
Wild Game Gives Vibes Series Win
After eight innings, hours of rain and one bench clearing incident, the Rocky Mountain Vibes took down the Grand Junction Jackalopes, 13-11.
Hudson Ridley
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. After eight innings, hours of rain and one bench clearing incident, the Rocky Mountain Vibes took down the Grand Junction Jackalopes, 13-11.
Peyton Long got the start for the Vibes, his second straight against the Jackalopes. Grand Junction opted for Miguel Cirino to make his first start in purple and black.
This contest started off pretty swiftly. Peyton Long went 1-2-3 with a strikeout to start off the top of the first.
Both teams continued to cruise trading one for one. Aside from a three spot for the Jackalopes in the top of the third, most innings were calm.
Then things started to get interesting. Rain had been pouring for most of the day in Colorado Springs, but now lightning was approaching.
That means that if one team was ahead after five innings that the game could be scored as final if weather made it unplayable. Going into the bottom of the fifth the Vibes trailed 5-2. All of the sudden this had become a bottom of the ninth type situation.
It was the perfect time for the Vibes offense to come alive, and they did just that. Rocky Mountain tallied six hits including two triples, tying the game at five as the rain started to pour harder.
The game was then paused with a runner at third to repair parts of the mound that had been hit hard by the rain. A base hit for the Vibes in this spot could be a walkoff. When the game resumed David Martinez stepped up to the plate and delivered. His single would score Elvis Peralta and complete the comeback. That big moment plus three other hits would earn Martinez the Whataburger player of the game.
Most expected the lightning to come in and end the contest, but as the game continued that looked unlikely. That tense moment in the bottom of the fifth wouldn't end up having the effect on the game that it seemed like it would. However, it did increase the tensions.
In the bottom of the sixth the Vibes offense kept rolling. After an Ethan Lopez single, Jackalopes third baseman Kokko Figueiredo would airmail a throw to home that would end up in the Vibes dugout, allowing a run to score. Following a heated exchange of words tempers flared as both benches cleared resulting in multiple ejections from each side.
Vibes starter Peyton Long would be taken out to start the seventh with a final line of 6 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
Just when it felt like the drama would be over there was plenty more. Going into the top of the eighth the Vibes had a 13-7 lead. That's when the Jackalopes picked up the pace. Grand Junction would tally four runs on four hits making it a 13-11 ballgame. With runners at first and second Matt Wong came to the plate representing the go ahead run. On a 1-1 count Dutch Landis delivered a curveball that slipped out of his hand for a wild pitch. The rain had become so bad that it seemed like that pitch would be neutralized. Now with the tying run in scoring position Wong had worked his way into a 2-2 count. That's when Dutch Landis decided to take a risk, going back to the curveball and delivering it beautifully. Wong, who was expecting a fastball, swung over top of the pitch giving Landis a massive second out, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The rain had made the game unplayable for the moment so it was suspended, much to the dismay of both Jackalopes base runners.
Firework Friday continued as planned with the idea that the game would resume afterwards. However, the rain continued to pour with no end in sight and half an hour before midnight it would be called final with the Vibes taking home an eventful 13-11 win and claiming the series in the process.
The Vibes return to UCHealth Park tomorrow on Rodeo night for the third and final game against the Jackalopes.