Laramie, WY- Saturday, May 28, 2022
Where do you start with this game one of the most thrilling games in the 4-year history of the Fremont Moo is the 1st win of the 2022 Independence League season against the Gem City Bison 30-13 no you are not reading that wrong. The Moo move to 1-1 on the season with the win while the Bison takes their second loss of the season to move to 3-2.
Fremont struck first in the 1st inning with Zane Skansi and Hayden Lewis both reaching on errors before Nico Azpilcueta got his first RBI of the night bringing home Skansi on a single and Nick Balch also got his first RBI of the night bringing home Lewis on a single as well.
Fremont struck again in the 2nd with 5 runs started by a Trey Nichols triple off the wall, then a 2-run bomb by 1B Ian Graf to deep right-center field that brought them both home. Skansi again reached on an error and Lewis hit a single to move them to 1st and 2nd before Azpilcueta hit a deep sacrifice fly to score Skansi. Balch then hit an RBI double bringing home Lewis, before Evan Rowe struck out to end the inning. Fremont again scored 5 runs in the 3rd inning started by a Bobby Brown single then a Trey Nichols double moved to 2nd and 3rd. Graf again crushed a 3-run home run to bring home Brown and Nichols before 2 quick outs by Tyler Struck and Skansi. A quick single by Lewis set up another 2-run home run this time by Azpilcueta before a line-out by Balch ended the inning.
The Bison however struggled offensively scoring 4 of their runs in the first 5 innings before scoring their other 9 in the last 4 innings including 4 in the 9th. Defensively it was a struggle for their pitchers having to go through 5 of them giving up both 30 runs and 30 hits with only 2 strikeouts total between the 5. The lone bright spots for the Bison were DH Derek Wood, who went 3-3 with 2 singles, a double, and a walk, and C Niko Penzonella who went 3-4 with 2 doubles and a single.
The offensive onslaught continued for the Moo with 4 runs in the 4th, 1 in the 5th and 8th, 2 in the 6th, and 10 in the 7th. Overall there was a lot of offensive output including Lewis going 5-7 with 5 singles, Azpilcueta going 4-7 with a double/single/2 home runs and 3 RBIs, Balch going 3-8 with 2 singles, a double, and 3 RBI’s. Rowe went 5-8 with 4 singles and a triple, Brown went 5-7 with a Home run/4 singles, and 2 RBIs, Nichols went 4-6 with a triple and a double as well as 2 singles, and Graf went 4-5 with 2 home runs, a single and a double, and 6 RBI’s which led the team.
Pitching wise for the Moo, Brady Bowen got the win in his debut for the Moo throwing 90+ pitches in 5 innings of work giving up 7 hits, 4 earned runs, walks, and strikeouts while Jacob Ortiz went the final 4 innings giving up 8 hits and earned runs as well as 3 walks and strikeouts.
The Moo were rained out on Sunday, despite an early start at noon. Tonight, the Moo hold their season opener at historic Moeller Field when the take on the North Platte Plainsmen, 645pm pregame on Big Dog Country Radio 98.9 /1340 , or at fremontmoo.com
