PRO BASEBALL: Voyagers hold off Glacier for fourth straight victory

Great Falls Voyagers lefthander Quincy Jones was happy for two things in Saturday's Pioneer Baseball League test against divisional rival Glacier.

First, he got some run support from his teammates; and second, he got to get Great Falls through five complete innings, despite a weather delay in the top of the fifth.

Those two factors were instrumental in Jones evening his record at 2-2 after the Voyagers held off the Range Riders for their fourth consecutive victory, a 10-7 win at Centene Stadium.

The Voyagers (21-13) remain in second place in the Pioneer League North Division, just 2 1/2 games in back of the Missoula Paddleheads (23-10), after the Garden City Crew scored twice in the top of the ninth to hold off the Boise Hawks 3-2 in Idaho's Capital City.

Third-place Idaho Falls saw their home test against the Ogden Raptors postponed due to rain at Melaleuca Field, meaning the Chukars (19-13) lost a game to both Missoula and Great Falls and have fallen 3½ games off the pace. Billings (18-14) slipped by the Rocky Mountain Vibes 6-3 in the shadow of Pikes Peak and remain 4½ back of the Paddleheads, while Glacier (12-21) sit 11 games in arrears after their fifth straight loss.

Jones (2-2) waited out the estimated 45-minutes lightning delay with one out and one on base in the top of the fifth. At the time the game was stopped, the Voyagers were leading 9-1.

That should, in most cases, be a comfortable advantage. However, this is the Pioneer Baseball League, and NO LEAD IS SAFE HERE.

With that said, Jones emerged from the delay, and promptly gave up a double to Ben McConnell to put Brenton Davis at third. Both runners crossed the plate on a two-run single by Ryan Cash to make it 9-3.

"It makes you go hard as a pitcher, because your guys are grinding for you at the plate; it really makes you want to pitch your a** off," Jones, a 25-year-old, 6-6, 220-pound southpaw, said. "That was really big early on for us.

"After that (weather) delay, it's a tough thing for a pitcher to warm back up and feel that same way. And I didn't feel as good as I did before that break. I just tried to throw into the zone and let my defense do the work."

Jones' line: five innings, fine hits, three earned, two walks, three punchouts, one happy skipper.

"Q went out after the delay, and he wanted to finish the inning out," Voyagers' manager Tommy Thompson said. "He manned up and did a great job; C.J. (Grant-DeBose) came in and did good, and then Montana (Quigley) came in and finished it off in the ninth."

Grant-DeBose took the next three frames, giving up three tallies – only two were earned – on two hits, a pair of walks, and five Ks. Quigley came to start the ninth in a non-save situation, giving up an earned run on two hits, and that's it.

"Montana hadn't pitched in five days, so he needed to throw an inning," Thompson said of Quigley, who regularly serves as the Voyagers' closer. "He wasn't as sharp as he usually is, but another great team effort for us."

Derek Kolbush and Will Olson each had three runs driven in. Kolbush had three singles in five at-bats, while Olson - a relative newcomer to the Voyagers – went 2-for-4 with a two-run double in the third to make it 7-0.

Great Falls jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the seats had adjusted to room temperature. Brayden Daniel scored when Riley Jepson grounded back to the box, but Glacier starter Logan VanW3y's throw went wide. After Jepson stole second and Michael Deeb drew a walk, Kolbush singled home two, then Deeb would score on a wild pitch when Christian DeGuzman walked.

The switch-hitting Daniel led off the second with a towering fly ball over the wall in right center to extend the lead to 5-0.

In the fourth, Dean Miller got the Range Riders on the scoreboard when he reached on a ground ball with the loaded, then an RBI groundout by Deeb and a Kolbush single in the bottom half of the inning made it 9-1.

Then Mother Nature had her little intervention.

Glacier scored a run in the sixth on Brandt Broussard's single, but Olson's RBI safety in the bottom of the inning made it 10-4. Brody Wofford slammed a two-run blast over the right field wall in the seventh to cut the lead down to four runs, and Wofford would drive in the game's final run with a single in the ninth.

Wofford would finish with three hits and three driven in for Glacier, and Cash went 2-for-4 with two RBI.

VanWey (2-2) was pulled after 3⅔ innings and 103 pitches, charged with nine runs – eight of which were earned – 10 hits and four walks with four strikeouts.

Both teams were slated for an afternoon contest Sunday, and will wrap up the six-game series Monday night at 7 at Centene Stadium, with the annual Fourth of July Fireworks Show immediately following the game.

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: PRO BASEBALL: Voyagers hold off Range Riders for 4th straight victory