Courtesy of Rich Ray
Spuds- 11, Moo- 5
Casper (R-H-E): 11-9-0; Fremont (R-H-E): 5-6-2
Win: Ty Vollmer (2-4); Loss: Tyson Romero (5-1); Save: None
HR: Casper: Dawson Baraconi (2nd; one on base in third inning); HR: Fremont: Neil Jansen (4th; two on base in ninth inning)
Casper, Wyoming- The Casper Spuds got excellent starting pitching and offensively put pressure on Fremont in an 11-5 victory over The Moo to open up the Independence League’s best-of-five Championship Series, Tuesday night at Mike Lansing Field.
Fremont began the scoring in the top of the second. Connor Petersen was hit by a Ty Vollmer pitch, with one out. Then, Jason Willers drew a walk and a wild pitch advanced the base runners to second and third. The next batter, Blake Tablazon, hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Petersen, to put Fremont ahead 1-0.
Casper got on the board in the third and never relinquished the lead. With one out, Elijah Reeves reached on a bunt single. Dawson Baraconi was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second. Then, a Chase Burke bunt was fielded by Tyler Harrington at third, but his throw to first bounced wildly and allowed two runs to score, making it 2-1, Casper. Two batters later, Matthew Marsic hit a chopper to first, which Conner Peterson attempted to backhand, but misplayed, allowing Burke to score, making it 3-1.
The Spuds extended the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Elijah Reeves reached on a two-out single and stole second. Then, Dawson Baraconi swung at a Romero 1-0 pitch and deposited it over the left field wall for a two-run home run, to put Casper up 5-1.
Casper added on in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Matthew Marsic singled ahead of Lucas Danielewicz and Chandler Stocking who were hit by back-to-back pitches. Then, Jaxson Bates hit a two-rbi single, scoring Marsic and Danielewicz to make the score, 7-1. A Romero wild pitch brought home Stocking to make it 8-1, Casper, after five innings.
The Spuds plated three more in the bottom of the seventh. Against Fremont reliever Trey Nichols, Lucas Danielewicz tripled with one out. Then, Chandler Stocking hit an RBI single, making the score 9-1. The next batter, Jaxson Bates, hit a double, scoring Stocking all the way from first, to push the score to 10-1, while Bates took third on the throw home. Then, Parker Burt hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Bates, to give Casper a ten-run lead, 11-1.
Fremont found some offense in the ninth off Casper reliever Max Vosters. With one out, Tyman Long singled. Two batters later, down to Fremont’s last strike, Jayson Willers struck out swinging, but a passed ball advanced Long to second and Willers to first, to extend the inning. Then, Blake Tablazon singled, driving home Long, to make the score, 11-2. The next batter, Neil Jansen, hit a 2-1 pitch from Vosters over the fence, just left of straight-away center field, for a three-run home run, to make it 11-5. However, Vosters got Christian Hobbs to swing at a 1-0 pitch and ground out to shortstop for the final out of the game.
Casper starter Ty Vollmer (2-4) picked up the win. He pitched 8.0 innings, giving up three hits, one run, walked three, struck out four, had one wild pitch and hit one batter. Max Vosters pitched 1.0 inning, giving up three hits, four runs, struck out one and yielded the home run to Jansen.
Fremont starter Tyson Romero (5-1) suffered the loss. The Lincoln native at Nebraska Wesleyan pitched 5.0 innings, giving up five hits, five earned runs, walked two, struck out four, gave up the home run to Baraconi, had one wild pitch and hit three batters. Trey Nichols pitched 2.0 innings. The Bowling Green, Missouri native at MIdland University gave up four hits, three runs, walked one and struck out one. Gavin Alveti pitched 1.0 inning. The Searcy, Arkansas native at Central Arkansas walked one and hit one batter.
Offensively, Casper’s Dawson Baraconi was 1-for-3 with a two-run home run. Chandler Stocking was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Jaxson Bates was 2-for-4 and drove in three. Parker Burt was 0-for-4 but had an RBI sacrifice fly and Elijah Reeves was 3-for-4.
For Fremont, Carter Sintek was 2-for-4. The Fremont native at South Dakota State had a double and a single. Blake Tablazaon was 2-for-4. The Lynewoon, Washington native at Cerro Coso Community College drove in two runs and Neil Jansen, the Cypress, California native at San Jose State, was 1-for-3, with a three-run home run.
More Information: Casper took game one of the best-of-five series. Spuds’ pitcher Ty Vollmer earned his second win of the year, both of which were against Fremont.
Up Next: Fremont (31-22) will play Casper (33-22) in game two of the series, Wednesday night at 7:30pm (CT) / 6:30pm (MT). The weather forecast in Casper calls for possible strong thunderstorms throughout the day, Wednesday. If the game time is changed, or the game is postponed, information will be sent out on www.fremontmoo.com, local radio KHUB AM 1340, in Fremont, and all of The Moo social media outlets. Fremont will host game three of the series, Friday night at 7:05pm at Historic Moller Field, in Fremont. If necessary, Game 4 and Game 5 will also be played in Fremont, Saturday, Aug. 5th at 7:05pm and Sunday, August 6th at 5:05pm. For tickets to the Moo home games in the Championship Series, go to: www.fremontmoo.com/tickets, or call (402)-660-1217 for more information.
On The Air: All Moo home and road games are broadcast on radio on Big Dog Country, 98.9 FM and 1340 AM, KHUB. Games can also be heard on smartphones, iPads and other mobile devices by going to: www.fremontmoo.com/mixlr. All Moo home games have video streaming live at: www.fremontmoo.com and on YouTube at: BSDN Live.
