Chargers split Saturday twin bill
Somewhere along the way, Chargers pitcher Isaiah Roberts had to be cursing his coaches for calling that pitch.
But it was working.
The Great Falls left-hander threw changeup after changeup – at one point eight of them in a row – to earn the win in Saturday’s nightcap, a 9-5 conquering of the Missoula Mavericks.
“They were way out ahead of it. I think at one point we threw eight changeups in a row,” his catcher, Wyatt Bleskin, said. Pitching coach Trevor Johnson confirmed it.
Roberts, whose teammates call him Zeke, said his command was as sharp as it’s ever been Saturday at Centene Stadium.
“Everybody was just swinging over (the changeup),” he said. “I just had good location with it, good control over it. My fastball was working, so it was nice to have a(nother) pitch to go to.”
Bleskin said that’s business as usual for Roberts.
“Zeke does pitch really, really well when he can get his control,” the catcher said. “He can be lethal.”
Roberts struck out four in five innings of work, allowing three earned runs. He also had some help at the plate. Great Falls struck for four runs in the first, taking advantage of a few Missoula errors and Dawson Reiman’s two-run double to open up a 4-0 lead.
Bleskin finished the game with a pair of two-out RBI singles.
“Errors killed them, and we just kind of kicked the dog while it was down and finished the deal,” Bleskin said.
Hot bats were a welcome sight after the Chargers (2-4) managed just one hit in a 10-2 loss to Vauxhall Baseball Academy in the morning affair. Vauxhall also beat Missoula 2-0 between the two Charger games.
Bleskin said the Great Falls swingers got their minds right.
“The approach came around for the whole team in the second game,” the C.M. Russell High sophomore said. “It was a lot better mentality.”
The Chargers spanked 13 hits in the nightcap.
“Our heads were down, and we knew that we had to pick it up in the next game,” Bleskin said.
The win also marked some revenge from a season-opening sweep at the hands of Missoula two weeks ago.
Great Falls will look for its first winning streak of the 2015 season Sunday, when they play host to the Class A Gallatin Valley Outlaws at Centene Stadium. The seven-inning twin bill is set for 1 p.m.
Vauxhall Baseball Academy 10, Great Falls Chargers 2
Vauxhall…021 105 1 – 10 16 0
Chargers…200 000 0 – 2 1 3
Jared Kennedy, KJ Moreno (6) and Jordan Malainey. Jake Lowery, Justyn Martinko (5) and Jordan Lafontaine. W – Kennedy. L – Lowery.
VAUXHALL – Tyler Scott 2-5, Luxon Glor 1-5, Zach Kunkel 4-5, Brett Resch 2-5, Malainey 2-3, Balek Gallagher 2-4, Sean Robbins 3-4, Geordie McDougall 0-3, Jake Cook 0-4.
GREAT FALLS – Daniel Bonilla 0-3, Tucker Wilke 0-2, Matt Garcia 1-3, Wyatt Bleskin 0-3, Dawson Reiman 0-3, Lafontaine 0-3, Jake Fisher 0-1, Isaiah Roberts 0-2, Kevin McGee 0-1, Tyler Strickland 0-1.
2B – Scott, Robbins. 3B – Garcia. RBI – Glor 2, Malainey, Gallagher 2, Robbins 2, McDougall, Cook, Garcia.
Great Falls Chargers 9, Missoula Mavericks 5
Missoula…021 010 1 – 5 7 3
Chargers…401 310 x – 9 13 1
Josh Harrington, Ben Tabaracci (5) and Aidan Collins. Roberts, Garcia (6) and Bleskin. W – Roberts. L – Harrington.
MISSOULA – Nick Yovetich 1-3, Jonathon Mitchell 1-4, Tabaracci 1-3, Josh Tabor 2-3, Travis Zander 1-4, Collins 0-3, Walker Kat 0-2, Austin Kominek 0-3, Tyler Jewett 1-3.
GREAT FALLS – Bonilla 2-4, Lowery 1-3, Garcia 0-4, Bleskin 2-4, Wilke 3-4, Reiman 2-4, Lafontaine 0-3, Martinko 2-4, McGee 1-4.
2B – Reiman 2. RBI – Tabaracci, Tabor 2, Jewett 2, Lowery, Garcia, Bleskin 2, Wilke 2, Reiman 3.