Deluge of Rain and Runs in 24-12 Victory

By Tyler Petersen

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The biggest offensive output of the season for the Vibes came in the first game of the year against their intrastate rivals from Grand Junction. The Vibes scored 24 runs in a shortened seven-inning contest, scoring in each inning, and scoring 20 of those 24 runs in the first three innings.

After a rain delay of an hour and five minutes, the game got underway with three Rockies runs in the top of the first off Vibes starter Brett Erwin.

It would be the last frame the Rockies would lead.

As soon as Gio Diaz saw the first pitch from Izzy Fuentes of the Rockies, he shot the ball to the outfield for a leadoff base hit. The next eight batters of the inning followed as such: single, hit by pitch, 2 RBI single, RBI single, RBI single, RBI sac fly, RBI groundout, lineout.

First inning over, 6-3 Vibes.

Six more runs followed in the bottom of the second – picking up RBIs along the way were Ulysses Cantu, Mike Annone, Luis Navarro, and Joseph Encarnacion.

Second inning over, 12-3 Vibes.

Then even more in the third, eight more, in fact. The big blast of the third came off the bat of Domonique Hernandez. With the bases loaded he sent a ball majestically up and over the wall in center – a ball that was hit so had one might have believed it ignited a filament inside the baseball creating a 448 ft incandescent home run – the second grand slam of the season for the Vibes.

Hernandez finished the night with two big flies and seven RBI.

Brett Erwin pitched well after the first inning and picked up his first professional win. He went 5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K.

The Vibes face the Rockies in a double-header tomorrow with the first game starting at 4:30 pm.