Brito Drives in Eight as Raptors Sweep
July 30, 2018 - Pioneer League (PL)
Ogden Raptors News Release
OGDEN, UT - Sunday afternoon in Ogden, the Raptors and the Idaho Falls Chukars started swinging in the first inning.
They never stopped.
A game with 10 lead changes and only five empty half-innings went down to the bottom of the ninth, when Daniel Robinson singled to bring in Jefrey Souffront and end a marathon of over four hours with a 20-19 final.
Raptors shortstop Ronny Brito was on fire, driving in a career-high eight runs in the game.
The visiting Chukars, after scoring three runs in Saturday's game, came out and plated four in the first inning.
Ogden had scored 13 to win on Saturday, and their bats stayed hot from the get-go on Sunday. Jeremy Arocho singled to lead off, Robinson singled and stole second, and Arocho scored when the throw sailed into center. A Dillon Paulson walk put two on, and Miguel Vargas singled to score Robinson.
Brito stepped in and lifted a sacrifice fly to deep center, and then Matt Cogen grounded out to score Vargas and tie the game. With two down and the bases empty, Niko Hulsizer drove the ball over the fence in right-center to cap the five-run inning and put Ogden on top.
They weren't leading for long. Idaho Falls bounced back in the second to score six runs on just three hits, while the Raptors committed three errors.
A Paulson double knocked in Robinson in the second to make it 10-6, but two more Chukars scored in the third and it appeared the visitors were comfortably ahead, 12-6.
After being shut down in the bottom of the third, however, the Raptors broke out in the fourth. Arocho singled to left, Robinson and Paulson walked to load the bases, and Vargas singled to score one. That knocked out the Idaho Falls starter, and Ronny Brito took a walk after a 10-pitch battle against the relief pitcher to force in a second run. Cogen then laced the ball to the base of the fence in right and Ogden pulled within two.
Hulsizer was next, and he tied the game with a double to left. Two batters later, he scored for a Raptors lead when Souffront doubled to center.
The fifth inning saw Brito reach five on the RBI counter, as his soaring drive with two on cleared Raptor Ridge with plenty of room to spare for a three-run blast.
The 16-12 lead wasn't quite enough. Ogden's bullpen, which had not allowed a run in the first four games of the second half entering Sunday continued struggling. Idaho Falls scored five times on three hits - including a two-out, three-run home run - to take a one-run lead into the bottom of the sixth.
In the home half Brito was in a position to come through again, as his team had the bases loaded and one out. A sharp single through the middle scored two runs to put the hosts back on top, 18-17.
From that point on, the teams traded single runs.
The Chukars got a sacrifice fly after a leadoff walk and throwing error to knot the game going into the bottom of the eighth. That's when Vargas singled to left and went to second when the left fielder overran the ball, and Brito lined a single to left-center to put the Raptors in the lead again.
That RBI was the eighth and final one of the night for Brito, and it seemed it would hold as Idaho Falls sent their 6-7-8 hitters to the plate in the ninth.
With one out in the top of the ninth, however, Nick Hutchins, the Chukars' catcher who was 0-for-4 with a sacrifice fly, blasted a solo home run to left to again bring the game square, 19-19.
That set the stage for another Raptors rally. Souffront drew a walk on a full-count pitch to open the bottom of the ninth, and he went to second on a wild pitch. Arocho crushed a ball to straightaway center field that was tracked down, but Souffront was able to tag up at second and advance to third.
With Robinson coming up, Chukars manager Omar Ramirez made the decision to have his center fielder come into the infield, to minimize the chances of a ground ball seeping through. It didn't matter, as Robinson laced a 1-1 offering over shortstop and into left-center field to end the game.
The win gives the Raptors a sweep of the two-game series and a winning homestand after Grand Junction took two of three to kick it off.
Ogden now heads to Grand Junction for their penultimate series before the All-Star break. The three-game set with the Rockies will start at 6:40 Monday night.
Pioneer League Stories from July 30, 2018
- Hulsizer Earns Raptors' First Weekly Honor - Ogden Raptors
- Victor Castaneda Named Pioneer League Pitcher of the Week - Helena Brewers
- Beltre's Blast Costs Brewers Chance at Sweep - Helena Brewers
- Brito Drives in Eight as Raptors Sweep - Ogden Raptors
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.
