Voyagers' Walk-Off Homer Ensures Opening-Series Sweep of Owlz

GREAT FALLS, Mont. -- Great Falls overcame an early Owlz onslaught, finishing Friday's conflict with fireworks in a four-run final frame.

When NoCo (0-3) closer Noah Parsons (L, 0-1) entered the game, his club held the same 9-6 lead it had since the third inning. Two two-run taters later, and Michael Deeb had walked off the game, eager to greet a Great Falls (3-0) group celebrating a sweep at home plate.

The Owlz obtained all nine runs before the end of the second inning, and they didn't trail until Michael Deeb's dagger of a dinger.

With one out in the top of the first, Brian Dansereau drew a walk. He then became the first of six straight batters who scored that inning.

Dansereau strolled home after a wild pitch from Voyagers starter Alexander Castro. Danny Molinari followed it up by singling home Euro Diaz, who'd just recorded his first hit of the season. Ty Lewis got hit by a pitch, Alex Cornell singled, and they both came around to score when Seth Strong tagged a triple. Strong served as the sixth run after Kevin Higgins knocked him home.

The Voyagers responded right away with runs of their own. NoCo starter Jordan Powell walked Breydon Daniel and Jake Malec back-to-back. Andy Atwood's awesome series continued with a sac fly that scored Daniel, and Malec scored on when Deeb grounded out an at-bat later.

NoCo clapped back, though. In the top of the second, Molinari made a moonshot of his second chance against Castro, launching his club's first home run of the season. The solo shot gave him his fourth RBI of the year, now tied for the team lead. Then, a little déjà vu: Lewis and Cornell reached before Strong scalded an extra-base hit to score them. This time, the free-flowing first baseman flicked an RBI double to put the Owlz up 9-2.

Great Falls fought back with four runs in the third, but until that fateful final inning, it didn't appear the Voyagers would really close the gap.

That's because three Owlz relievers really closed the door on them for almost six innings. With one out in the third, Powell got pulled after four walks and two hit batters. That's when Chase Wilkerson entered, and the southpaw struck out two batters over 2.2 innings while only allowing one earned run. Kyle Adkins and Tyshaun Chapman took over for the next three innings, and between them struck out three, allowed just one hit and one walk, and surrendered no runs.

For the home team, Brad Demco (W, 1-0) earned the dub in his first appearance this season. The long-armed lefty came in to start the eighth inning and pitched two innings of one-walk, two-strikeout ball to close this one out. Even so, Anthony Becerra-Lopez was the real bullpen bulldog, firing off four innings of work and fanning eight NoCo hitters on the night.

Of those NoCo hitters, Molinari and Strong shined, combining for five of their squad's six RBI from Friday. Molinari went 4-for-5 with two singles, a homer, a double, two RBI, and two runs scored. Strong went 2-for-5 with a double, a triple, three RBI, and one run he scored himself.

With the let-down loss, the Owlz face their first three-game sweep since late July 2019.

Now, they're off to try and bounce back in Billings. Their three-game set against the Mustangs starts Saturday at 6:35 p.m.