Cole Clobbers First Longball, Stout Stuffs, Riders Win Series Opener

Great Falls, MT. – The Glacier Range Riders (32-46, 15-16 second half) pulled off a big win Tuesday night, as they downed the Great Falls Voyagers (41-37, 14-17 second half) by a score of 6-4 at Centene Stadium.

The scoring got started right away for the Range Riders when rookie outfielder Ryan Cole ripped a hot shot into left field for his first home run as a professional. Both Brandt Broussard and Dean Miller were aboard for the bomb, so it made it 3-0 Riders. It took some time for more runs to come in, and even longer for another RBI hit, but eventually Glacier got the insurance they needed. In the fifth, Broussard scored on a balk. In the sixth, Ben McConnell scored on a wild pitch, and finally, a base knock brought somebody home when Mason Dinesen scored on a Ryan Cash single to make it 6-0.

Andrew Stout was stellar for a second consecutive start, allowing only one hit in six innings of work and striking out six. Last Wednesday, Stout spun out six innings as well, allowing one run on three hits for his first win as a Range Rider. With this second consecutive win, he matched what Rob Hamby did on Saturday that earned Hamby Pitcher of the Week in the PBL, allowing no runs on one hit in six innings of work. However, Stout had six strikeouts to Hamby's four.

After Great Falls breached for three in the seventh, Trenton Toplikar fired a scoreless frame in the eighth, and Nathan Thomas came on to register his first save as a professional after a pinch hit pop out to Broussard ended the contest. With the win, the Range Riders move to sole possession of third place in the North Division, just six games back with 17 games to go.

Glacier and Great Falls meet again tomorrow at 7 PM in Centene Stadium.