Owlz Flash Power to Awaken Sleeping Bats

By Skyler Timmins

OGDEN, Utah -- After losing a nailbiter in game one of the series, the Owlz offense looked to redeem themselves on Wednesday night. They would do just that as they exploded offensively to take down the Ogden Raptors 19-4 to back up another quality start by their pitcher. 

The Owlz (10-15) pounded out 19 runs on 15 hits in the game, including four home runs, to break out of a slump the team has endured dating back to last Thursday. Abdel Guadalupe led the charge with a four-hit night and drove in seven runs thanks in part to a multi-home run evening. 

Once again, Preston Snavely (W,2-2) found himself acting as the model of consistency for the Owlz on the mound as he dominated Ogden (13-13). For the ninth time this season, Snavely pitched at least five innings, managing to go seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out six batters and issuing just one walk. 

Looking to improve on their offense in Tuesday's series opener, the Owlz kicked off the scoring early with a two-out rally in the top of the first inning. Cam Phelts, utilizing his signature speed, reached with one out and was able to advance to second on a ground ball from Abdel Guadalupe. Phelts then swiped his 34th bag of the season to move up to third while Brandon Crosby was up to the plate. On a bold play with two strikes against Crosby, Phelts bolted for home and despite Crosby striking out at the plate, a wild pitch enabled Phelts to swipe home and allow the batter to reach safely at first. Two batters later, with two men on, NoCo newcomer Nick Bottari laced a two-run double to give the Owlz an early 3-0 lead. 

Ogden was able to answer back with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning thanks to a Freddy Achecar single. Two innings later in the third, the resilient Raptors would strike back on a one-out triple by Reese Alexiades to drive in Pat Adams and subsequently score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Matt Warkentin and tie the game at 3-3. 

The Owlz would find new life in the fifth inning against Ogden starter Sidney Duprey (L,0-1). The lefty had kept NoCo in check after the first inning but a lengthy at-bat to Alex Jackson resulted in a lead-off single upon which Phelts was able to drive up the pitch count even more in his appearance that ended in a strikeout. The work paid off as a tired Duprey served up a monstrous two-run shot to left field off of the bat of Guadalupe to give the Owlz a 5-3 lead. 

 Following a single off the bat of Crosby, Duprey's night was over after lasting just 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on three hits and striking out five batters and walking three. 

Hungry for more offense, the Owlz continued to string together hits in sixth again LJ Diaz. Pinch hitting for Dakota Popham with one out, Tim Bouchard quickly made his presence known and blasted a long ball to right field, his eighth of the season. Two more hits from Robbie Kellerman and Jackson set the stage for Guadalupe to inflict more damage with two outs. After hitting a long ball earlier in the game, he decided to keep things more economical and laced a single into right field to score Kellerman. Ogden would turn to Wilmer Torres to face Crosby, but it wouldn't work as the Owlz second baseman sent the first pitch he saw to straightaway center field for a devastating three-run homer to cap a five-run inning, giving them a 10-3 lead. 

The onslaught of offense continued in seventh, albeit a bit tamer. Pinch hitting for Matt Turner, Euro Diaz reached via a fielder's choice, retiring Nick Bottari who had been hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. In his second at-bat of the game, Bouchard again launched a ball with authority for a double, setting up a sacrifice fly by Kellerman to score Diaz and make it an 11-3 ball game. 

Things would only get better for the Owlz in the eighth when the first four men reached in the inning, including an RBI single by Kevin Higgins, and a bases-loaded sacrifice fly, to score a pair of runs. Kellerman would then lace an RBI single to make it a 14-3 ballgame. Again the Owlz loaded the bases for Cam Phelts to try and get in on the hit parade, after stealing home earlier and did the next best thing by drawing a walk to drive in the 15th run of the game for NoCo. Ogden was forced to turn to a position player on the mound and Abdel Guadalupe greeted him with a booming shot for a grand slam, his second homer of the night, to cap the Owlz's eight-run inning to give them a 19-3 lead. 

CJ Grant-Debose took over on the mound for the final two innings, allowing one run, but managing three strikeouts to seal the 19-4 victory.  

Up Next: 

The Owlz will look to keep the offense train rolling in game three on Thursday as Tanner Schoeninger heads to the mound looking to bounce back from his past couple of starts.