Nate Madej Dominates in Voyagers W

Pictured: C/2B Hernan Yanez

The Great Falls Voyagers played a complete game in all facets Thursday Night in a decisive victory over the Boise Hawks. It was Ladies Night inside Voyagers Stadium, and the Ladies were treated to an impressive all-around showing from the boys in green and red.

Nate Madej got his 9th start of the season yesterday, and something must have been in the air for the first year pro out of Florida-Southern. He walked the first batter he saw, but remained poised, and retired the next three, the last two with strikeouts.

Great Falls immediately gave Madej a nice cushion in the bottom of the 1st with some quick offense. Four straight base hits for the boys to lead off the game gave them a 3-run lead. Madej fell into a groove, striking out the side in the top of the second.

Madej was dialed in the rest of the way. He struck out 6 of the next 9 batters retired. The offense continued to add on runs throughout the game, and the Voyagers found themselves up 8-0 in the top of the 8th, Madej with an active no hitter.

Jorgensen flew out to Ryan Holgate in right to start the inning, and O'Hara floated a ball out to shallow center, looking like trouble for Madej's no-no. Xane Washington got a great jump on the ball, and immediately started diving in towards his left. Xane realized he wasn't going to get to the ball on his feet, so he slid to his knees and made a tremendous sliding grab. The crowd was ecstatic, and Madej tipped his cap to Washington shortly after.

Unfortunately, the magic wouldn't last much longer for Nate, as just a few pitches later, the Hawks got their first knock of the day from Max Yung-Goldberg. Max hit a double into right-center that would be the final pitch of the day for the Voyager's starter, seeing as he was well over 100. Although the end didn't go how Madej was hoping, he can still hang his hat on his best performance this season, and one of the best pitching performances in the PBL this season. Final line: 7.2 innings, 1 hit, 1 run, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts.

Lefty Trae Robertson came in for the final 1.1 innings. Xane Washington, Freddy Rojas Jr. and Oscar Serratos Jr. all have RBI knocks. Hernan Yanez has best his offensive showing: 4-5, 5 RBI, sac fly. Final score: 9-4

Voyagers and Hawks for game four tonight at 7 PM!