Tight Contest in Great Falls Ends in Wild Ninth Inning in Instant Classic

It was complete chaos in Great Falls on Wednesday night, as the Voyagers successfully completed two comebacks to even the series against the Idaho Falls Chukars. The evening started close with both teams trading runs, but after the top of the fourth, the Chukars had climbed to a 6-1 lead on the backs of Tyler Wyatt's two-run homer in the second and RBI hits from Trevor Halsema, Hunter Hudson, and Robb Paller. After the Chukars had established their lead, Billy Hancock started to whittle down the deficit with a two-run home run of his own in the bottom of the fourth, and Riley Jepson, Jaylyn Williams, and Dilan Espinal contributed RBI hits. Finally, Hancock hit a sacrifice fly to give Great Falls the lead for the first time all game, and the ball was given to new closer Casey Minchey, getting his first opportunity at a save. However, chaos struck and the final out slipped away from the Voyagers, as two runs crossed the plate due to some late-game heroics from Hudson and Mark Herron Jr. With their backs against the wall, the Voyagers' offense rose to the occasion, juicing the bases and paving the way for Jake Malec, who drove a single to center field to bring pinch-runner Brady Held home to victory. The Voyagers have taken two of the first three games of the series, and the teams will shift to Idaho Falls on Thursday. 

PaddleHeads 10, Mustangs 1: Missoula's Strong Start Too Much for the Mustangs 

After falling on Tuesday to the hometown team, the Missoula PaddleHeads put another letter in the win column with a sizeable 10-1 victory. Right off the bat, Missoula struck with four quick runs from Dondrei Hubbard's two-RBI single, Jakob Guenther's sac fly, and Jacob Kline's single to drive in Jared Aikins. In response, Tyler Wilber singled to bring Gabe Wurtz in to score, chipping at Missoula's lead, but that would be the last run the Mustangs would score. Missoula started Izzy Fuentes picked up his fourth win by pitching a clean six innings, striking out five and only allowing five hits and a single walk. Jakob Guenther followed up this first inning with a three-hit, four-RBI performance that included a two-run home run and an RBI single. The PaddleHeads stacked their runs with a significant presence in baserunning, stealing an incredible nine bases, three of which were taken by McClain O'Connor. Kline's single to give Guenther another trip to the plate ended the ten-run campaign, resulting in a dominant win to take the series in Billings. 

Raptors 3, Range Riders 1: Mitchell Stone's Rock-Solid Outing Halts Glacier's Offense 

Coming off a solid week against the Chukars, the Raptors solidified a bounce-back victory against the Glacier Range Riders. The low-scoring evening was a pitching duel between Glacier's Rob Hamby and Ogden's Mitchell Stone, and Stone came out triumphant. Stone set the tone early with a three-up, three-down first inning and striking out the first five batters he faced. Glacier's Matt Clayton sent one over the fence at the bottom of the third, but that would be the only run Stone would give up all night. Even after Glacier put men on second and third in the fifth with one out, Stone sat down two straight to get out of the jam and capped off his day with one more strikeout in the sixth, finishing the day with ten strikeouts on six innings pitched, two walks, three hits and a single run. For Ogden's offense, Logan Williams may have lost his hitting streak, but still batted in one of the three runs, along with Rafael Narea in the second scoring an RBI single and Sal Gozzo doubling Juan Teixeira home. Ogden salvages the series finale and snaps Glacier's home winning streak. 

Hawks 5, Jackalopes 3: D.J. Poteet Leads Offense and Backs Up Boise's Bullpen in Road Win 

One of four teams to win on the road on Wednesday, the Boise Hawks held off Grand Junction's comeback to grab a 5-3 victory. Neither team found success at the plate for the first two innings, with starters Trey Morrill and Alex Smith dealing to start the action. Finally, D.J. Poteet hit one of his two RBI doubles on the night in the top of the third and took the trip home on a Sam Olsson single. Boise's lead increased to five in the fourth with Tyler Jorgensen scoring on an error, Derek Maiben hitting a sac fly, and D.J. Poteet once again doubling a teammate home. Grand Junction closed the gap with a three-run fourth inning of their own, backed by Jaylen Hubbard, Matt Golda, and Tyler Sandoval all hitting RBI singles. Alex Smith got himself out of the jam and eventually handed the ball to Nate Alexander, who walked one and allowed three hits and no runs on three innings pitched. In the bottom of the ninth, Casey Dykstra got the call for the save, striking out two to finish the night. The Hawks escape Grand Junction with a win and get back to three games over .500. 

Owlz 15, Vibes 11: Eight Bat In a Score to Lift Owlz Over Vibes to Clinch the Series 

The only team last night to win the series in the second day, the Northern Colorado Owlz scored early and scored often to defeat the Rocky Mountain Vibes 15-11. The Vibes started off on the right foot with a 2RBI single from Elvis Peralta in the second inning, but the Owlz quickly responded with a five-run top of the third. Each run was batted in by a different Owl, spreading the wealth across the whole lineup. Even after a solid inning from the Owlz, the Vibes were not out yet and clawed their way back into the lead on the backs of Ethan Lopez and Jacob Barfield hitting back-to-back two-out doubles in the third. Jackson Coutts homered for the Owlz to shorten the lead, but Steve Barmakian brought a second run home on a single, and Casey Petersen sacrificed another home to make it 9-6 after six innings. Finally, the dam broke again for the Owlz as they worked their way through the count to walk home three straight runs to retake the lead. Kevin Jimenez doubled two more and Henry George advanced another on an error, capping off a six-run seventh inning. Both teams took shots at one another in the final two innings, but the Vibes just could not climb the mountain the Owlz built. The Owlz take two of three games in Colorado Springs and head home with a .500 record.