Voyagers Hold Off PaddleHeads in 9th to Fend Off Elimination

Great Falls, MT- The Great Falls Voyagers cracked the door open in the top of the ninth inning in game 1 of a 6 game slate Tuesday opposite the Missoula PaddleHeads. After Great Falls reliever Montana Quigly recorded the first two outs of the frame,  Nick Gatewood struck out on a pitch in the dirt. However, Lukas Polanco would need to fire the ball to first to complete the strikeout on the play. When doing so, Polanco threw the ball up the first base line to keep Missoula alive. The PaddleHeads would almost make the Voyagers pay for that huge mistake. 

One batter later, Keaton Greenwalt would launch a ball over Michael Deeb's head to the left field wall to put the tying run at third base. Cameron Thompson would then hit a ball right on the button in the clutch situation.  However, Thompson  would ultimately get nothing to show for it as Riley Jepson would make a backhanded catch at first base to record the final out of the game. In the process, Great Falls ended Missoula's nine game winning streak, and fended off elimination in the race for the First Half Pennant in a 7-6 defeat. 

Action through the night would be tight with neither team leading by more than 3. It would be the Voyagers finding that advantage in the early going taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Derek Kolbush drove in a pair in the inning on a double into left center field to kick off the scoring. Kolbush would later score on a single from Deeb to give Great Falls their largest lead. The advantage would not last long however as Missoula found a counter in the next two frames. 

Singles from Henderson Perez, and Thompson would drive in a pair of runs in the third inning to cut the Voyagers lead to 3-2. The PaddleHeads would then level the score at 4 in the next frame on a single from Gatewood, and an RBI groundout from Greenwalt. After leveling the score at that point, neither team led by more than one run the rest of the way. Greenwalt would finish 2-for-5 while Perez was 2-for-3. Thompson, and Gatewood both chipped in with 1-for-4 efforts. 

The PaddleHeads would take their first lead of the night in the sixth inning thanks to a pair of extra base hits. Kamron Willman would get the inning started with a solo blast to left to knot things up at 5 apiece. After Lamar Sparks reached on a fielder's choice, Jayson Newman would knock him in with a double to left center to give Missoula the advantage at 6-5. This would be the PaddleHeads only time out in front however as Great Falls would continue to counter Missoula's attack through the night. Newman would finish the night 3-for-5 with an RBI. 

Jepson, and Deeb gave the Voyagers the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 7-6. Jepson would bring in Breydon Daniel on a single, and Deeb would knock in his second run of the night on a sacrifice fly to round out the scoring. Jepson was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored and Deeb was 1-for-4 with 2 driven in. 

Missoula (31-11) will look to shake off the loss in what will be another opportunity to clinch the First Half Pennant in the Northern Division in game 2 opposite Great Falls (26-16). First pitch from Centene Stadium is set for 7:00 p.m. Hear the action on ESPN Missoula 102.9 F.M.