Welcome everybody to the Keeping Score podcast from the Daily Inter Lake, I am your host, Josh Amick. This week on the Range Riders recap, the final week of the regular season ends, and we look ahead to their playoff matchup at home on Tuesday against a familiar foe, so without further ado, let’s get into it.

For the final week of the regular season the Range Riders traveled to Ogden Utah to take on the Raptors for a six-game series. In game 1 they came out on top 8-4 as Ben Fitzgerald and Kingston Liniak homered. Cooper Benson …

Welcome everybody to the Keeping Score podcast from the Daily Inter Lake, I am your host, Josh Amick. This week on the Range Riders recap, the final week of the regular season ends, and we look ahead to their playoff matchup at home on Tuesday against a familiar foe, so without further ado, let’s get into it.

For the final week of the regular season the Range Riders traveled to Ogden Utah to take on the Raptors for a six-game series. In game 1 they came out on top 8-4 as Ben Fitzgerald and Kingston Liniak homered. Cooper Benson pitched five solid innings, and the Riders took game 1.

Game 2, Ryan McCarthy hit his sixth home run of the season en route to a 3-for-4 day, but the Range Riders lost in the knockout round 7-6. The Range Riders held a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, where the Raptors’ Cole Jordan hit a two-run single to tie the game, 6-6 and eventual win the knockout round.

Game 3, the offense could not get anything going as they were no-hit by the Raptors and lost the game 8-0.

Friday was my game of the week as the Range Riders won a back-and-forth game 9-8. Noah Owen held the Raptors scoreless over the last three frames and the Riders held on to a 5-0 lead to even the series.

Saturday the Range Riders lost a heartbreaker as they took a 13-12 lead into the bottom of the 9th before losing the game 14-13. Ryan McCarthy hit two of the four Range Riders home runs, including a two-run go ahead home run in the 9th. Kingston Liniak and Ben Fitzgerald also homered, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead.

In the final game of the regular season the Range Riders won easily 10-3. Ben Fitzgerald hit his 17th home run of the season and Chad Castillo went 3-for-4 and drove in 3 RBIs. The Range Riders rested their starting pitchers ahead of the playoffs and used five combined pitchers to get the win.

That’s it for the Range Riders recap, so here is this week in case you missed it.

The regular season may be ending, but playoff baseball is just starting in the Valley. It was announced via social media that the Range Riders are hosting a familiar opponent on Tuesday in the Missoula PaddleHeads.

Missoula finished with the best record in the first half and best overall record, going 61-34.

The Range Riders finished with the second-best record in the first half and 6th best record overall so let’s break down this matchup.

Missoula finished the season with the top-ranked offense, but the second half of the season looked a little different. 37 of their 61 wins came in the first half and their offense cooled down quite a bit.

During this time the Range Riders added four new pitchers who have only faced the PaddleHeads a few times. While they struggled a lot in the second half, the starting rotation looks drastically different than their previous matchups and the unfamiliarity could play in their favor.

My key to this series is to keep Adam Fogel contained. He broke the single-season Pioneer League home run record, and he is the driving force behind the PaddleHeads offense.

My other key to the series is to have a short memory. The Range Riders were 8-16 in 24 matchups this season but none of that matters now. This team has changed quite a bit since those matchups and according to Kingston Liniak, they have all the confidence in their clubhouse.

That’s it for this year’s Range Riders regular season recap. Stay tuned to the podcast as we are still awaiting the time for the game, but we will have a playoff recap and a special behind the scenes look when the Range Riders start their playoff series on Tuesday. For the Keeping Score podcast from the Daily Inter Lake, I have been your host Josh Amick and until next time, take care.