Vibes Score 15 Unanswered for Third-Straight Win Over Owlz

COLORADO SPRING, Colo. -- A punchout-heavy pitching performance and plenty of pop at the plate propelled the Vibes to a third-straight win over the Owlz.  

Rocky Mountain (7-19) starter Yohandry Perez (W, 2-1) pitched his squad's second quality start in as many games. He struck out more batters (eight) than he allowed hits (six). He logged almost as many looking strikeouts (two) as he allowed walks (three). He only gave up two runs, surrendering a single earned one.

They came early, when NoCo (11-14) dusted up the Dominican to draw first blood.

Ty Lewis didn't get the double he craved to complete the cycle on Wednesday. But he did double in in Friday's first inning, scoring Alex Jackson – who himself doubled on the game's first pitch – in the process.

Jackson supplied the first of four leadoff two-baggers for the Owlz on Friday. Despite those doubles, Lewis' RBI turned out to be the club's only hit with runners in scoring position. NoCo saw 20 more of those chances the rest of the game and came up empty in all of them.

In the second inning, Kevin Higgins hacked his own leadoff double. Three at-bats later, he hauled it home on a Zach West dribbler that went down as a fielding error by Rocky Mountain's shortstop.

All that action made the score 2-0 entering the bottom of the second frame. From there, the Vibes scored 15 unanswered runs.

They went unanswered because of Perez's pristine performance. The Owlz best chance to strike back came in the fourth inning, but the Dominican dodged danger by serving up his seventh strikeout to retire the side.

Seth Davis did the same exact thing. When he replaced Perez with two outs in the seventh, he inherited two runners in scoring position. Davis delivered a backwards K, his first of three through his 1.1 innings, successfully sidestepping the threat.

All but one Rocky Mountain starter slapped a hit. Four of them had multiple RBI, led by former Owl Mike Annone, whose four hits found him five RBI on Friday. Ulysses Cantu socked a sixth-inning grand slam, worth four RBI. Overall, the Vibes went 12-for-24 with runners on. Pairing that production with their pitching pushed Rocky Mountain to its first winning streak of the year.

As effective as the Vibes staff was, it only tossed two more strikeouts than the Owlz did. The difference? NoCo nearly got doubled-up in hits, allowing 15 compared to eight by Rocky Mountain.

Four of those hits against the Vibes came from Lewis and NoCo newbie Tim Bouchard, who each finished the game with two hits. In his debut, Bouchard beat out an infield blooper and bopped a double. By popping a pair of doubles, Lewis doubled his season total for that stat and has now knocked five extra-base hits over his last three games.

The Owlz will pursue improved production with ducks on the pond when Saturday rolls around. They'll be back at UC Health Park for another 6:30 p.m. first pitch.