Sports stats



PL Northern Colorado Owlz

Owlz Score Early and Often, Inch Closer to Playoffs

September 7, 2010 - Pioneer League (PL)
Northern Colorado Owlz News Release


The Owlz jumped out to an early lead Monday night and never looked back, winning 13-3 behind a strong performance by the heart of the lineup and starting pitcher, Pill Joon Jang.

Jang went 6.2 innings giving up eight hits but only one earned run. The most important part of his outing was saving the bullpen, which needs some rest going into the stretch run. With the win, the Owlz knocked their magic number down to two, meaning that an Owlz win and a Casper loss Tuesday would clinch a playoff spot for Orem. With only three games left now, the Owlz have a 1.5-game lead on the Casper Ghosts.

The Owlz's 3-4-5 hitters-Jake Rife, Brandon Decker, and Daniel Eichelberger- combined to go 8-for-14 in the game. Wes Hatton also contributed offensively, driving in four runs on two hits in the game.

"Jang going [6.2 innings] really saved the bullpen," Owlz Manager Tom Kotchman said, "and we hit enough that we didn't beat ourselves which is what we've been doing the last week and a half."

The Owlz returned home Monday night after a disappointing weekend series in Idaho Falls in which the Owlz dropped all three games of the series. Ogden was coming off of a series sweep of Casper which clinched the second half title for the Raptors meaning that Casper's only hope lies in overtaking the Owlz in the overall standings.

Orem may have been motivated a little bit extra Monday night after the Pioneer League All-star team was announced and not a single Owl made the list. Six Owlz were named to the honorable mention list, however. Brandon Decker, Andrew Heid, Wes Hatton, Travis Witherspoon, Daniel Tillman, and Tom Kotchman were those Owlz on the honorable mention list.

"The players can take that as a snub and say ‘well we didn't have anybody on the all-star team, let's get in the playoffs and show them why we should have guys on that list,'" Kotchman said.

From the good news department, Brandon Decker was named Pioneer Player of the Month for the month of August on Monday. Daniel Eichelberger was also voted as the team's Most Valuable Teammate of 2010 by the team.

The Owlz and the Raptors will face off again Tuesday night at 7:05 for the last regular season home game of the 2010 season.

Check out the Northern Colorado Owlz Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Pioneer League message board...

Pioneer League Stories from September 7, 2010


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.

OurSports Central