Game on Friday: Goldpanners fall after massive comeback and 13-9 victory by the Sockeyes
The Goldpanners and Sawtooth Sockeyes were in action on Friday as the Goldpanners attempted to score their third straight win to start the series. After a big lead early on, the Goldpanners were eventually overtaken as Sawtooth scored 13 unanswered runs to take a 13-9 victory.
After quiet offensive performances from both teams in the previous game – a 2-0 win for Alaska – the Goldpanners were quick to score the runs this time. Eight runs in the second half of the second helped the team to an early lead.
The team collected seven hits in this outing, more than three times as many as in the previous game (two). With runners on second and third base, consecutive hit batters scored the first run for the Goldpanners.
Alaska was now up 1-0 and had all the bases loaded, but then the scoring started. Rocco Caballero, Grant Scholzen, Griffin Harrison, Tyson Reis and Matt Leitermann all contributed with RBIs. By the end of the second inning, the Goldpanners’ lead had grown to 8-0.
“When these guys hit, they hit,” Carlos Gonzales, the Goldapanners’ new field manager, said after the game. “In the middle of the game, we had to fight a little more to get back into our rhythm.”
Sawtooth struggled to achieve the same level of success in scoring points at the beginning, but as the game progressed, their productivity improved dramatically.
Goldpanners starter Mason Robertson threw a shutout in his four innings before turning the game over to the bullpen in the fifth inning, where the Sockeyes began their streak of 13 unanswered runs.
“I thought Mason Robertson played great today. That was fantastic. We’ve never seen him that good,” Gonzales said. “We knew it was going to be more of a bullpen today. We ended up using outfielders. That’s how it goes in a five-game series.”
Three runs in the fifth inning helped close the gap, but the Goldpanners still had a comfortable lead. The gap had shrunk to 8-7 in the sixth inning when four more runs were scored. Sawtooth took the lead in the seventh inning, scoring six runs to make it 13-8 in their favor.
At the plate, the Goldpanners had gone five straight innings without a hit since their second-inning bombardment. Now trailing, they needed to revive their offense. An RBI by Matt Leitermann in the bottom of the eighth was the only other run they could score before falling 13-9.
A chance to regain promotion awaited the Goldpanners the next day when the two teams met again on Saturday.
“As you saw in the second game, we hit a lot of line drives. We’re going to attack tomorrow and everything will be fine,” Gonzales said of his thoughts on the next game of the series.
Game on Saturday: Sockeyes beat Goldpanners 6:4
The first third of the game was hard fought. The Sockeyes took an early lead with three runs in the second inning before the Goldpanners answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the third. The score was tied 3-3 at the start of the middle inning.
Both offenses had shown positive signs up until that point. Five hits from the Sockeyes and six from the Goldpanners showed that both teams had the potential to light up the scoreboard. The next point came in the sixth for the Sockeyes, giving them a 4-3 lead, but the Goldpanners evened up in the bottom half and continued the alternating scoring spurts.
A tie in the eighth set the stage for some late-game heroics. Two runs put the Sockeyes back in front as the Goldpanners had to fight from behind for the third time in the game if they were to emerge victorious.
After holding Sawtooth scoreless in the ninth inning, the ‘Panners faced their final batting appearance. They could not make the comeback they needed, losing their second straight game to the Sockeyes 4-6.
Despite the loss, the Goldpanners had their moments. The team collected 11 hits and three of its top four hitters had multiple hits. A total of eight runners left on base proved costly in a game that was closely contested throughout.
Grant Scholzen (2-4), Rocco Caballero (3-5, one RBI), Matt Leiterman (2-4, two RBIs) and Matt Chavez (2-4) were the main contributors to the offensive performance in the loss.
On the mound, Shaw Lee played five innings as a starter. He finished the game with five hits and three earned runs allowed, no walks and four strikeouts. He was followed by Lachemann, Logan Drummond and Adam Troppmann as relief pitchers.
The loss moved the Goldpanners’ record to 16-8-2 on the year. They will look to end their current two-game losing streak against the Sockeyes on Sunday at 2 p.m.
