Vibes Win in Round 2 of Knockout to Take Control of Series 3-1

By Jake Bear

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 4th game of the series was a back and forth battle that saw 22 runs, 30 hits and ended after 4 batters swung in the extra innings knockout. A flurry of runs in the 8th allowed the Vibes to tie things up and force the swing off after overcoming 4 and 5 run deficits. Fans at Friday night's game got a firework show both during and after the game. 

The pitching matchup for the night was Yohandry Perez for the Vibes facing off against Christian Day for the Raptors. Rocky Mountain's bats started out hot against Day scoring a run a piece in the first two innings courtesy of a Ulysses Cantu single and a 432 foot Dominique Hernandez bomb to dead center. Perez was clean through 2, running his fastball up to 95 mph before Ogden answered back with a three-run top of the third, all three runs coming with two outs. 

The Vibes tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of 4 on a Mike Annone RBI single scoring the recently re-signed Alan Garcia. The tie game was short lived as the Raptors brought home 4 runs in the fifth, kick started by a Josh Broughton RBI double. 6 batters later, Perez's night was over and the Ogden held an (at the time) commanding 7-3 lead. The Raptors couldn't stay comfortable for long though as Rocky Mountain made a statement with 3 runs in the bottom of the inning. Cantu and Navarro each reached base on well-placed singles before Alan Garcia turned on a high fastball and sent it into the right center gap for a two RBI triple. The attempt to throw out Garcia at third ricocheted off of the third base umpire allowing Garcia to score with a diving slide into the plate making it a one run ballgame. Shortly after, Ogden chose to turn the game over to the bullpen for the rest of the evening. 

The Raptors busted open in the  6th and 7th scoring 2 runs in each inning. The onslaught featured RBI doubles from Jesus Valdez and Sonny Ulliana and saw the Vibes bullpen struggle early. The game was 11-6 heading into to bottom of the 7th. Rocky Mountain started to chip away at the lead scoring two of their own in the 7th by way of Alan Garcia's third RBI of the night and a Nick Michaels double. Damon Ellis delivered a scoreless 8th in his only inning of work and managed to keep the game in reach.

The Vibes managed to load the based with 2 outs in the bottom half of the 8th with Alan Garcia at the plate. Garcia walked and the lead was cut to 2. The next batter, Dominique Hernandez, worked the count full and then drove a ball that just stayed fair down the right field line for a ground rule double to tie the game at 11 a piece. The inning ended with a lineout to shortstop and we went to the 9th tied. Closers Miguel Pozo and Jackson Lancaster opted for less drama in the last frame and the game went to a knockout round to determine a winner.

Jesus Valdez and Ethan Lopez faced off in the first round. Valdez opened, hitting 2 balls out before recording 5 outs. Lopez answered with 2 of his own, using nearly all of his allotted two minutes to accomplish the feat. With no winner determined, the contest went to a second round. Josh Broughton swung for Ogden but was unable to coax a ball out of the park before recording his fifth out. That brought Nick Michaels to the plate who hit a ball off the top of the wall with his first swing. The team thought the ball had left the yard and stormed the plate. Umpires had to break up the premature celebration and get Michaels back in the box to keep swinging. Finally, with 1:24 left in the round, Michaels sent a blast out to left field that managed to clear the wall this time for a Vibes win. 

The win brings the series to 3-1 and guarantees at least a split for the Vibes in the 6 game stand. More action tomorrow night, 6:30 pm at UC Health Park.