By Scott Elpers

 The Derby Twins have been a fixture in the National Baseball Congress World Series, qualifying for the tournament 12 out of the last 13 times coming into the season, but they will not get a shot at a title this summer.

Derby ended its lackluster 16-22 season this past week after failing to secure a World Series berth for just the second time in the team’s 14-year history. The team moved to Derby in 2006 after nine years in Wichita.

Finishing in the top two spots at the NBC Midwest Regional or the Jayhawk League would have garnered a spot in the tournament, but the Twins came up short in both endeavors.

The Twins were ousted early in the double elimination Midwest Regional in July, losing their opening game to the Kansas Cannons and their second to the Hutchinson Monarchs. 

Derby rarely cracked the top half of the Jayhawk League, finishing the season fourth out of six teams and 6-1/2 games out of first place. The Twins were the only team in the Jayhawk League to miss the World Series, with the Hays Larks, Dodge City Athletics, Haysville Heat, Liberal BeeJays and El Dorado Broncos all earning spots in the tournament.

Derby struggled early in the beginning of the season, with four wins in its first 15 games. The Twins found some momentum after the slow start, winning six of their next seven. Although the wins became more frequent for Derby from there, the Twins never won more than two games in a row in the entire month of July. 

Following the Midwest Regional, Derby finished out its regular season by winning two of its last five games. Derby came away with one win in a three-game series at Hays. The Twins won their final home game of the season with a 10-7 victory against league rival Haysville on July 24. Derby ended its season the following night with a 4-3 loss at El Dorado.