Voyagers Take Narrow Loss in Game 1

The Great Falls Voyagers were narrowly defeated last night in a tightly contested game 1 between the Great Falls Voyagers and the Missoula Paddleheads. The final score was 11-12. Game 2 is tonight at 7 PM.

Both teams were coming off 3-3 series ties in their last meetings, and the parity would continue in Tuesday night's game. Right-hander Jason Pineda got the start for the Voyagers against Jonah Jenkins for Missoula. Both pitchers threw scoreless innings to start, but it wouldn't take long for the offenses to wake up. Oscar Serratos Jr opened up the scoring with a three-run rocket to dead-center. It narrowly made its way over the wall, traveling 421 feet. The Paddleheads wasted no time responding, putting up 2 in the next frame on an RBI single from former Voyager Collin Runge. 

Great Falls then had another stellar offensive inning in the bottom of the third, putting up 4 more runs- first, RBI singles from Ryan Holgate and Jack Lynch. Then, two more runs came in thanks to a sacrifice fly from Serratos Jr. At the end of the inning, the Voyagers held a 7-2 lead. 

The Paddleheads showed resolve as they slowly chipped away at the deficit over the next few innings. They scored 2 runs in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings each and found themselves down 6-7 after the 5th. 

Jack Lynch tallied a couple more RBIs on a fielder's choice, giving his team a 9-6 lead. The Paddleheads rallied in the 7th with a four-run inning, and put up two more runs in the 8th, one coming courtesy of a solo home run from Carlos Perez.

The Voyagers were down 12-10 going into the bottom of the 8th. They were able to score one run in the 8th on good baserunning from Ryan Major, but the team was unable to score again in the 9th, losing the game 11-12. Game two is tonight inside Voyagers Stadium at 7 PM, Danny Galvan will get the start for Great Falls.