2 Rallies Lead Missoula Past Great Falls Saturday

GREAT FALLS, MT- Action would once again be tight in the early going in game 2 of a 3 game set opposite the Great Falls Voyagers. Both teams would tally runs over the course of the first 3 innings. Missoula would hold the lead for chucks of time in the first 5 innings but would never lead by more than 1 run. The PaddleHeads' attack would turn it on in a big way in the later innings Friday on their way to victory. Thanks to rallies in the final 4 frames, Missoula would see similar success as well on this night. 

The PaddleHeads would tally 7 unanswered runs in 2 separate rallies in the 6th, and 8th innings to stretch out their advantage. Great Falls would have no answer to these rallies being held scoreless from the 4th to the 9th inning. The Voyagers have yet to hold a lead at any point in this 3 game series. The PaddleHeads will be looking to break out the brooms in the series finale on Sunday after taking down Great Falls 10-4 Saturday night.

Missoula would get some early production offensively, tallying runs in the 1st, and 3rd innings to grab the lead. Keaton Greenwalt would come home to score on a wild pitch in the 1st inning. In the 3rd, Dondrei Hubbard raced home after stealing 3rd base because of a throwing error allowing Missoula to grab a 2-0 lead early. The Voyagers would have an answer to this stretch soon after.  

A pair of walks, and a single would give the Voyagers a run scoring opportunity in the bottom of the 3rd. Collin Runge brought home both runs for Great Falls in the frame on an RBI groundout with one run scoring  as a result of an error to knot things up at 2 runs apiece. This would be the last time Great Falls would find the scoreboard until the 9th inning as Mark Timmins would do well keeping the Voyagers in check. 

The 2nd year PaddleHead would earn the win for his work over 5 innings. The Nebraska native would allow 2 runs over those innings while striking out 3. The offense would start to back up the solid effort of Timmins in earnest after his departure with a 6th inning push. 

Missoula would send all 9 batters to the plate as part of a 4-run rally in the 6th that saw the PaddleHeads extend their lead to 7-2. McClain O'Connor would clear the bags with one swing with a single to left field to start the inning. The Nevada native would later score on an RBI single from Keaton Greenwalt. O'Connor scored 3 runs and knocked in a pair as part of a 3-for-5 effort at the plate. Greenwalt would tally 2 RBIs of his own, finishing 1-for-3. The lead would just keep expanding for Missoula behind another rally in the 8th.

Luis Navarro would strike with a 2-run double to get the scoring started in a 3-run rally in the top of the 8th scoring O'Connor, andHubbard to make the score 9-2. Navarro would later come in to score on a single from Josh Elvir that brought Missoula to double digits leading 10-2. 

Navarro has knocked in 5 runs in the series so far and finished 1-for-3 Saturday. Hubbard had a productive night as well finishing 3-for-6 with a pair of runs scored. Missoula will now look to complete the sweep on the road in the finale on Sunday.

The PaddleHeads (51-20) will play in their final regular season game in Great Falls in the series finale opposite the Voyagers (26-42) on Sunday. This matinee affair will feature a unique start time of 11:30 a.m. This will be the first time in this iteration of the Pioneer League that will see the PaddleHeads begin a 9 inning game before the noon hour. Enjoy your Sunday brunch with the PaddleHeads by listening in on ESPN Missoula 102.9 F.M.