Kirtley's 3 HRs, 10 RBIs not enough in Riders loss
Glacier’s Christian Kirtley launches a three-run home run against Idaho Falls on June 14. Kirtley hit his eight, ninth and 10 homers Tuesday night in Missoula. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Christian Kirtley more than did his part.
Kirtley homered three times, drove in all 10 Glacier runs and had 14 total bases in a 16-10 loss to the PaddleHeads. All these numbers are new Range Riders records, and he now leads the team in home runs (10) and RBIs (41) on the season.
His 10 home runs are tied with Idaho Falls’ Brett Barrera for third in the Pioneer League, trailing only Northern Colorado’s Dario Gomez and Missoula’s Adam Fogel, who have 12. Kirtley’s 41 RBIs are tied with Fogel for fourth in the league.
The explosion of runs is nothing new for the PaddleHeads as they lead the Pioneer League in almost every hitting category. Tuesday night they had 17 hits and four home runs.
In the top of the sixth inning the Range Riders were down 10-6 and had the bases loaded with one out. That is when Kirtley hit his third home run of the day, a grand slam to tie the game up.
The game was 10-10 heading into the bottom of the seventh when things began to unravel. The PaddleHeads had five base hits, but four Range Riders errors in the inning led to four runs, only two of them earned.
Manager Paul Fletcher has been adamant on the Range Riders pitchers to attack the zone, not allow walks and trust the defense they have behind them. In the opening game against the PaddleHeads, the pitchers allowed seven walks and the defense committed five errors.
Fogel went 2-for-4 for the PaddleHeads to boost his league-leading average to .430 and his home run in the fifth inning drove in three, to tie for the league lead.
The Range Riders (20-11) are now four games back of the PaddleHeads (24-7), with five games left in the series.
Glacier 301 024 000 - 10 10 5
Missoula 112 060 42x - 16 17 3
Nick Zenga, Luke Cooper (5), Jerry Huntzinger (7), Montana Quiqley (8) and Freddy Guilamo, Nick Gore (7). Reece Fields (5), Mark Timmins (6), Noah McBride (7), Arman Sabouri (8), Ethan Swanson (9) and Taylor Smith, Luis Navarro (8).
GLACIER RANGE RIDERS — Andy Atwood 1-5, Gabe Howell 2-5, Chad Castillo 0-3, Christian Kirtley 4-5, Ben Fitzgerald 0-3, Mason Dinesen 1-5, Nick Block 0-5, Freddy Guilamo 0-2, Nick Gore 0-2, Ajay Sczepkowski 2-4.
MISSOULA PADDLEHEADS — Mike Rosario 3-5, Roberto Pena 3-6, Alex Sanchez 0-2, Collin Runge 1-5, Colin Gordon 1-1, Adam Fogel 2-4, Josh Elvir 3-5, Taylor Smith 1-3, Luis Navarro 0-1, Cameron Thompson 1-3, Kamron Williams 2-5.
2B – Kirtley, Sczepkowski. Runge. HR – Kirtley 3 (10). Gordon (5), Fogel (12), Pena 2 (9). RBIs – Kirtley 10. Runge, Gordon, Williams 2, Fogel 3, Rosario 3, Pena 5.