Dobrash Deals, Overshadowing Snavely and Serving a Shutout

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Preston Snavely spun a start as smooth as his freshly-shaved face, but his team's rough night at the plate produced no runs and the Owlz got shut out.

The 3-0 setback saw a similar pitching performance between two teams. Each team gave up five hits. Neither staff allowed an inning's leadoff man to reach base even once. The Owlz (16-26) struck out nine and walked four. Grand Junction (24-21) struck out 10 and walked three. Only five hurlers took the hill total.

For Snavely (L, 0-2), Thursday's throwdown brought out his best outing yet. In the NoCo native's second quality start this season, he only allowed two Rockies (24-21) hits and three walks.

But those walks hurt him just enough. After Snavely issued Nico Popa a free pass, one of those hits plated Popa. It's the only run the righty relinquished, and Snavely followed it up by retiring 14 of the next 17 batters.

What really hurt is that he opposed what was probably the best pitching performance of this Pioneer League season.

As good as Snavely was, he was outdone by Jimmy Dobrash (W, 2-1). Dobrash dominated for 8.1 innings, the longest start against the Owlz in any game this season. The fellow Colorado kid coughed up all the Owlz hits, but again, there were only five. He struck out nine and walked three batters. Like Snavely, he finished strong, retiring 12 of the final 14 batters he faced.

Dobrash doled out 112 pitches in his dominant display. By the time Trevin Reynolds relieved him, the Rockies had received reinforcements in the form of two eighth inning runs.

Chance Benton, who spelled Snavely in the seventh, held his own and handed out three punch outs in his 1.1 innings. But Benton conceded consecutive hits that resulted in Rockies run number two, and Chase Wilkerson went to work in his stead. Wilkerson allowed the final run of the game, which went down as Benton's run in the end.

The Owlz matched its season-best mark in hits allowed in a game. It's the first time in almost a month a starter's stuck around for six or more innings. It's their most strikeouts in a game since the start of the last homestand. Put very simply, they turned in one of their best recent nights on the rubber.

But they couldn't replicate that success with the sticks. In a month where offense has been behind the times, Thursday saw just the second time this team's been held to five or fewer hits. Tough to take home a win that way.

Notably, in the first at-bat of Chuck Steele's first start, he stroked his first hit as an Owl. But Steele saw a short night after getting subbed out by Zach West in the fourth.

West wound up whacking a hit himself. He and Steele joined Tim Bouchard, Kevin Higgins, and Robbie Kellerman in doing so.

NoCo knows it needs more firepower on Friday. That's when it returns to Suplizio Field for the fourth game in his six-game series.

Southpaw starter Colton Williams will likely go against Grand Junction's Jacob Wesselmann when Friday's first pitch rolls around. It's set for 6:35 p.m.