some have stepped up, they’ve had an opportunity to get more innings in and they’ve done well.”
That list includes BCPBL rookie second baseman Cole Ensign, who this season batted .390 with a .475 on-base percentage, 28 runs scored and 23 RBIs in 37 games.
“He’s been real solid for us, a real pleasant surprise,” said Haar. “We had two or three guys contending for the second base spot and he just kind of made up his mind, ‘OK, I’m going to take this spot.’ He grabbed it and has done extremely well.”
Other standout hitters included third baseman Steve Moretto who led the team with 29 RBIs in 44 games, first baseman Spencer Lindeman who scored 28 runs with 27 batted in while sporting a .413 OBP, outfielder Trevor Fonseca who posted a team-leading .495 OBP with 12 runs and 13 RBIs in 28 games, and shortstop Taylor Wright who led the team with 33 runs scored and 10 stolen bases.
The backbone of the team, however, has been the pitching staff and the defence behind them, said Haar. Staff ace Will McAffer, selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2015 MLB draft, and starters Vincelli and Braden Toikka all struck out at least a batter per inning with earned run averages of 2.20 or less. Add in fourth starter Robert Hemer and the Twins starting rotation combined to post a 29-7 record with 12 complete games.
“All of our starters are hungry, we all want wins, we all want to have good numbers and we all want to contribute to this team,” said Vincelli. “We’re all senior guys so we try to lead by example, especially for the younger pitchers.”
That pitching staff helps this team stack up well against any Twins teams in the past, said Haar, including the squads that won three straight championships.
“As they say in baseball, pitching and defence wins pennants. And I think we’ve been good in both those departments,” he said. “We’re hoping to go deep in the playoffs. We’ll see how we do. I think we’ll be tough to beat, let’s put it that way. If we don’t beat ourselves, we’ll be right there where we want to be.”
Haar lauded this year’s group for their hard work and dedication.
“It’s a good group of kids. They play hard for one another. I think that’s really important when it comes to baseball. There’s times for you to be an individual — you get to show your individual skills — but then sometimes you’ve got to pull it together as a team. I think they’re a pretty close group. They have fun but they work hard, and I think they’re getting the dividends of putting in the time and effort.”
Vincelli, too, predicted a long playoff run to follow up the team’s regular season exploits.
“We’re all hungry, we all want to win and I think that’s what makes us a good team,” he said. “We’re a group of determined guys, we come here every day to play ball…. We’re just going to put our heads down and get to work.”
