Twins win Pinto League title
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    The Twins won all three of their games during the week of July 4, then outlasted the Red Sox 11-10 in the season finale July 9 to win first place in Moab City Recreation's Pinto baseball league for fifth- and sixth-grade boys.

    The Twins finished the season 9-3, but had to come from behind Monday to defeat the Red Sox, who ended up 3-9 in the four-team league.

     The Twins took a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Red Sox assistant coach David Olsen wasn't overly worried.

    "A five-run lead doesn't mean much in this league," he observed.

    Sure enough, a little over 15 minutes later, the Red Sox had scored eight runs in the bottom of the first to go ahead 8-5. Several of the Red Sox's runs came in after batters walked, then advanced on overthrows as they ran the bases.

    Twins head coach Dan Hinkle said that with the league title already clinched, he was using the game as a chance to experiment with players at different positions.

    "The boys wanted to try some different things," Hinkle said, adding that ace pitcher Wesley Rodda was out of town for the second straight game, but is expected to be back in time to play in next week's state UBBA tournament in Spanish Fork.

    Aaron Lewis, the Twins' third pitcher in the first inning, managed to get the final out. Later in the game, the Twins were still behind 10-6 when Trae Downard belted a grand slam home run over the fence to tie the game 10-10. Downard had earlier singled off the top of the left field fence in the first inning, bringing in the Twins' first run of the game.

    In the bottom of the final inning, the Red Sox got Derek Lema on base, but he was thrown out at second. First baseman Downard then ended the game on a dramatic double play, snagging a ground ball, stepping on first base, and then throwing out baserunner Jaydan Olsen at third.

    Earlier Monday night, the Padres held off a late rally by the Dodgers to win 14-12, setting the stage for a tie-breaking game the following night (after the deadline for the Times-Independent's sports section). The winner of Tuesday's Dodgers-Padres game will go to the state tournament as Moab's second-place team.

    In other Moab City Recreation action, the top girls' softball teams are all headed to their respective state tournaments this week. The first-place Cubs and second-place Reds are competing in the Fox league level (7th-9th grades), while the Cardinals will represent Moab in the 5th- and 6th-grade league tournament, and the Diamondbacks will compete in the tournament for the 3rd- and 4th-grade level teams. A recap of those teams' tournament performances will appear in next week's newspaper.

    Meantime, the boys' Mustang and Jugs leagues are also wrapping up season play soon. Also, the adult co-ed softball leagues will continue play until the end of the month, when the 10 teams will vie for the championship at a weekend tournament at the end of July. The teams' regular season records will determine their seedings for the final tournament.
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