Late Blast Helps Preserve Win to Snap Skid

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PL Billings Mustangs

Late Blast Helps Preserve Win to Snap Skid

May 30, 2025 - Pioneer League (PL)
Billings Mustangs News Release


Dominant starting pitching and a late homerun helped the Billings Mustangs (3-6) snap a four-game losing streak in a 10-7 win over the Idaho Falls Chukars (7-2) on Thursday night at Melaleuca Field.

The Mustangs needed a way to slow down a red-hot Chukars offense, who had scored double-digit runs in two consecutive games entering Thursday. They found it in starter E.J. Johnson, who was making his first start of the year after a pair of relief outings and tossed five shutout innings while allowing only three hits and striking out four.

That allowed Billings to storm out to an early 7-0 lead. It started with a run in the first inning after a single from Patrick Mills was misplayed in left field and allowed Dylan Leach to score from first to give the Mustangs a 1-0 advantage. They doubled that lead with a run in the third inning on an RBI double by Briley Knight to score Colby Seltzer.

The Mustangs then appeared to break it open in the fourth when they scored five times. Evan Berkey smacked a two-run homer to left-center field, then Leach later hit a two-run double, and he scored one batter later on an RBI double by Mills.

Billings would not score again after that until the ninth inning, however, which opened the door for the Idaho Falls offense.

After newcomer Ismael Michel Sanchez pitched a shutout sixth inning in his Mustang debut, Idaho Falls broke the shutout when a run came home on a balk against reliever Chris Hardin in the seventh.

Then the Chukars made things interesting in the eighth inning. Two walks from Thomas Wilhite started the inning and were followed by back-to-back hits, including a two-run double by Jacob Jablonski, to make it a 7-3 game.

After Wilhite hit Jacob Shanks one batter later to load the bases with nobody out, Tariq Bacon entered the game to try and escape the jam. He induced a ground ball off the bat of Spencer Rich to Seltzer at short who went to second for one out, but the speedy outfielder for the Chukars beat relay for an RBI fielder?s choice to make the score 7-4 with one out and runners at the corners.

A sacrifice fly by Thomas McCaffrey made it a 7-5 game and then Anthony Mata shot an RBI single through the right side of the infield to draw the Chukars to within one before Bacon got Simon Baumgardt to fly out to right to end the inning.

Clinging to a 7-6 lead, the Mustangs knew they could use some insurance runs and they got them on a three-run bomb by Jack O?Dowd high over the right field fence to extend the lead to 10-6.

Devyn Lopez came in to close things out and after the Chukars managed to get one more run home, Lopez retired Shanks on a fly-out to Knight in left field to seal the win.

E.J. Johnson (1-0) earned the win and Garret VanDeventer (1-1) suffered the loss.

The Mustangs and Chukars face off again on Friday night as Justin Fuson (1-0) takes the bump for Billings. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm MT.

Tune in to every play all season long on the home of Mustangs baseball, ESPN Billings.

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Pioneer League Stories from May 30, 2025


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