Raptors find their motivation against Owlz

OGDEN — For the first seven innings Thursday night, the Ogden Raptors looked like a team with nothing for which to play.

Then they remember they were playing rival Orem.

The Raptors were held to just one run on five hits by Orem starter Michael Anton and reliever Christopher Armstrong before waking up in a big way in the eighth to come from behind to beat the Owlz 5-4 for their sixth straight victory.

"They're one of our bigger rivalries because they're so close," said Ogden's Austin Gallagher, who had two hits. "The past couple of series against them have been close, and it's been fun until the end. We picked it up at the end. The guys stepped up and came through. It was a great performance by everybody."

After Erik Kanaby grounded out to open the inning, the next seven Raptors reached base — four of whom scored as the Raptors went from a three-run deficit to a one-run lead.

Elian Herrera, who had three hits in the game, singled, Jaime Ortiz walked, and Travis Vetters reached on an error before Kenley Jansen doubled off the centerfield wall to score two.

Matt Wallach singled home a run, and Jeremy Brown, the pinch runner for Jansen, scored on a passed ball to give Raptors the lead for good.

"We missed out on some opportunities (early) but that was ourselves. As you saw, when in counted we came up big," he said.

Johnny Caraballo fired a scoreless ninth inning for his 10th save of the season.

Too bad the Raptors' bats couldn't have awakened a little sooner for Ogden starter Kristopher Krise.

Krise allowed just two runs on four hits and struck out four on six innings, but he left the game trailing 2-1.

"He pitched a great game over there, and the breaks weren't falling for us until the end," Gallagher said. "He gave a great effort and kept us in the game."

Orem's Ryan Kiniry, who walked to start the game, scored on an RBI single by Gordie Gronkowski, and they scored again in the fourth on an Ogden error to take the 2-1 lead.

Other than those two innings, Krise retired the side in order in the second, third and sixth innings, and he faced just four hitters in the fourth and fifth innings.

The Owlz broke the game open in the seventh as they tagged Ogden reliever Douglas Brooks for two runs on three hits. Rian Kennedy and Kiniry drove in runs in the inning to give the Owlz the three-run lead.

In the decisive eighth inning, the Raptors scored four runs on five hits of David Hurst, who took the loss, and Ryan Brassier.

The Raptors close out the season tonight at 7 at Lindquist Field against the Owlz. The Owlz, however, will open the Pioneer League playoffs Saturday when they host Idaho Falls for the first game of the five-game series.

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E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com