WARD'S SIX RBI LEADS RAPTORS ROUT OF ROCKIES

OGDEN, UT - After three consecutive close games in which the Ogden Raptors couldn't find enough clutch hits, a breakout game was needed.
Thanks in large part to Ryan Ward, a breakout is just what the Raptors put on Friday night.
It was a bonus that it came against the Grand Junction Rockies, a team that had beaten Ogden in the last four games between the teams and the Raptors' likely opponent for the first round of the Pioneer League playoffs.
Ward homered among three hits and drove in six, and Ogden avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Rockies with a 13-3 win.
After Grand Junction plated two runs on a two-out single in the first, the Raptors bounced back in the third. Wladimir Chalo led off with a single to become the first baserunner for the hosts. Aldrich De Jongh grounded into a force, retiring Chalo, but went to second as the throw to first got away.
Jeremy Arocho singled to center to knock in De Jongh, and Arocho went to second on the throw home - putting him in position to score to tie the game when Jimmy Titus reached on an error. Andy Pages followed with a double down the left field line, and Zac Ching singled to right to plate both runners for a 4-2 Raptors lead.
The rally wasn't finished, as a Sauryn Lao double again put runners at second and third. Ward got ahead in the count and grounded a hit up the middle for his first two RBI of the night, putting the Raptors up by 4.
De Jongh opened the fourth with a hit and was on the move when Arocho lined a double to left-center. De Jongh scored ahead of the throw home, increasing the advantage to 7-2.
Grand Junction picked up a run in the fifth, but Jeronimo Castro completed the frame with his eighth strikeout to qualify for the victory.
In the home half of the fifth, Ching was on second after a leadoff hit and groundout when Ward came to the plate. The left-handed hitting outfielder hammered a drive to left-center that hit the wall, easily scoring Ching.
Ward completed his career night in the seventh. With two on and one out, Ward launched a shot to right field, his fourth home run of the season and an 11-3 lead for Ogden.
The hosts added a pair in the eighth, with one scoring on a wild pitch and the other forced in by a bases-loaded walk.
The Raptors start a two-game series in Orem on Saturday at 6:35 PM before returning home for their final homestand of the season on Monday.