NoCo Closes Spirited Series with a Winning Streak

GREELEY, Colo. -- A trio of two-spots tipped the scale in Sunday's scuffle, and the Owlz survived a serious scare to salvage a series split. 

Three days ago, NoCo (11-11) was winless in this series against Grand Junction (10-12). But with a ninth inning eruption on Friday, an entire team effort on Saturday, and a nail-biting finish on Sunday, NoCo's now won three-straight games.

Gaylan Young (S, 3) had his hand in closing out all three of them.

On Sunday, with his club up 6-4 in the top of the ninth, Young sought his second save in as many games. But that prospect didn't look good from the get-go. 

Young surrendered a single, then two walks, and suddenly the sacks were packed. An impending infield single kept those bases loaded with no one out, not to mention it scored a run and cut the Owlz lead to just one.

But when the going got tough, "Big G" really got going. Nico Popa popped a liner right back up the middle. It ended up popping Young's mitt for a lineout, and his quick throw after the catch caught Josh Elvir off third base to complete a crucial double play. And if there was still any doubt Young can field his position, he put that thought - and this game - to bed with a game-ending unassisted putout at first base. 

For Young to secure the save, six was the perfect number, and his squad scored that many thanks to three two-run innings in Sunday's scrap.

The Owlz grabbed the lead with speed and led the entire rest of the game. In the bottom of the first, Cameron Phelts and Brandon Crosby coaxed walks out of Ari Kaufman, and they were rewarded with runs when Brian Dansereau tripled moments later. The two-run three-bagger is Dansereau's fifth triple this season, which, at the time of this writing, makes him the lone league leader in that category.

The next inning, Jordan Garr got right back at it to score some more. Less than 24 hours after his best game as an Owl, in which he recorded three RBI, he flicked an effective groundout to the right side that scored Kevin Higgins. Phelts got in on the RBI fun with a single two at-bats later, scoring Robbie Kellerman, and the Owl owned a 4-1 lead after two.

All that action gave starter Emmanuel Rosario wiggle room in his NoCo debut. Interestingly enough, the last time Rosario toed the rubber, it was against the Owlz in Ogden. On Sunday, though, the righteous righty pitched 3.2 innings for the good guys, and a pretty good three-hit, two-run, two-walk, one-strikeout outing was the result.

When it became Kyle Adkins (W, 3-0) turn to get after it, he also got some help from his hitters.

The Owlz scored their final two runs in the fifth. Phelts flat-out flew down the first-base line to beat out a bunt single, and a futile attempt from Grand Junction's pitcher led to a throwing error. That mistake moved Phelts to second, and he quickly moved up after Brandon Crosby's own infield single. But because Crosby had to also hustle, he forced another errant throw, on which Phelts scored easily. Crosby crossed home plate himself when Dansereau scorched a sac fly to deep center field, giving NoCo all the runs it needed by the end of that fifth frame.

The adaptable Adkins relieved Rosario in the fourth and lasted until the eighth, establishing his new season-high by lasting 4.1 innings on Sunday. In the process, he gave up five hits, issued two walks, allowed two earned runs, and struck out two batters.

Including Young, the Owlz only used three pitchers on Sunday. The Rockies, on the other hand, used five. NoCo chased starter Ari Kaufman (L, 1-2) after just 1.2 innings. Kaufman coughed up those four early Owlz runs. After that, no Rockies pitcher lasted more than 2.1 innings. 

NoCo knocked eight hits off of those five Grand Junction guys. Phelts and Higgins led the way with two hits apiece while Dansereau did the RBI damage. With three on the day, he extended his team lead in ribbies. 

Sunday's effort was energizing, and it leads to another tiny two-game home series coming up on Tuesday. NoCo welcomes the Rocky Mountain Vibes on Tuesday and Wednesday before finishing out the weekend against the Vibes down in Colorado Springs. 

First pitch for Tuesday is set for 4:05 p.m. from Jackson Field. We're excited to see you there!