Voyagers Lose in Game 4 Thriller

On Friday Night, the Great Falls Voyagers were narrowly defeated in a near-comeback that was another tough slide for the boys in green and red. The team put together a solid effort in game 4 against the Ogden Raptors, final score was 7-8.

Nick Marshall received the starting nod for Great Falls against Ogden's Chris Macca. Ogden came out the gates with a consistent offense they would sustain throughout the day. They scored runs in 5 of the first 6 innings, continuing what has been a dominant season on offense for the Raptors. The score was 6-0 advantage Ogden after 4.5 innings. 

The Voyagers began to mount a comeback in the following frame. Left fielder Ryan Major led off the inning with a single, followed by a Caden Green triple that drove in Major. Green has been stellar in his short time with Great Falls. In his first 13 games with the Voyagers, Green is batting .455 in 38 at-bats with 5 RBI and 5 runs. Xane Washington then drove Green in with an RBI single, and the Voyagers ended the inning with three runs across, cutting Ogden's lead in half, 6-3. 

The Voyagers then saw a stroke of bad luck in the top of the 6th when Ryan Major lost a fly ball in the air as the sun had set. Players have stated before that it can be easy to lose baseballs in the air at that time of day, which certainly appeared to be what happened to Ryan. This allowed two runs to get across in what could have been the final out of the inning.

The Voyagers continued their efforts for the comeback in the final third of the game, starting with a 2-run 7th inning thanks to a couple of walks and base hits, RBIs for Freddy Rojas Jr. and Frank Podkul. They also scored one in the 8th inning thanks to another RBI knock from Caden Green, then it came down to the bottom of the 9th, Voyagers down 6-8. 

Freddy Rojas Jr. led off the inning with a walk, and Oscar Serratos Jr. came up and hit a single. Frank Podkul then laid down a sac bunt to advance runners to second and third base, bringing the winning run to the plate. Antonio Fernandez then grounded out, but Rojas came across home to make it a one-run game with two outs. Jordan Hamberg came up for the Voyagers and worked the count full when one of the more confusing plays of all year happened.

It was at this moment that Oscar Serratos Jr. attempted to steal home. It was an incredibly gutsy call with two outs, but Dylan Matsuoka, pitcher for Ogden, threw the ball to the catcher, and Serratos was unfortunately called out at the plate. However, this play should not have even happened. Matsuoka balked on his throw to the plate. He never came set, but he also never stepped off the pitching rubber. This call was missed by the officiating crew. It was not clarified if the officials ruled this throw a pitch or not. It was a demoralizing way to lose the game after being so close to completing the comeback. Nonetheless, the Raptors take a 3-1 series lead, final score was 8-7. Game 5 tonight at 7 PM, Austin Stubber is the starter tonight for Great Falls.