Voyagers Lose Season Finale in Billings
Published on September 9, 2015 under Pioneer League (PL)
Great Falls Voyagers News Release
BILLINGS, Mont. (September 8, 2015)Â - The Great Falls Voyagers saw their 2015 season come to an end as the Billings Mustangs clinched a playoff spot with a 6-1 win in Tuesday night's regular season finale at Dehler Park. The loss snaps the Voyagers streak of eight consecutive years making the Pioneer League postseason.
With the game tied 1-1 entering the seventh, Billings (20-18, 37-38) grabbed the lead against Alex Katz (0-1). The Mustangs had the tying run in scoring position with one out, when an error by the Voyagers (18-20, 35-39) allowed Ed Charlton to score the go-ahead run. The home team then added a pair of insurance tallies on a pair of two-out knocks by Brantley Bell and Kevin Garcia.
The Mustangs then added two more to the lead in the eighth, as Reydel Medina hit a line drive home run off the foul pole in right to stretch the margin to 6-1.
For the second night in a row, it was Great Falls who struck first. After an error extended the second inning, the Voyagers took advantage as Frank Califano doubled down the line in left for the first Great Falls hit of the night to score Victor Velasquez.
The Voyager offense dried up from there however, as the Mustangs held Great Falls to just four hits for the second game in a row. Tanner Rainey pitched out of a jam in the third, and found himself in trouble again in the fifth, but Junior Arias (3-2) came on to snuff out the Voyager threat.
Great Falls did not offer up much of a threat against the Billings bullpen, as the trio of Arias, Carlos Machorro, and Austin Orewiler surrendered a combined one hit and two base runners over their four and a third innings of work.
Trailing 1-0 in the fifth, Billings leveled the score against Brannon Easterling, as the righty was greeted with back-to-back hits, with Blake Butler tying the game with a single.
With the 2015 season now in the books, the Voyagers thank all their fans for another great year out at Centene Stadium and are looking forward to another great season starting in June of 2016!
Pioneer League Stories from September 9, 2015
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