Montes blasts way to All-Star MVP award
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Hometown favorite Coco Montes belted two homers to power the Pioneer League to their first All-Star victory over the Northwest League in four tries, a 13-10 win before a crowd of 4,892 fans on Tuesday at Suplizio Field. The 32-hit battle featured three homers and six
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Hometown favorite
Montes' six-RBI night earned him BUSH'S® All-Star MVP honors for the Pioneer League, while Salem-Keizer's
"It's amazing," Montes said. "Our crowd is awesome. Our fans, them cheering me on every time I get to the plate."
Grand Junction closer
With the Pioneer League trailing, 10-9, Helena's
"Sometimes you just have those days when the ball just goes your way," said Eaton, who fell a homer shy of the cycle. "I wasn't really thinking about the home run, just getting our team back in it."
Gameday box score
"It was wild," said Terry, who had three hits after winning Home Run Derby earlier in the day. "The first inning, we got five and I was like, 'This is good.' Then they came back. ... It was crazy."
It looked good early for the Northwest League, whose first five batters reached against Pioneer League starter
The Giants' top prospect fouled off three pitches, then clobbered a 2-2 offering for a three-run homer.
But the Pioneer League bounced right back against Tri-City's
"The first one, I was ahead in the count, so I was trying to be aggressive," said Montes, who has seven homers for Grand Junction, including six at home. "I got a good pitch, hit it the other way."
After doubling and stealing third in the second, Vancouver's
"The past few games before the All-Star Game, I was seeing the ball really well," said Eaton, who went 5-for-5 with four runs scored and two RBIs. "I think it just carried over."
"A 3-2 count and we had a man on third, so I was trying to fight something off, put the ball in play. One out, get the run to score," Montes said. "I got enough barrel and it went over the fence."
The lead was brief, however.
Terry led off the fifth with a single and Rincones doubled. Miller's sacrifice fly, his second run-scoring out, plated Terry and Rincones dashed home on a wild pitch by
Spokane's Terry slugs way to Home Run Derby title
That lead last four batters.
Fry hit a towering fly to the base of the wall in left-center, scoring
"I felt really good having [Bart] there behind the plate and just wanted to make a really good throw," Rincones said. "I feel really happy about [the MVP award] because I can play here. I felt really good about the game and was trying to do 100 percent.
An inning later, the lead changed hands for the fifth time.
Ultimately, however, the Pioneer League finally earned bragging rights.
"I was excited to be here," Montes said. "Home Run Derby was fun, but I'm not really a big Home Run Derby type of guy, so I just had fun with it. In the game, I got some good pitches. It was a great time."
Jared Ravich is a senior software engineer for Major League Baseball Advanced Media.