Kevin Slaybaugh is new to the position of head coach and Kelly Morford is a veteran, and the two have their talented Class A American Legion teams ready to battle for the belated 2020 season.

Slaybaugh’s Glacier Twins, the Kalispell Lakers’ opponent for three Memorial Day weekend games, lost six players off a squad that went 32-18 and narrowly lost the Western A District championship to the Mission Valley Mariners.

Morford’s Libby Loggers, meanwhile, lost just one starter from last year’s lineup that rolled up a 20-16 record.

Both figure to be in the mix in the district, which is split into two sub-districts: The Lakers’ A team joins Glacier and Libby in the North (Cranbrook, Alberta, is currently on the outside because the Canadian border is closed for the COVID-19 pandemic); Mission Valley, Missoula’s A Mavericks and the Bitterroot Bucs and Bitterroot Red Sox are in the southernsub-district.

Glacier Twins

Slaybaugh, in his first season as head coach after a three years as president and general manager, is counting on some youngsters to fill out a dangerous lineup.

The veterans include Zach Veneman, who will start Saturday’s opener on the hill, Jack Price at second base, catcher Austyn Andrachick, pitcher-first baseman Chad Queen and outfielder-pitcher Trenton Tyree.

The pitching staff is helped by Stevyn Andrachick, a talented younger player who will also play shortstop. No lefthanders dot the roster for the Twins, who are based in Whitefish but also draw from Columbia Falls.

Slaybaugh said third base is a little unsettled but will be manned by Payton Davisson and George Robbins; Mason Peters and Austin Andrachick could also play first.

Veneman will catch some when he’s not pitching.

Besides Tyree, Queen and Devon Beal in the outfielder there is Cade Morgan, a newcomer.

“He’s pretty well nailed down center field,” Slaybaugh said of Morgan, a 15-year-old.

The top of the lineup looks like Stevyn Andrachick, Veneman, Austyn Andrachick, Davisson and Morgan.

“I think we’re going to be really competitive,” said Slaybaugh, who took over after Scott Murray completed a successful three-season run as coach. “It’s just a matter of how the young guys come along.

Libby Loggers

Morford is entering his 16th season coaching Libby, and has several candidates for the all-name team on his roster.

The pitching staff will be led by Quade Anderson, 6-foot-4 lefty Kadden Williams, Jeff Offenbecher and Moxley Roesler-Begalke.

Roesler-Begalke is a side-arming righty who, Morford said, “finished as probably our most effective guy last year.”

Offenbecher, he said, has good pop on his fast ball, and also plays shortstop. Roesler-Begalke mans third; at second base? Alex Svensdbye. Completing the infield is first baseman Aydan Williamson, who is not be confused with Williams.

Anderson and Trey Thompson will be the main guys behind the plate.

Like the Twins, the Loggers are mixing a youngster into the outfield in Tripp Zhang, a Kentucky transplant.

“He’s a great outfielder and probably our best hitter,” Morford said of the 16-year-old, who hits lefty. “He’ll anchor us out in center field.”

He also likes left fielder Tucker Masters: “One of those guys you love to have,” he said. “A hard-nosed, wrestler type.”

In right will be a mix of Williams, Thompson and, “a host of younger guys that are good enough to plug into different spots.”

Morford singled out Williamson’s hitting and how Svendsbye came into his own in 2019. He figures Zhang and Anderson will hit 1-2 in the lineup, with Williams and Williamson in the middle.

“I feel pretty good about how deep we go,” Morford said.

The Loggers open their season with a doubleheader against the Lakers’ A team at 3 p.m. Wednesday, at Griffin Field in Kalispell.