Long Ball Leads Missoula Past Raptors in Game 1 Win

Missoula, MT- The Missoula PaddleHeads opened a 6-game set at Allegiance Field at Ogren Park Opposite the Ogden Raptors on Tuesday night. This opening game of the second half saw the PaddleHeads square off with the top team out of the Southern Division after Missoula was the top dog of the North in the first half. Action would be tight through the first five innings as both teams would manage to lead in the early going. Thanks to success from the longball, Missoula would start to pull away in the sixth, and seventh innings. 

Trailing 3-2 in the sixth inning, back-to-back home runs from Nick Gatewood, and Jayson Newman would put the PaddleHeads back in front by a tally of 4-2 as part of a 3 run rally. The PaddleHeads would tack on 4 more in the next half inning to stretch their lead to 5. That would be a hill that would prove to be too tall for Ogden to climb in an 8-5 victory for Missoula.

After a leadoff triple in the sixth from Lamar Sparks, Newman picked up right where he left off with the long ball Tuesday, striking for his league best 21st home run of the regular season. Newman also leads the league in RBIs (71). Newman would finish Tuesday 2-for-4. Gatewood chipped in with the solo blast as well in the sixth to finish 1-for-3. 

Brandon Riley would get things started for the PaddleHeads in the first with a solo blast to lead off the frame to make the score 1-0. Riley has now hit a leadoff homer in the first inning  in each of his last 2 games played and finished 2-for-4 on Tuesday. 

Reese Alexiades gave the Raptors their only lead offensively on the night in the fifth with an infield single to make the score 2-1. The lead did not last however as Missoula would outscore Ogen 7-1 in the sixth and seventh innings to pull away down the stretch. Alexiades would finish the night 2-for-3 with a pair of walks. 

A 4-run PaddleHeads rally in the seventh would see Missoula pull away for good as Missoula's lead ballooned to 8-3. A two-run single from McClain O'Conner through the right side brought home a pair in the frame to start things off. After a run scored on a wild pitch, Keaton Greenwalt would bring home another with 2-outs on an RBI single to left to give Missoula their largest lead of the night. O'Conner, and Greenwalt both finished 1-for-4. 

Despite not getting the win on the hill, Mark Timmins did well to keep the Raptors offense at bay in 5 innings of work. The Nebraska-Omaha product allowed 2 runs over 5 innings while striking out 4 on the hill. Sam Hellinger was also up to the task in the ninth inning earning his fourth save on the mound in as many chances to close things out. 

Missoula (36-12) will look to keep the ball rolling in game 2 of the series opposite the Raptors (29-20) in action in the Garden City. First pitch on Wednesday night is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Catch all the action from Allegiance Field at Ogren Park on ESPN Missoula 102.9 F.M.