Late Inning Offense Lead PaddleHeads Past Mustangs
Long Ball Leads Missoula Past Billings In 8-3 Victory Friday
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | X | 8 | 16 | 0 |
MISSOULA, MT- A home run from Brendan Ryan of the Billings Mustangs in the top of the 7th would knot things up in a push toward the late innings Friday night in a battle with the Missoula PaddleHeads. The Mustangs offense had held an advantage to this point leading to victories in prior games of the series. Thanks to a quick rebuttal from the PaddleHeads however, Missoula would ensure that trend would not continue.
The PaddleHeads would send all 9 men to the plate in a rally in the bottom of the 7th inning to grab the lead right back. A long home run would highlight the 4-run rally as the PaddleHeads took a 7-3 advantage. Missoula would also outscore Billings 5-0 in the final 3 innings to take control. The PaddleHeads bullpen would do the rest as the PaddleHeads would pick up a much needed victory by a final tally of 8-3.
The Mustangs would hold their only advantage on this night in the early innings thanks to home run power of their own. A familiar candidate would do the heavy lifting in 3rd year veteran Gabe Wurtz. The left fielder would launch his 57th home run in his Mustangs career over the right field wall in the 2nd to give Billings a 1-0 lead. Wurtz would finish the contest 2-for-5. A few innings later, the PaddleHeads attack would strike back to snag the lead.
After a pair of singles from Adam Fogel, and Alec Sanchez, Carlos Perez would give the PaddleHeads the lead in the bottom of the 4th. The former Miami Hurricane would send an 0-2 pitch over the left center field fence to give Missoula a 3-1 advantage. Perez would finish the contest 2-for-3. Fogel, and Sanchez also enjoyed fantastic efforts from the middle of the order finishing 3-for-4.
This effort would be enough to keep the PaddleHeads in front for a chunk of time thanks to the efforts of starter Dawson Day. The southpaw delivered yet another solid outing in 6 ⅓ allowing just 2 runs while striking out 9. Billings would knot things up however after the departure of the Oregon native.
A double from Casey Harford in the 6th would cut the PaddleHeads lead to 1 prior to the home run from Ryan that tied the game at 3 in the top of the 7th inning. The PaddleHeads attack would waste no time however to flip things back in their favor.
After a double from Perez to start the 7th, Cameron Thompson would immediately give the PaddleHeads the lead back with a single to drive him home to make the score 4-3. In the next at-bat, Roberto Pena would clobber a 2-run shot to left that traveled 450 feet to give Missoula a 6-3 advantage. An RBI single from Sanchez would then wind out the scoring as Missoula took a 7-3 lead. Thompson would finish 3-for-4 with an RBI and Pena would wrap up his night 2-for-4.
Noah McBride, and Jimmy Loper would ensure the Mustangs would have no thoughts of a comeback in 2 scoreless frames out of the bullpen. The duo would both finish with 2 strikeouts a piece in the 8th and 9th holding Missoula's lead at 5. This allowed the PaddleHeads to get themselves back into the win column.
Missoula (61-33) will now look to build this late season momentum in the penultimate game of the regular season Saturday night opposite the Mustangs (45-49). The final night game of the regular season gets underway with a 7:15 p.m. first pitch. The PaddleHeads will also dedicate Saturday's game to local High School baseball programs with proceeds benefiting outfits in the Garden City. Furthermore, it will also be a night to honor PaddleHeads MC 'Sammy B' in his final game with the organization. If you cannot be at the park in person, stay tuned in with all the action on ESPN Missoula 102.9 F.M. and 1029espn.com.
