Vibes Walk-Off in Wild Affair

By Tyler Petersen

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  –  What ended up being the sixth error of the night for the Northern Colorado Owlz turned out to be the game winner for the Rocky Mountain Vibes.

Something about these two teams facing off against each other brings out a side of the game of baseball that I might call whimsical absurdity.

The matchup featured two pitchers making their first starts of the season – Armando Valle for the Vibes and CJ Grant-DeBose for the Owlz.

Grant-DeBose only lasted 1.2 innings but it wasn't due to mistakes on the mound, rather it was the mistakes behind him in the field. With two outs in the first, Cantu reached on an error by the shortstop. That opened the door for a further five men to bat in the first and the first three runs of the game. Nick Michaels drove in two with a double and Andrew Hanson hit in Michaels with a single.

Errors struck again in the second for the NoCo. Two more errors helped in two more unearned runs. DeBose gave up five, and not a single one earned.

Valle meanwhile was cruising. Just one hit allowed through the first three innings he got into his first jam in the fourth. With the bases loaded and no outs Cameron Phelts blasted a grand slam, the first Owlz grand slam in the NoCo era, which made it a one-run game.

It stayed a 5-4 game until the bottom of the seventh when the Vibes were able to get a few insurance runs on a double by Hanson and a single by Cesar Lopez.

But the top of the eighth brought wildness. The Owlz got two runs back and had a man at first with two outs. Ty Lewis hit a ball right down the right field line. A member of the Vibes bullpen got near it, thinking the ball was foul, but pulled his hand away. The first base umpire, who followed the play into the outfield, signaled that the ball was still live and was untouched. The ball was relayed in as the runner from first tried to score but was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

Or so we thought.

Immediately after the play had resolved, the umpires got together. After a long discussion, the third base umpire overruled the first base umpire and declared the ball was touched by someone down the right field line.

The batter was awarded second base in what was in practice a ground-rule double, and most surprisingly, the runner at first was awarded home plate.

This incensed the Vibes and manager Joe Mikulik, who was thrown out in the ensuing argument.

The game was tied 7-7. And it stayed that was until the bottom of the ninth.

NoCo was hoping to send the game to the Knockout Round, where they are undefeated on the season. Christian Griffin, the closer, was given that task.

Nick Michaels was the first man up, he walked on a full count. Then Ulises Nunez swung at the first pitch and bounced a ball to short. What could have been a double play was booted by the shortstop – everyone was safe on the fifth Owlz error of the game.

Andrew Hanson came up trying to move the runners over. He bunted the first pitch foul then was able to get the next one down fair. Griffin got off the mound…fielded it…and………….threw the ball wide of the bag, down the line, for the sixth error for the Owlz and the eighth run for the Vibes.

The Owlz and Vibes have played 18 games against each other so far. Both teams have won nine games each. This series has only intensified how closely they've played each other.

Three straight nights of late twists. Three straight nights of one-run games. Three straight nights of "what did I just see?"

It all continues tomorrow with the fourth game on a Friday Night Fireworks night at 6:30 pm.