PaddleHeads Bring Win Total to 60 Behind Miraculous 9th Inning Rally
Willman Caps 7-Run 9th Inning With Walk-Off Double in 12-11 Victory
Missoula, MT- Many things did not go to plan for the Missoula PaddleHeads in game 1 of a 6 game set on Monday night opposite the Glacier Range Riders. Glacier would mount a 6-run advantage with the long ball doing the bulk of the damage. After Glacier took the lead in the top of the 2nd, Missoula would trail all the way until the 9th. An 11-5 deficit in the bottom of the 9th is an insurmountable one for many teams. But this club has proven to be anything but ordinary during the 2022 campaign. Missoula came into the ballgame with the highest winning percentage (.711) in all of professional baseball. Behind a miraculous 9th inning effort, Missoula would find a way to improve upon it.
Brandon Riley would start off a 9th inning for the ages with a double to immediately give Missoula confidence. That would only be the beginning as the hits would just keep on coming in a relentless attack that saw Missoula bring 11 batters to the plate. With the winning run on third, Kamron Willman would be the one to send everyone home happy with a laser to the wall that scored Jared Akins. In the process, the PaddleHeads erased the 6-run deficit to defeat the Range Riders 12-11.
After Riley's double, Nick Gatewood would also bring home a run on a 2-bagger that cut further into the Range Riders lead. After an RBI single from Cameron Thompson, Andrew Noviello would deadlock the action at 11 with a 2-run single with 2-strikes that scored Gatewood, and Thompson. Willman's moment would come with 2-outs with runners on second, and third. On a 2-1 pitch, Willman would lace a ball over left fielder Brandt Broussard's head on a double which then queued a celebration on the field. It would be the only hit on the night for Willman, but it surely will be one he will never forget.
Riley had a fabulous night throughout reaching base 5 times in the victory finishing 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles. Thompson would also finish the night with 3 hits and a pair of RBIs as part of a 3-for-5 effort. Gatewood would also chip in with a multi-hit night finishing 2-for-5.
Glacier held the upper hand for much of the evening thanks to 4 home runs over the course of the night. Brody Wofford would be the first to leave earth in the 3rd inning hitting a 2-run blast to bring Glacier's lead to 3-0 in the early going. After Dean Miller homered in the fifth to drive in a pair, Wofford struck again with the long ball one batter later as Glacier's lead would continue to grow. Wofford finished 2-for-5 in the win while Miller was 1-for-4.
Brandt Broussard would practically live on base throughout the night for the Range Riders recording a single in each of his first 4 at-bats. In the 8th, the LSU product would provide yet another productive swing hitting a line drive shot over the left field wall to bring Glacier's lead to 6. Broussard would finish a perfect 5-for-5 on the night with 2 RBIs. This herculean effort would prove to not be enough however as Broussard would watch things slip away in the bottom of the 9th. Fittingly, the final nail in the coffin would be driven in by Willman on a double that soured right over the head of Broussard.
Missoula (60-24) will look to have an encore performance in game 2 of the series opposite the Range Riders (35-48) on Tuesday evening. All the action at Allegiance Field at Ogren Park is set to begin at 7:15 p.m. Catch every pitch on ESPN Missoula 102.9 F.M.
