IDAHO GOES DOWN For the Idaho Falls Chukars, nothing is going smoothly at the moment.
They had dropped six of eight games and four in a row going into Friday night’s game against the Ogden Raptors at Melaleuca Field. They also fell behind 3-0 in the second inning. Idaho Falls overcame the early deficit and gained a lead into the middle innings, but they watched as unexpected wind gusts sent what appeared to be a simple flyout over the wall for a Raptors two-run homer in the seventh inning.
However, the worm started to turn when Anthony Mata hit an insurance homer (3) out of the park thanks to that same wind. The home team was then judged to have turned a double play in the ninth, ending an Ogden rally, following a protracted on-field wait that involved two different umpire huddles. And the Chukars (18-9) ended their first losing run of 2025 by defeating the Raptors (14-14) by a total score of 10-6.
Having its ace on the hill is the best medicine for a team that is suffering from a losing run. The Chukars did have one advantage Friday, though, when Gary Grosjean (W, 6-0) was chosen.
Garret Ostrander, the second baseman, talked about how his offense benefits from Grosjean’s bump.
Ostrander stated, “You just know he’s going to give us a chance.” We’ve had a fantastic season offensively overall, albeit it has been a little slow lately. Nevertheless, you go out there with confidence when you know that Grosjean will give you an opportunity to win.
Troy Percival, the manager, concurred.
However, it wasn’t all flowery for the right-hander, as in the third inning he was struck for three runs on four singles and a hit hitter.
The Idaho Falls offense, which had only managed 13 runs in the series’ first three games, responded immediately in the bottom half after gaining confidence. Spencer Rich added a two-run single to give the Chukars their first lead in 13 innings after Jacob Shanks opened the scoring with a two-run homer (4) off the scoreboard in left-center.
On Friday, Jacob Shanks hits a two-run homer in the second inning and rounds third. On EastIdahoSports.com, Kalama Hines
Grosjean returned his offense’s response with two zeroes, like an ace, and the Chukars led 5-3 going into the fifth.
Cole Jordan’s solo home run in the top of the fifth gave the Raptors another lead. However, Idaho Falls returned the serve when Shanks hit an RBI single.
With runners on second and third and no outs, Ogden set the table in the sixth. However, Grosjean managed to escape the congestion without giving up another run.
In the bottom half, Idaho Falls almost did the same thing, putting two batters in scoring position before an out was recorded, only to have the next two hitters go down without scoring. However, Trevor Rogers sent a two-strike, two-run double into the gap in right-center to ensure the Chukars would not waste the scoring opportunity.
Ostrander clarified that the Chukars have been looking for methods to obtain those large at-bats. Early on, the powder-keg offense scored a ton of goals and appeared to grow accustomed to scoring a lot of points. He made the joke that when you need all five, it’s usually simpler to score twenty or even thirty than it is to score five.
Those close games hadn’t necessarily put us to the test. He added that his team can play big ball or small ball. “Just recently, you know, we’ve needed to find a way to move a guy from second to third when you have a guy in scoring position, you need to find a way to get them in,” he said. That’s what we did tonight.
Christopher Sargent Jr. hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning to cut Ogden’s 8-4 lead to 8-6, but Mata responded with a single blast of his own.
The Chukars responded with their own scores in the very next half-inning each time the Raptors scored on Friday. Ogden only repeated the action once in the sixth.
Although it was far from his best start of the season, Sargent’s home run put his side back on the winning track after more than six innings and six runs allowed, forcing Grosjean to leave the game.
Nicolo Pinazzi pitched the remainder of the ninth inning through some uncertainty after Luke Hempel retired the three batters he faced to close the seventh.
A fly ball was blasted to deep left by Connor Bagnieksi with a runner on first and no outs. The third base umpire declared Shanks’ backward lunging catch to be a catch. The base runner went to second without tagging up, though, since the Raptors thought Shanks had dropped the ball and the umpire’s out call was unclear.
The Chukars thought it was a double play, so they sent the ball to first base, but the first base umpire did not rule.
The umps assembled close to the center of the infield for a lengthy conversation after speaking with both managers. They did not rule on the runner who had advanced from first to second, but they concluded that the catch was made and the hitter was out.
The Chukars initially filed an appeal, but the umpire once more failed to render a decision.
Once more, the umpires convened close to the pitcher’s mound to confer. At the conclusion of that second meeting, they decided that the runner was indeed out.
Percival stated that he would not have fought if the runner had been put back initially, saying, “To me, it was cut-and-dry.”
The third strike came on a ball that catcher Johnny Pappas challenged and the in-stadium trackman overruled, ending the game on a strikeout.
Jorge Romero, a recent signing, will get the ball from Percival and the Chukars on Saturday in an attempt to win two straight games against the Raptors. However, considering their present injury status, the captain warns supporters not to anticipate a huge winning run—at least not right now.
Right now, we’re not in a position to have a momentum streak. “Until we can solidify this pitching staff, we have to grind out every win we can get,” he stated, adding that he expects his team to return to 80- or 90% in the following two weeks. Then, we’re difficult to defeat.
Present PBL rankingsT1. PaddleHeads of Missoula (19-9)T1. The 19-9 Oakland BallersT3. Chukars of Idaho Falls (18-9)T3. Feelings of the Rocky Mountains (18-9)5. High Wheelers by Yube-Sutter (17–10)6. Hawks of Boise (16-11)7. Raptors of Ogden (14–14)8. Mustangs from Billings (13–15)9. Jackalopes of Grand Junction (11-16)10. Riders of the Glacier Range (ages 11–17)11. Owlz of Northern Colorado (5-21)12. Voyagers of the Great Falls (3-24)
