The Calgary Vipers defeated the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 9-4 to take a 1-0 North Division Final series lead at Foothills Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. With the game tied at two the Vipers exploded for a five run third inning that gave them the lead for good. New Calgary catcher Buddy Morales was impressive in his debut going three-for-four with a walk and three runs scored while also throwing out a attempted base stealer.
Calgary got the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning with Drew Miller singling and Carlos Duncan getting hit by a pitch to start the threat. With two outs, Kyle Nichols stepped to the plate and delivered a clutch RBI single to right field for the 1-0 lead.
The RedHawks responded right away in the next half inning with leadoff back-to-back doubles from Richard Austin and Ruben Salazar to tie the game. The next batter up Billy Munoz promptly singled up the middle to give his team a 2-1 advantage.
Newcomer Buddy Morales leadoff the bottom of the second with a double in his first Vipers at-bat. Jorge Tang sacrificed Morales to third base and Manabu Kuramochi scored him with a RBI groundout to knot the game at two.
The Vipers sent ten batters to the plate in the bottom of the third inning to score five run on five hits and take a 7-2 lead. Miller walked, Duncan singled, and Jason Colson plated the go ahead run with a base hit. Nelson Castro followed with his own RBI single and Morales walked to load the bases. That chased Fargo-Moorhead starter Dane Renkert from the game and Adam Rowe came in. Tang greeted him with a sacrifice fly and was followed by two two-out RBI base hits from Kuramochi and Darryl Brinkley. Renkert lasted only two and a third innings and gave up seven earned runs on six hits.
Joe Mathis started off the fifth inning by getting hit by a pitch and Just followed by walking on four pitches to reach base for the third time in the game. After the two runners executed a double steal and Calgary starter Scott Sarver struck out two, Salazar smoked a two-out two-run single off the right-centerfield wall to cut the lead down to 7-4. Brinkley ended the inning with a horizontal diving catch to rob Munoz of a base hit and leave Salazar on base.
After a leadoff walk in the sixth inning to Kory Wayment and a wild pitch to move him to second base, Castro made a diving catch to his left and Sarver picked Wayment off at second base to end the threat.
Sarver left the game in the top of the seventh as he went six and two thirds giving up seven hits for four runs while striking out four. He also walked five but picked up three double-plays, two diving catches, and one pick-off to battle through some tough jams and pick up the victory.
Morales continued his unbelievable debut with his third hit of the game to start the bottom of the seventh. It was Morales fourth time reaching base in his four plate appearance. Tang followed with his third successful sacrifice bunt to move Morales to second base. Kuramochi picked up his third run batted in with a single down the right field line to make the score 8-4. The run chases Adam Rowe from the game as he went four innings and gave up six hits for just one run while striking out four.
Colson leadoff the bottom of the eighth by crushing a solo shot to centrefield for the 9-4 advantage. It was Colson's third hit of the night to go along with a single and double.
Evan Greusel picked up the save as he came into a three run ballgame and went the final two and a third innings, giving up no runs on two hits. For the final out of the game Duncan snuck in behind Mathis, the runner at third base, and Greusel stepped off the rubber and threw to Duncan for the game ending pickoff.
Game two of this series is Wednesday, September 5th at 7:05 PM at Foothills Stadium. Once again their will be a fireworks display following the game. Tickets can be ordered by calling 277-BALL (2255).
Game three will be in Fargo on Friday, September 7 at 6:00 PM and games four and five if necessary will be Saturday, August 8 at 12:00 Noon and Sunday, August 9 also in Fargo at 5:00 PM. The games can be heard live online at am770chqr.com.
