Owlz Offense Falters Against Very Good Vibes Pitching

GREELEY, Colo. -- The Owlz offense came back down to earth after an out-of-this-world pitching performance by the Vibes, and it gave Rocky Mountain a matinee win.

One game removed from a season-high 20 hits, NoCo (2-3) notched just six in Sunday's 7-1 loss. It's the Owlz lowest hit total through five second half games so far.

On the other side, the Vibes (3-2) touted a tough trio of pitchers that just vibed all afternoon.

It started with Greyson Fletcher (W, 2-1), who found his first quality start of the season. After allowing a leadoff homer, Fletcher's finesse fooled Owlz batters for seven-straight innings. He struck out six, allowed five hits, and issued one walk.

Impressively, Fletcher got to another gear as the afternoon went along. It seemed like the longer he pitched, the more efficient he performed.

In the fifth, the relentless righty struck out the side. Between the sixth and seventh, he threw a total of 14 pitches. He ended his day having retired 10-straight NoCo batters.

Pete Bayer and Seth Davis each pitched a scoreless inning to round out Rocky Mountain's outing. Collectively, those two gave up one hit, surrendered one walk, and fanned four.

Alex Jackson's leadoff at-bat became the lone blemish on an otherwise spotless Sunday for the Vibes' guys. Despite staring down an immediate 0-2 count, the leadoff batter bashed a backside bomb. Jackson's sixth homer this season overtook the team lead.

It also made it so the Vibes no longer had a lead. After Rocky Mountain managed a run in top one, Jackson's jack tied this game at 1-1.

Kida De La Cruz (L, 1-4) kept it that way for a while. After a some issues with command that coaxed home the Vibes' first run, the starter settled in for four strikeouts over the next three innings.

Then, in the fifth, Rocky Mountain made use of an RBI double and a two-run tater to take a lead they never relinquished. Three more went up in the sixth, and if not for a clutch Kyle Adkins, things could've gotten worse.

Adkins appeared with one out and immediately doused the fire. He followed it up with a solid seventh inning of work too. He struck out two across his 1.2 innings, facing only six batters in the process.

Chance Benton and C.J. Grant-DeBose both put forth fine performances themselves. Each of them pitched an inning. Each of them punched out a pair.

None of those relievers allowed a run. In the end, Rocky Mountain left 13 on base offensively.

But the birds with the bats never scored another run to take advantage.

Ty Lewis became the only Owl with multiple hits in Sunday's scuffle. The first baseman singled in each of his first two at-bats to give him his 13th multi-hit game this season.

Despite the downturn offensively, it's far from the time to sound any alarms. The Owlz have still put up more games with 19-plus hits than games with single-digit hits.

And let's face it: the Owlz offense had to regress toward the mean at some point.

Simply put, a very hot-swinging squad struggled against a superb subset of the Vibes staff. That was Sunday's story.

The Owlz next chapter can be written starting on Tuesday. NoCo welcomes invading Billings for their only home series against a Northern Division opponent the rest of the way.

First pitch for the first game in that six-game series is set for 4:05 p.m.

Join us at Jackson Field by purchasing tickets for just $10. Click here to buy yours online, or just walk right up to the box office the day of the game.

See you Tuesday!