Voyagers Pull Out A Win in Game One

(Great Falls, MT) - With the first half of the Pioneer Baseball League season over in six days, the Great Falls Voyagers (26-16) have to win all of their games versus the Missoula PaddleHeads (31-11) in order to stay alive in the battle for the first half champion title. The first game wasn't easy, but the Voyagers came away with the win to get off on the right foot. 

The first inning started well for the Voyagers as starting pitcher CJ Grant-Debose shut down the Missoula squad. The Voyagers offense put up three runs in the first, giving them a 3-0 lead. The Voyagers started off drawing two walks by Jake Malec and Riley Jepson, while Collin Runge walked after being hit by a Missoula pitch to load the bases. A double by Derek Kolbush quickly put up two for the home team, and a single to right by Michael Deeb pushed across the third run of the first inning. 

The PaddleHeads were able to score twice in the second inning, but the Voyagers answered with a run of their own in the second. With two outs, Jepson had a single to right and stole second. A single to center by Runge allowed Jepson to make the lead 4-2 after two. 

Missoula was able to tie the score in the top of the third with two runs, but the Voyagers bats came through in the fourth to push one run across. Breydon Daniel drew a walk to start off the inning, then moved to third on a Jepson single to right. A throwing error by the second baseman trying to double Jepson off of first base allowed Daniel to score putting the Voyagers up 5-4 after four innings. 

The lead didn't last long, however, as Missoula scored twice in the top of the sixth to take a 6-5 lead. Their lead was short-lived, though, as Great Falls scored twice in their half of the sixth to take a 7-6 lead. Daniel started the sixth off with a single up the middle. Malec drew a walk and Jepson knocked home Daniel with a single to left. Kolbush drew a walk, which allowed Deeb up to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Coming through one more time in the clutch, Deeb hit a fly ball to centerfield deep enough to score Malec from third base. 

Relief pitchers for both teams came through, shutting out their opponent. Voyagers' Montana Quigley came into the game in the ninth inning to get his sixth save of the season. Quigley didn't have it easy, however, as the PaddleHeads had men on second and third with two outs. A hard hit line drive to the right of first baseman, Jepson, was backhanded and saved the victory for the Voyagers however. Pitcher Brad Demco got the win for the Voyagers, while Cody Thompson got the loss for the PaddleHeads. 

The Voyagers will try to win their sixth game in a row Wednesday night as game two of the series looks to be another great one. Come out to Centene Stadium, find yourself some shade and enjoy a cold beverage and some great baseball action!