Raptors Offense Scores Early & Often in 16-8 Defeat

Missoula, MT- The Missoula PaddleHeads squared off with the Ogden Raptors Saturday night as action in the 6 game set continued at Allegiance Field at Ogren Park. After seeing games get away in the middle innings, Ogden would look to get off to a quicker start to set the tone. The Offense for the Raptors would do that, and more jumping out to a big advantage. 

Ogden immediately put the PaddleHeads on their heels in the first two innings Saturday outscoring Missoula 6-0 in those frames. The Raptors would be far from done as well as they would also put runs on the board in the next 4 innings consecutively. Despite showing fight down the stretch, the hot start in the early innings would be plenty for Ogden who would roll to a 16-8 win. 

Jesus Valdez provided the spark offensively for Ogden in the first 2 innings, driving in 4 runs with a pair of long home runs to help stretch the lead early. Valdez was not finished either with the longball as the Raptor shortstop would launch his third homer of the game in the 6th to give Ogden a commanding 12-1 advantage. Valdez would finish 4-for-5 on the night to go with a game best 6 RBIs. 

Josh Broughton would also enjoy a huge night at the plate for the Raptors helping pace an attack that would tally 20 hits on the night. An RBi single from the Southern California native would knock in Dustyn Macaluso in the second to get his offensive night started. Broughton would also later knock in a pair with a 2-run shot in the fifth to give Ogden an 11-0 advantage. The second year Raptor would finish the night 5-for-6 with 3 driven in and 4 runs scored. 

Despite the large deficit, the PaddleHeads would fight to the end scoring all 8 of their runs after falling into the big hole in the first five innings. A 5-run rally in the eighth would cut Ogden's lead to 13-8 in the process. Kamron Willman would triple as part of the rally to score Brandon Riley. Cameron Thompson would also come through in the frame with an RBI single. Willman has been a force offensively in his last 3 games finishing with at least 2 hits in each contest. Willman would finish the contest Saturday 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. 

The final game of this 6-game set will have something on the line Sunday as Missoula (38-14) (3-2) will look for a series win in the finale opposite the Raptors (31-22) (2-3). A win for Ogden would see these teams split the 6 game set at 3 games apiece. Action from Allegiance Field at Ogren Park is set for 2:15 p.m