Jayden Stuyvesant’s hitting and pitching provided the ultimate bookends for the Kenai Twins at the 74th Alaska Legion state tournament.

He knocked in the first run in the first game and then capped his MVP performance by picking up the save in the fifth and final game to lead Kenai to its first state title since 2016.

Stuyvesant closed out a 4-2 victory over Service on Thursday afternoon at Mulcahy Stadium to complete a 5-0 showing by the Twins in the state playoffs. The Alaska champions advanced to the Northwest Regional next month in Medford, Ore., with a trip to the Legion World on the line.

This is Kenai’s second state championship since 2016, both under the guidance of head coach Robb Quelland.

Matthew Schilling started on the mound for Kenai and carried a shutout into the seventh inning before a walk and triple chased him. He gave way to Stuyvesant, who retired three of the four batters he faced to close it out.

Schilling and Stuyvesant were catalysts for the Twins during the six-day state tournament, with Schilling earning the Tony Wylie Big Stick Award and Stuyvesant taking him the Ron LaPorte MVP Award.

Schilling, who will play football at Dickinson State, batted .429 in five games and hit for the tournament cycle. He racked up four extra-base hits, eight RBIs and scored 10 runs.

Stuyvesant, who will play baseball at Shasta College, knocked in the game’s first run to give him 15 RBIs for the tournament, which matched the 1987 record set by Todd Porter of Dimond.

Stuyvesant tied two tournament records (he also matched the single-game doubles mark of three on Day 1) and came close on another as his 12 hits were two off the record set in 2012 by Kenai’s Josiah Covey.

They were big on Thursday as well for Kenai (24-8).

Schilling, a southpaw, drew two walks at the plate and threw 94 pitches on the mound, scatting five hits and three walks while striking out six. Both runs were charged to his ledger.

In addition to his torrid hitting in the tournament, the right-hander pitched 5.2 innings at state, including one frame in the title game. He entered the game with a runner on third base and no outs. He induced two groundouts before ending the game on a flyball to center field.

Kenai’s Daniel Steffensen singled, walked twice, scored a run and added two RBIs. Twins catcher Jackson Koetitz threw out a runner, walked and scored a run.

The all-pitch, no-hit Service Cougars (17-10) saw their two-year reign as state champs come to an end. This was the team’s fifth straight appearance in the state title game and the Cougars will represent Alaska at the Northwest Class A Regional Tournament next month in Casper, Wyo.

Service leaned on its defensive chops to keep Thursday’s title game close. The pitching staff allowed just two hits, the Cougs played error-free baseball and right fielder Alex Nemeth made two nice catches on the run – yet the Cougars trailed 4-0 entering the seventh inning.

Starter Kyler Jensen was lights out for the first four frames, holding the Twins to a single run and getting an assist from his catcher, Takumi Kosaka, who threw out a base runner in the second inning.

In the sixth, Koetitz was hit on an 0-2 pitch and Malakai BeDunnah walked to end Jensen’s day. Reliever Noah Cummings struck out the first batter he faced before walking the next two, with Steffensen’s base on balls leading to a run.

Jacob Joanis’ sac fly off Service’s third pitcher, Rawlin Mascelli, gave Kenai a 3-0 lead. In the seventh, Steffensen’s single scored Jett Brophy to make it 4-0.

Service struck for a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh after Ryker Schreck led off with a walk and scored on Brayden Cleppe’s RBI triple.

Pinch-hitter Austin Duffus knocked in Cleppe to pull the Cougars within 4-2. But Stuyvesant sealed the deal, showing why he was named MVP.

Service also collected two awards as second baseman Jazz Abad won the Gold Glove Award and Kegan Lennox was named Top Pitcher after his 1-hit shutout on Day 3.

Kenai 100 020 1 – 4 2 2
Service 000 000 2 – 2 5 0
Kenai – Schilling, Stuyvesant (7) and Koetitz. Service – Jensen, Cummings (5), Mascelli (5) and Kosaka. W – Schilling. L – Jensen. SV – Stuyvesant. 2B – Kenai: Steffensen. 3B – Service: Cleppe. HR – None.