NoCo Rides Crosby's Cycle to First Win of Series

GREELEY, Colo. -- The heart of the Owlz order beat up Billings, and Brandon Crosby was its heartbeat.

Crosby crushed it for the Owlz very first cycle in Northern Colorado. He drove a deep double in the eighth to complete it, also adding the final insurance run in this 6-3 wild Wednesday W.

His 4-for-4 night was the cherry on top of a sweet showing from hitters three through six in the Owlz lineup. Tim Bouchard, Kevin Higgins, and Euro Diaz combined with Crosby for 10 of the Owlz 11 hits in the game. They accounted for all six RBI.

They also headlined a heck of a turnaround in the field.

On Wednesday, a night removed from defensive disaster, the Owlz continually limited momentum with some deft decision-making. At times, they limited runs too.

Take the fifth inning, for example. A Johnny Carr-to-Bouchard-to-Crosby relay eliminated a would-be double for the first out. The next out came courtesy of Crosby's quick thinking, which cut down a run at home. He fielded a sharp grounder and made a sharper throw to backstop Marshall Rich, who applied the tag to keep a run off the board.

In the seventh, Rich couldn't catch a runner stealing third, but Bouchard gunned down a would-be base stealer at second instead. That was out number two. Without it, out number three, a deep-enough flyout to right, would've likely been a Mustangs sac fly. 

The Owlz defense definitely made things easier on Tanner Schoeninger (W, 2-3), who, despite pitching well, fell behind early.

It's the third time in four games between these teams that Billings (4-3) scored first. Top two, NoCo's hometown hurler hung a heater too high, and Andrew Fernandez found the land beyond the left field fence for his first professional homer. 

But the Owlz offered a response right away. Higgins splintered his bat by sending a ball off the pitcher's glove, and he beat it out for a base hit. Crosby cashed in, tanking a triple to deep right center to score his middle-infield-mate. When Diaz dropped a single into left field, Crosby came home with ease to give his team a 2-1 lead.

Next inning, though, Billings bundled together two singles and a sac fly to tie the game. The Owlz once again retaliated, plating another pair in the home half. Bouchard doubled before Higgins hit him in with a single. Crosby moved Higgins with his own single before Diaz decked a sac fly to left. At that point, the scoreboard read 4-2 Owlz.

Schoeninger shined for five innings. He did surrender hard contact and nine hits, but the sturdy starter allowed just three runs by the end of his outing. He struck out three batters and didn't walk any.

NoCo brought the bullpen into the fold in the sixth, the same inning Crosby conked his homer.

C.J. Grant-DeBose delivered a spotless inning for the second-straight night. Isaiah Ramos rung up one batter in his NoCo debut. Chance Benton outlasted a 38-minute sun-soaked lightning delay to earn his own scoreless inning. Christian Griffin (S, 6) grooved through the ninth to close it out.

All four of them, plus Schoeninger, allowed loud contact. But it turned into a lot of loud outs. The Mustangs managed to outhit the Owlz, but discipline defense combined with reliable relief pitching produced the Owlz first win of the series. 

And, obviously, the sensation of the cycle certainly helped the momentum too.

NoCo's next chance to build on that momentum is Thursday's throwdown. The Owlz will battle Billings starting at 4:05 p.m. right back at Jackson Field.

See you then!