Range Riders rout Voyagers 14-2 in opener

GREAT FALLS — Call it a walkover.

The Glacier Range Riders got home runs from JD McLaughlin and Carson Garner in their 14-2 rout of the Great Falls Voyagers on Tuesday night, but they also drew 13 walks in the Pioneer League baseball opener for both teams. 

That’s a club record, and 10 more than Glacier pitchers Jonah Giblin, Jacob Hasty and Davis Pratt combined to issue. 

Giblin went 5 2-3 innings for the Range Riders, allowing five hits, two walks and two unearned runs. He struck out three. 

Hasty struck out the only batter he faced in the sixth, and Pratt finished up for a three-inning save. He allowed one hit and one walk and struck out five. 

The Range Riders got offense early and often. Tommy Rover doubled in two runs in the second inning; Garner hit a solo home run and Donovan Ratfield added a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0 in the third. 

Steele, who hit a double, Rover and Logan Beard all drove in runs during a four-run fifth inning, with Rover scoring on a wild pitch in the inning. 

After Great Falls scored twice in the sixth, with Tommy Specht’s RBI double the big hit, Glacier piled up six more runs in the seventh. 

The rally started with McLaughlin’s two-run home run.

Three walks and two errors extended the rally, which saw McLaughlin get up again and hit a single. Ratfield got his second RBI of the game with a single. 

Jake Millan, who drew five walks, and Steele both scored three runs each. 

The two teams met again Wednesday night; the game had not ended at press time. Lefthander Ryan Longshore was set to make his first professional start for the Range Riders on his 23rd birthday. 

Glacier plays three games in Great Falls and then is in Billings for a three-game set beginning Friday. 

The Range Riders’ home opener is next Tuesday at Glacier Bank Park against Greeat Falls. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. 

Glacier    022    040    600    -    14    15    1 

Great Falls    000    002    000    -    2    6    2

Jonah Giblin, Jacob Hasty (6), Davis Pratt (7) and Donovan Ratfield. Jordan Hamberg, Landon Smiddy (4), Eumir Sepulvede (6), Joseph Carbone (7), Kevin Warek (7) and Antonio Barranca.  

GLACIER — JD McLaughlin 3-6, Logan Beard 1-5, Carson Hornung 1-5, Carson Garner 2-6, Jake Millan 0-1, Jacob Steele 2-5, Ratfield 3-3, Tommy Rover 2-6, Kyle Ashworth 1-3. 

GREAT FALLS VOYAGERS — Aidan Redehan 2-4, Will Rogers 1-4, Trey Cruz 0-4, Kyle Schmack 1-2, Tommy Specht 1-3, Anthony Swenda 0-3, Ethan Ott 0-4, Barranca 0-4, Vincent Temesvary 1-3. 

2B — Hornung, Steele, Rover, Redehan, Specht. HR — McLaughlin (1), Garner (1). RBIs — Rover 3, McLaughlin 2, Steele 2, Ratfield 2, Beard, Garner, Schmack, Specht.