Hawks Use Early Push to Get Past PaddleHeads

BOISE, ID- The Missoula PaddleHeads played in their final road game of the regular season on Wednesday night in the series finale opposite the Boise Hawks. After winning the first 2 games of the series holding the Hawks offense in check, Boise's bats would get things rolling early. Behind a pair of 3-run rallies in the first 2 innings, Boise would find a sizable advantage early. This would continue into the middle innings as Boise would extend the lead while holding Missoula off the board. The PaddleHeads would fight down the stretch, but would not be able to dig out of the hole it left for itself. 

The PaddleHeads would trail by as many as 10 runs in the first 5 innings and would be held scoreless themselves. Missoula would pick things up in the 6th however and would outscore the Hawks 7-0 down the stretch to make things interesting. Ultimately, the mountain would be too tall to climb for the PaddleHeads on this night as the Hawks would avoid the sweep in a 10-7 win.

Alex Baeza of the Hawks would do a lot of the heavy lifting in the early innings allowing Boise to jump out to a 6-0 lead. The former Utah Ute would single home a run as part of a 3-run rally in the 1st inning to get the Hawks on the board. Baeza would deliver the big blow one inning later hitting a 3-run blast to right center field to give the Hawks a 6 run advantage. Baeza would knock in 4 in the win for Boise finishing the contest 2-for-4. 

Activity in the 4th, and 5th innings would see the Hawks push the lead to a margin that would prove to be insurmountable. Noah Marcelo would push the lead out to 9 in the 4th inning hitting a 2-run double in the frame. Derek Maiben would score on a wild pitch one inning later after reaching on a double as Boise would extend the lead to 10-0. Marcelo would tally 3 RBIs in the win finishing 2-for-4. Maiben would reach base 5 times in the game finishing 3-for-3 with 3 runs scored. 

Despite the large deficit, Missoula would fight down the stretch. Missoula would outscore Boise 7-0 over the final 4 innings. The PaddleHeads would also tally 10 hits in the final 4 frames. Dondrei Hubbard would get Missoula going in the 6th hitting his 2nd home run of the series to get Missoula on the board with a solo blast. Hubbard would also tally 2 doubles down the stretch to finish the contest Wednesday 3-for-5. 

Keaton Greenwalt knocked in a run with a single in the 7th to cut the Boise lead to 7 at 10-3. Greenwalt would tally 6 RBIs in the series for Missoula finishing 2-for-4 Wednesday. A 9th inning rally would then make things very interesting. 

The PaddleHeads would cut the Hawks lead to 3 in the 9th thanks to the long ball. Luis Navarro would hit a home run to the opposite field to get things started to cut into the deficit. McClain O'Connor would later strike with a home run of his own to left field to cut Boise's lead to 10-7. Missoula's magic would run out after this sequence however as the Hawks would hold on after this point to avoid the sweep. Navarro knocked in 3 runs in the loss finishing 3-for-5. O'Connor would also enjoy a solid night finishing 2-for-4. 

The PaddleHeads (64-28) will now head home for their final 3 games of the regular season opposite the Glacier Range Riders (53-40). Action between these 2 teams is scheduled to get rolling Thursday night from Allegiance Field at Ogren Park. First pitch of game 1 is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Hear the call on ESPN Missoula 102.9 F.M.