Vibes Fall Again to Rockies 9-4

By Tyler Petersen

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.  –  In what now is an underachieving start to the second half, the Rocky Mountain Vibes fell 9-4 to the Grand Junction Rockies, their fifth loss of the six-game series.

Jimmy Dobrash picked up his second win of the series and Jorge Leo, his second loss of the series.

Grand Junction just won't stop hitting home runs. All nine of their runs came on balls out of the ballpark. Jonah Girand had a three-run home run, Alex Nielsen had a two-run shot, Shawn Ross had two solo shots, and Casey Petersen added yet another two-run home run.

Down 6-0 early, the closest the Vibes got in the game was in the sixth. Andrew Hanson brought in a run with an RBI double and Mike Annone brought in two more with a single.

The lone other run came much too late – a Josh Glenn solo home run in the ninth. It was a big one for Glenn though, his first as a professional baseball player.

The Vibes are now 4-7, and sit 3.5 games out of first place. Not an insurmountable deficit to be sure, but a trend in the wrong direction. They'll need to buckle down now, and with some courage and guile, get this team back on track for a championship.

It will have to start on Tuesday, with a six-game home series against the Northern Colorado Owlz.

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During today's game, the Vibes with the rest of the Pioneer League drafted players at this year's mid-season tryout camp. Rocky Mountain drafted three players. More information will be available soon, and it is still to be seen which of the players will be added to the active roster and which will be invited to spring training for 2023.

In the meantime, here is the full draft order:

Round 1

1) RMV – Dutch Landis, RHP

2) BOI – Michael Slaten, RHP

3) GFV – Aaron Simmons, OF

4) NCO – Ronnie Allen, C

5) GJR – Damon Maynard, C

6) BIL – Joey Lara, RHP

7) IDF – Luke Laurita, LHP

8) GFV – Fernando Loera, UTIL

9) OGD – Dustyn Macaluso, OF

10) MIS – Brandon Kruzinski, OF

Round 2

1) MIS – Austin Bull, INF

2) OGD – Gunnar Buhler, UTIL

3) GFV – Charlie Hesse, INF

4) IDF – Damani Thomas, OF

5) BIL – Brian Williams, UTIL

6) GJR – Ethan Smith, OF

7) NCO – Michael Stellmack, RHP

8) GRR – Anthony Sanabria, INF

9) BOI – Neil Boudreau, RHP

10) RMV – Decker Quintana, LHP

Round 3

1) RMV – JoJo Barfield, OF

2) BOI – Pass

3) GRR – Cord Johnson, OF

4) NCO – Estevan De La O, OF

5) GJR – Pass

6) BIL – Pass

7) IDF – Karl Koerper, UTIL

8) GFV – Pass

9) OGD – Pass

10) MIS – Pass