Raptors Walk-Off Owlz in 12 Innings
August 30, 2015 - Pioneer League (PL)
Ogden Raptors News Release
OGDEN - With two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning, Gersel Pitre smacked a single up the middle to score Scott De Jong from second base and give Ogden (19-9, 38-28) a 4-3 win over Orem (13-14, 37-28) and move the Raptors into a tie for first place in the Pioneer League South Division with the Idaho Falls Chukars, who lost to Grand Junction.
The Raptors have now won nine of their last ten games, including five of six against their crosstown rivals, with ten games left to play in the regular season.
Ogden and Orem traded runs in the first inning before the Owlz re-took the lead on Jared Foster's two-run home run in the third inning. Deion Ulmer hit a lead off homer - his first of the season - in the bottom half of the inning, which saw Orem manager Dave Stapleton ejected for the second time this week against Ogden.
The 3-2 score held for the next five innings before Michael Medina knotted the game at 3-3 with a lead off home run in the eighth inning - a 446-foot blast to left-centerfield - just one day after hitting a grand slam. The middle innings were filled with defensive gems. Pitre caught two runners stealing second in the game, Rob McDonnell picked off Alex Abbott, and Ogden turned an 8-2-6-2 double play to end the seventh inning. Juan Moreno singled to centerfield off of Corey Copping with Kenny Towns on second base. Gage Green came up throwing from his centerfield position and Towns slipped while rounding third base. Green threw down to the shortstop Kelvin Ramos when Moreno tried to advance on the throw. After dancing around the second base bag, Ramos eventually tagged Moreno and threw a bullet to Pitre at the plate when Towns tried to score. Pitre applied the tag to end the inning.
The Raptors had multiple chances to walk-off the Owlz prior to the 12th inning. Ramos reached on an error to lead off the ninth inning and moved into scoring position on Ulmer's sacrifice bunt. Orem intentionally walked Green, but Alex Santana struck out and Medina flew out to end the threat. Just two innings later, Ramos again reached as the lead off batter, hitting a single in the 11th. Ulmer again laid down a sacrifice bunt and Green was intentionally walked. This time, Santana grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Medina flew out, De Jong walked and stole second base when Edwin Rios struck out, and Faustino Oguisten walked ahead of Pitre's heroic at-bat.
Marcus Crescentini (1-0) threw two perfect innings in the 11th and 12th to get his first win of the season. McDonnell, Copping, Shea Spitzbarth, and Crescentini combined for eight scoreless innings of relief out of the bullpen. Cody Pope (0-2) took the loss for Orem.
Jose Santos (1-0, 5.06) makes his first start for Ogden on Sunday afternoon against Orem's Jared Ruxer (0-2, 5.32). First pitch is a 4:00pm MT at Lindquist Field. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.
• Discuss this story on the Pioneer League message board...
Pioneer League Stories from August 30, 2015
- Chukars Bats Heat up in 16-7 Rout - Idaho Falls Chukars
- Ogden Beats Orem 10-5 for Sixth Straight Win - Ogden Raptors
- Owlz Fall in Game 3 in Fourth Straight Loss - Northern Colorado Owlz
- Nine Run Sixth Inning Too Much in Idaho Falls - Grand Junction Jackalopes
- Smith Stymies Great Falls Bats - Missoula PaddleHeads
- Great Falls Bats Stymied in Matinee Loss - Great Falls Voyagers
- 7th Straight Home Win for Helena - Helena Brewers
- Voyagers Game Notes: August 30 vs. Missoula - Great Falls Voyagers
- Raptors Walk-Off Owlz in 12 Innings - Ogden Raptors
- Idaho Falls loses 7-6 - Idaho Falls Chukars
- Hilliard's Knock Lifts Rockies over Chukars - Grand Junction Jackalopes
- Missoula Suffers Setback at Great Falls - Missoula PaddleHeads
- Brewers One-Hit Mustangs, Win 9-0 - Helena Brewers
- Owlz Fall in Extra Innings to Raptors - Northern Colorado Owlz
- Voyagers Hammer Osprey; Regain Wild Card Lead - Great Falls Voyagers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
