Owlz Win Six of Nine on Mid-June Trip
Published on June 16, 2023 under Pioneer League (PL)
Northern Colorado Owlz News Release
We can break NoCo's nine-game recently completed road trip into three parts.
Part One: The Phenomenal
By firing off 51 hits, 15 of which went for extra bases, the Owlz swept Rocky Mountain in a three-game set to start the roadtrip. They only trailed in one single inning the whole time - during the third inning on June 7, after which they promptly parlayed three hits into four fourth-inning runs to take a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
The pitching did its part too. Jose Diaz dealt his best start of the season in Game One of the series, allowing a single earned run through five innings of work. He fanned five Vibes, his personal season high, and walked just one. Mark Tindall turned in a pretty nice first start in Game Two, and Jacob Walker went two scoreless innings after Tindall, earning Walker a win in the process. In the finale, Chase Jessee struck out six over four innings, and a committee of bullpen arms allowed just three earned runs over the last five innings to seal a series sweep.
Part Two: The Forgettable
The beginning of Friday's series opener in Grand Junction resembled the success the Owlz experienced in The Springs. They scored 11 runs through the first five innings, and then slapped on a seven-spot in the eighth. Abdel Guadalupe hit for the cycle, the second cycle since the Owlz move to NoCo and just the franchise's sixth cycle oveall. He even added in an extra double just for fun.
The ninth, though, was no fun at all.
NoCo collapsed to the tune of 11 runs in the last half inning of the series opener. The Jackalopes followed it up with 23 runs the next day and 14 the day after that. In the first three games of the series, all Jackalopes wins, they outscored the Owlz by 25 runs.
Let's just forget any of that even happened, yeah?
Part Three: The Final Push
NoCo did show a short memory, showing out to win the final three games and preserve a series split. Game Four brought with it an explosion as the Owlz won 17-3. Josh Glenn led the way with four extra base hits, tying a team record for the season, and four RBI.
The next night, the Owlz overcame a 7-0 deficit, eventually winning 14-10. Guadalupe launched two more homers, Payton Robertson went 3-for-3, and the Owlz gave themselves a chance to knot the series the next day.
With an 8-6 win, that's exactly what they did. Guadalupe homered two more times, putting the powerful Puerto Rican in sole possesion of the team's lead in long balls. He now has eight on the year, two more than he hit during his five-week tenure with the Owlz a season ago. On the bump, Austin Schneider shoved again, logging his second quality start of the campaign with a six-inning special that featured eight strikeouts, a new team high this season.
NoCo By The Numbers
Guadalupe is the hottest hitter in the Pioneer League. He hacked at least one hit in all nine of the recent road games. During that stretch, he totaled 21 hits. Six of them were doubles and six more were home runs. They resulted in 21 RBI. He leads the Pioneer League in slugging percentage (.877), not too far ahead of his teammate Josh Glenn, who ranks second (.830).
He stole that "hottest hitter" title from Jackson Coutts, who currently tops the PBL in batting average (.478). For all hitters with more than 15 at-bats, he also leads the league in on-base percentage (.542).
As a group, the hooters are hitting better than any PBL team at the moment. They lead the league in 11 offensive categories.
Cory Wills is tied atop the league in appearances with 10. His K/9 ratio (14.90) is almost four strikeouts higher than the guy he's tied with (11).
Carter Linton ranks fourth in the league in K/9 ratio (16.62). He's tossed eight of them through 4.1 innings.
Schneider has thrown more innings (26.2) than anyone else in the league. He also ranks second in strikeouts (28).
What's Next
We could keep going, but just realize that, despite the skid to start that series in Grand Junction, these birds of prey are pasting opposing pitching and pitching it pretty well themselves.
Their next crack at it comes on Saturday, a double-header with the Jackalopes. Both games will last seven innings. Join us for the Battle for 970 starting at 5:05 p.m. on Saturday. Get your tickets for just $9.70!
Then come see us on Sunday for Father's Day! The first 200 in the doors will get a free Owlz-branded grilling apron.
And, as always, you can watch live games on FloBaseball.
Pioneer League Stories from June 16, 2023
- Friday's Game vs. Grand Junction Postponed - Northern Colorado Owlz
- Owlz Win Six of Nine on Mid-June Trip - Northern Colorado Owlz
- Chuks Win in Grand Style - Idaho Falls Chukars
- DeBonville Leads Missoula to Sweep of Glacier - Missoula PaddleHeads
- Maybach Blows the Top Off, Mustangs Win 5-3 - Billings Mustangs
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