Chukars Fall Short of Pioneer League Title
September 17, 2015 - Pioneer League (PL)
Idaho Falls Chukars News Release
MISSOULA, MT ---- In the deciding game of the Pioneer League Championship series, the Idaho Falls Chukars lost to the Missoula Osprey by a score of 8-1 on a chilly Wednesday evening at Allegiance Field at Ogren Park.
A night removed from scoring the final five runs of the game in a 5-3 win on Tuesday, the Chukars scored first on Wednesday. With four hits and three doubles in the frame against starter Bo Takahashi, designated hitter Brandon Dulin highlighted the surge with a RBI double to put Idaho Falls up 1-0. The initial lead was the Chukars first since game one of the divisional series against Orem.
After stranding the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, Missoula came back with three runs against Chukars starter Bryan Brickhouse in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead. The Osprey went on to tack on another run in the fifth and four more runs in the sixth to pull away from the Chukars to win the championship.
To lead the way for Missoula, first basemen Austin Byler had three hits and a RBI. Outfielder Joey Armstrong also had a two-run double and league MVP Isan Diaz chipped in with a RBI single.
On the pitching side, the Chukars had no answers for the Missoula bullpen, who blanked the Idaho Falls bats for the final five innings of the game. Righty Scott Schultz earned his second win of the series, and righties Keegan Long, Austin Mason and Cody Clark all tossed scoreless frames while lefty Gabirel Moya also added one.
For the Chukars, lefty Tripp Davis tossed 1.1 innings scoreless while righty Jacob Bodner did not give up a run in his sole frame pitched.
Offensively, Idaho Falls had five doubles of the night, one each by Dulin, first basemen Josh Banuelos, outfielders Amalani Fukofuka and Roman Collins as well as second basemen DJ Burt.
For Burt, the double finished his consecutive games on-base to 60, including 54 regular season games and all three postseason games. It was the longest streak of such kind in professional baseball.
The win for the Osprey gave them their second Pioneer League title in four years while the Chukars were one game away from winning their fourth Pioneer League title since 1998.
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Pioneer League Stories from September 17, 2015
- Osprey Win PBL Championship Despite Eager Beaver Incident - Missoula PaddleHeads
- 2015 Season Recap - Ogden Raptors
- Chukars Fall Short of Pioneer League Title - Idaho Falls Chukars
- Missoula Osprey Claim Fourth Pioneer League Championship - Missoula PaddleHeads
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