ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Klamath Falls Falcons (16-3-1) battled to a 4-4 tie against the Kenai Twins (8-4-2) in the final game of group play at the Alaska 529 Midseason Classic. The tie earned the Falcons the top spot out of Group B in the tournament and propelled them to the semifinals.
The Falcons earned the first lead of the game in the bottom of the second inning when Corbin Hamilton singled on a groundball to left field, scoring Kollin Tacchini and P.J. Safford. Kenai responded with two runs in the top of the third, when Ryan Douglas allowed back-to-back bases loaded walks.
The Falcons punched back, reclaiming the lead in the bottom half of the third when Conner Shively hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Max Price. But the Twins evened the game in the fourth and took the lead in the fifth.
Down 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Carson Siems reached on an error to lead off the inning. After Price laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Siems into scoring position, Shively lined a single to center field to tie the game. Neither offense could get going in extra innings, and would have to settle for a tie after the 2:15 time limit.
Shively finished 2-4 with two RBI in the game. Hamilton was 2-3 with two RBI. For Kenai, Daniel Steffensen was 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Mat Shilling was 1-4 with an RBI, and Jackson Koetitz was 3-5 with a run scored and an RBI.
The Kenai Twins will battle the Madisonville (KY) Rangers in the first semifinal. The Falcons face the Service Cougars in the second semifinal at 5:00 p.m. ADT (6:00 p.m. PDT). The Falcons will look to become only the second Oregon team to win the Alaska 529 Midseason Classic. Follow the action on mybasin.com.