PaddleHeads top Riders Thursday, 8th straight win

by Daily Inter Lake
| June 16, 2023 9:45 AM

MISSOULA — Back-to-back errors by the Glacier Range Riders fueled a 3-run Missoula rally that carried the PaddleHeads to a 7-3 Pioneer League win Thursday at Ogren-Allegiance Park.

It was the fourth straight loss for the Range Riders (11-8), who had drawn into a 3-3 tie on Gabe Howell’s 2-run home run in the top of the fifth.

But in Missoula’s half of the inning the hosts got a single and then took advantage of errors by Howell at short and Jackson Raper at third to load the bases.

After Jared Akins’ RBI single put the PaddleHeads (16-5) ahead for good, 4-3, another error — this one on Dean Miller at first — let in two more runs for a 6-3 gap.

Thomas DeBonville added a solo home run in the sixth for Missoula, which used four relievers to close out its eighth straight win.

Ben McConnell stole his ninth base of the season and scored twice for Glacier.

Both teams headed to Kalispell to begin a 3-game set at Glacier Bank Park, with Friday’s game at 7:05 p.m.

Thursday

Range Riders 001 020 000 - 3 7 6

PaddleHeads 030 031 00x - 7 9 1

Patrick Miner, Andrew Holweger (7), Ryan Cloude (8) and Austin Bates. Kelvan Pilot, Mark Timmins (6), Karl Blum (7), Cody Thompson (8), Mark Simon (9) and Austin Bernard.

GLACIER RANGE RIDERS — Gabe Howell 1-4, Crews Taylor 0-4, Dean Miller 2-3, Jackson Raper 1-4, Kingston Liniak 2-4, Ben Fitzgerald 0-4, Bates 0-4, Ryan Cash 0-2, Eddie McCabe 0-1, Ben McConnell 1-3.

MISSOULA PADDLEHEADS — McClain O’Connor 0-5, Keaton Greenwallt 1-5, Jared Akins 1-4, Jayson Newman-Dodd 0-1, Patrick Chung 1-3, Cameron Thompson 0-4, Dondrei Hubbard 1-3, Jakob Guenther 2-3, Bernard 0-4, Thomas DeBonville 3-4.

2B — Liniak 2, Miller, Guenther. 3B — Hubbard. HR — Howell (2), DeBonville (2). RBIs — Howell 2, DeBonville 3, Guenther 2, Greenwalt, Akins, Chung, Hubbard.