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  Stats for each game provided by Gary Baughman
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 Update from Dennis Dosman on 25 June 2014 - This week in FastballÂ
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KITCHENER — Not since Queen Victoria and Prince Albert hooked up has a union hinted at so much promise.
As marriages of convenience go, the Kitchener Twins' and the Jarvis Travelers' wedding was forced by a lack of sponsors, but appears to be headed for a state of matrimonial bliss.
Independent of each other, the two teams claimed five of the past six International Softball Congress senior men's club team world titles.
Combined, and now known as the Kitchener Hallman Twins, the tournament-only squad is in preparation to play host to the ISC world tournament coming to Kitchener Aug. 8 to 16.
And the world's third-ranked team certainly has a flair for the dramatic.
In their first weekend together this season, Twins leadoff hitter Jesse Taws stroked a walk-off double in an extra inning to pace the undefeated Hallman Twins to a 3-2 victory over the Scarborough Force in the title game at the Peter Hallman Memorial fastball tournament.
Twins field manager Steve Kooser, of Topeka, Kan., knows a thing or two about mergers.
His previous squad, the old Broken Bow Travelers from Nebraska, teamed up with an outfit from Jarvis, Ont., in 2010 to win the first of three consecutive world titles.
Kooser likes what he sees this time, too.
"The guys that were here played outstanding. For the first weekend, I'm pretty happy," said Kooser, who works for the state utility company back home.
"The best is yet to come."
Of course, when you boast an all-star international lineup, including a handful of locals, you are bound to be short a few regulars early in the season.
Kitchener went without its Kiwi contingent, infielders Jerome Raemaki and Tyron Bartorillo, who had national team commitments this past weekend.
Another Aussie, utility player Zenon Winters, won't join the team until August.
But they carried on, said Sunday's winning pitcher, Paul Koert, who twirled a complete-game six-hitter at Peter Hallman Ball Yard.
"I think we are pretty happy with our start. Undefeated this weekend is kind of what we expected. All of this is just to get us ready for the ISCs in August.
"The goal is to get better every weekend."
Former Twins ace Don Scott and reliever Andy Skelton combined to allow four hits for Scarborough, including a solo homer to Matt Greer and Ian Fehrman, respectively.
Force second baseman Nick Dambrosio went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the visitors who are ranked No. 5 in the world.
Next up for the Twins is the North American Fastball Challenge in Jarvis, Ont. on June 27 to 29 in a field that includes defending world champions, Hill United from Six Nations, Ont.
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Twitter: @RivetRecord
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No Game 4 played
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 Game 8
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No Game 10
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 Game 14
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 Thanks to Gary Baughman for all the stats work this weekend!
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