Big Flies Boost Raptors To Rubber Match
Friday night, the Ogden Raptors blew a three-run, ninth-inning lead and dropped Game One of the Pioneer League South Division playoff series.Much of Saturday's Game Two followed the same path - including a two-run Raptors lead, Grand Junction tying the game and Ogden going back up by three - but
Friday night, the Ogden Raptors blew a three-run, ninth-inning lead and dropped Game One of the Pioneer League South Division playoff series.
Much of Saturday's Game Two followed the same path - including a two-run Raptors lead, Grand Junction tying the game and Ogden going back up by three - but this time the hosts broke from the script and added insurance runs while the bullpen tossed shutdown ball in a 7-5 victory.
The win ties the series at one game apiece and sets up a rubber match in Grand Junction on Sunday evening at 5:00 for the right to face Great Falls in the Pioneer League Championship Series.
The Raptors got the scoring started in the first, as
In the second,
The Raptors went back on top in the home half. Paulson ripped the ball to right and cruised to second as the ball went off the glove of the right fielder.
That advantage almost disappeared in the top of the fifth. Another Grand Junction homer pulled them within two, and then a single and wild pitch put a runner in position to score on a two-out hit for a one-run game.
That was the end of Inoa's night, and
The Raptors answered the two Rockies runs with a pair of their own, thanks to Hulsizer. Paulson drew a two-out walk and Hulsizer, sitting on a first-pitch fastball, obliterated the offering out of the ballpark down the left field line for a 7-4 lead.
Grand Junction put up a run on a leadoff double followed by a single in the sixth, but then the Ogden bullpen shut it down.
Navarro stranded a runner on second to end the sixth, and when he allowed a double to open the seventh
In the eighth, Mitchell sandwiched a base hit between a strikeout and fly out, and
In the North division, Great Falls finished a two-game sweep of the Billings Mustangs to secure their second-straight trip to the championship series.