Range Riders give up 2 in 9th, fall to Ballers Tuesday
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Glacier Range Riders held a 5-4 lead, needing just three outs for the win before the Oakland Ballers plated a run on a fielder’s choice and a wild pitch crossed home for the winning run to complete the comeback and win 6-5 in Pioneer League baseball Tuesday.
Cam Cowan walked the first two batters he faced in the ninth inning and hit the third to load the bases for the Ballers (17-8) with no outs. Cowan got Darryl Buggs to ground to third for the first out of the inning, scoring a run., and struck out Davis Drewek for the second out.
Cam Bufford singled to re-load the bases and Cowan threw a wild pitch in the next at-bat to end the game. Coming off his pitcher of the week honor, Ty Bothwell had another strong outing for the Range Riders (10-15), allowing seven hits, three earned runs and striking out seven across 5 1-3 innings.
The combination of Davis Pratt, Nick Zenga and Jason Franks shut down the Ballers offense for three innings before the ninth inning rally. The Range Riders started the scoring in the first inning, plating a run on Kingston Liniak’s RBI single.
Angel Mendoza connected on a 2-run home run in the second inning, his third of the season, before Kenneth Levari drove home Liniak on an RBI double in the third inning to take a 4-0 lead.
Nick Leehey homered for the Ballers in the third inning, before TJ Clarkson extended the lead to 5-1 with an RBI double. The Range Riders were shut out over the final three frames, recording just one base runner.
Oakland plated three runs in the sixth inning, the first scoring on an error. Daniel Harris IV had an RBI double and Christian Almanza added an RBI single.
Gabe Howell went 1-for-4 in his return to the lineup after missing time with an injury.
Glacier 121 001 000 - 5 9 1
Oakland 001 003 002 - 6 9 0
Ty Bothwell, Davis Pratt (6), Nick Zenga (7), Jason Franks (8), Cam Cowan (9), and Angel Mendoza. Dylan Matsuoka, Brody Eglite (5), James Colyer (6), Caleb Franzen (7), Carson Lambert (9), and Tyler Lozano.
GLACIER RANGE RIDERS — Clarkson 1-4, Logan Beard 1-4, Xavier Caserilla 0-4, Liniak 2-4, Jack Lynch 1-5, Howell 1-4, Levari 1-3, Mendoza 1-4, Kyle Ashworth 1-2.
OAKLAND BALLERS — Tremayne Cobb Jr. 0-4, Darryl Buggers 2-5, Drewek 0-5, Bufford 1-5, Harris IV 1-4, Christian Almanza 2-4, Lozano 1-4, Leehey 1-2, Pat Monteith 1-2, Helming 0-1.
2B — Clarkson, Levari. Almanza, Harris IV, Monteith. 3B —Buggs. HR —Mendoza (3). RBIs — Mendoza 2, Clarkson, Levari, Liniak. Almanza, Buggs, Drewek, Harris IV, Leehey.