Range Riders find power too late, lose to Mustangs
Daily Inter Lake | Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 1 month, 4 weeks AGO
BILLINGS — The Range Riders found their offense late on Friday night, but the Billings Mustangs built too large of a lead and defeated Glacier 13-6 in Pioneer League action.
On Thursday, the Range Riders rallied to beat the Ponies 11-5.
Glacier (38-38, 9-19 in the second half) had to play catchup after Billings (51-24, 15-13) built an 11-0 lead through six innings..
In the third inning, AJ Shaver doubled home Nin Burns II before Charlie Muniz followed with a two-run homer, his 24th, to left field. Shaver, who’s hitting .446, had three RBIs to give him 103.
The biggest damage came in the sixth: Shaver tripled home two runs and Adam Cootway’s homer extended the Mustangs’ lead to 12-0.
Glacier broke through in the seventh as Jake Millan tripled and came home on a Tommy Rover groundout. In the eighth, Donovan Ratfield launched his eighth longball of the season.
Cootway answered with his second homer; in the ninth Glacier’s Tommy Rover hit a three-run shot to right field.
Billings’ Cole Calnon allowed six hits and three runs in eight innings.
The teams continued their series Saturday.
Glacier 000 000 123 - 6 8 0
Billings 003 226 01x - 13 12 1
Zach Longshore, William Bartkoski (5), Davis Pratt (6), Ricky Tibbett (7), and Donovan Ratfield. Cole Calnon, David Stich (9), and Sean Lynch.
GLACIER RANGE RIDERS — Kyle Ashworth 1-5, Logan Beard 0-4, Ratfield 2-4, Brock Vradenburg 1-4, Carson Garner 0-4, Carson Hornung 1-3, Jake Millan 2-3, Tommy Rover 1-4, Casey Murray 0-4.
BILLINGS MUSTANGS — Cameron Bowen 1-4, AJ Shaver 3-5, Charlie Muniz 1-4, Justin Johnson Jr 0-5, Adam Cootway 3-3, Michael Soper 2-4, Lynch 0-3, John McHenry 0-3, Nin Burns II 2-4.
2B — Shaver, Cootway, Soper. 3B — Millan, Shaver. HR — Ratfield (8), Rover (9). Cootway 2 (17), Muniz (24). RBIs — Rover 4, Ratfield 2. Shaver 3, Cootway 3, Soper 3, Muniz 2, Burns II.
Late Thursday
Range Riders 11, Ponies 5
Glacier surged back from a 3-0 deficit in this one, getting home runs from Brock Vradenburg and Carson Hornung and strong relief pitching from Jacob Hasty and Jared Engman.
Mustangs AJ Shaver and Jstin Johnson, Jr., hit home runs off Devin Doyle to stake Billings to a first-inning lead. But Hornung’s two run single in the third had the Range Riders back in front, 4-3. He added an RBI single in the fourth inning and a solo home run in the fifth as the gap grew to 7-3.
Vradenburg hit a two-run homer in the eighth. Logan Beard drew four walks and scored three times.
Hasty worked around a walk in the sixth inning, striking out one, and Engman threw another three hitless innings with three strikeouts.
Glacier 013 213 020 - 11 10 0
Billings 300 020 000 - 5 6 2
Devin Doyle, Jacob Hasty (6), Jared Engman (7) and Brock Tibbitts.Jaden Harris, JJ Almeda (6), Lucas Hartman (6), Hayden Mullins and Muniz.
RANGE RIDERS — Murray 1-4, Beard 1-1, Vradenburg 2-3, Garner 1-4, Hornung 3-5, JD McLaughlin 0-5, Millan 2-5, Brock Tibbitts 0-5,Rover 0-3.
MUSTANGS — Bowen 0-4, Shaver 2-2, Jacob Gutierrez 1-4, Muniz 2-4, Johnson Jr. 1-4, Lynch 0-3, Pat Mills 0-4, McHenry 0-4, Bodee Wright 0-4.
2B — Millan 2. HR — Vradenburg (10), Hornung (3), Shaver (17), Johnson Jr. (3). RBIs — Hornung 5, Vradenburg 3, Beard, Garner, McLaughlin, Johnson Jr. 2, Linch, Shaver, Mills.