Missoula Wins 6th Straight Sunday Opposite Hawks

Boise, ID- The series finale between the Missoula PaddleHeads, and Boise Hawks would have an auspicious beginning on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. Brandon Riley hit what looked to be a routine fly ball into left field to lead off the game. However, Hawks left fielder Jacob Cruce lost the ball in the sun on the play and the ball would land right next to him for a double to start the game. This would be just the first of many things to go the PaddleHeads way on this Sunday. 

Missoula scored 9 unanswered in the middle frames to blow the game open at 10-1. The PaddleHeads would lead by as many as 15 runs at one point in an absolutely dominant effort. The Hawks would make the game look closer with a push in the bottom of the ninth, but that would have no effect on the end result as Missoula would cruise to a 16-9 victory. 

Missoula would blow the game open in innings 5 through 7 scoring 9 runs in that stretch. Doubles from Nick Gatewood, and Lamar Sparks kicked things off in the fifth with the duo bringing in 3 in the frame. Sparks struck again in the next half inning with a 3-run blast to right center field to make the score 10-1. That would be the highlight to an outstanding afternoon for the Texas native who finished 3-for-5 with 4 RBIs. 4 batters in the Missoula order would finish with at least 3 hits in the game. 

The PaddleHeads offense kept the pedal down in the seventh thanks to Brandon Riley. The second year PaddleHead brought in a pair on a double into left center to bring Missoula's advantage to 12-1. Riley would seemingly spend the entire afternoon on the bases offensively reaching base 6 times, fishing 4-for-4 with 2 walks, 3 RBIs, and 2 runs scored. 

Trailing 15-1 going into the bottom of the ninth, Boise would surprisingly find success in the innings scoring 8 runs to cut into the lead. Doubles from Jacob Cruce, Trevor Minder, and Abraham Sequera would do most of the damage in the frame. The rally would not affect the end result however and would not take away from the outstanding outing from starting pitcher Austin Crowson. Sequera, and Cruce would both finish 2-for-5 while Minder was 1-for-3. 

Crowson would have an outing to remember over 8 innings of work Sunday to record his sixth win of the season. The southpaw would scatter 3 runs, and  7 hits over those frames while striking out 3. The Oregon native also entered the ninth inning having not allowed a single earned run before the Hawks found a way to break through against him in the final frame. The outing marked the first time a starting pitcher for Missoula made it past the 7th inning this season. 

The PaddleHeads (51-20) will now have a day of rest coming on  Monday after finishing 6-0 in games played this week opposite the Boise Hawks (22-50). Tuesday will present the next challenge for the PaddleHeads who will open a 6-game set opposite the Idaho Falls Chukars (40-32). This series will be the final time Idaho Falls, and Missoula meet during the regular season. Action from the Garden City is set to begin at 7:15 p.m. Catch all the action from Allegiance Field at Ogren Park on ESPN Missoula 102.9 F.M.