Indians fall to Boise in battle for first place
The neck-to-neck pitching battle of the first four innings had ceased to matter, as had Ian Gac’s sixth inning home run that had kept the Northwest League east division-leading Indians in the game against the second-place Boise Hawks
On Friday night at Avista Stadium, everything came down to the bottom of the ninth with two men on base, the Hawks leading 3-2, and Boise reliever Steve Vento staring down the mound at Jonathan Greene while trying to block out the noise of the capacity crowd of 7,044.
Vento nodded in acknowledgement of a signal from Boise manager Tom Beyers. Then he proceeded to pitch to Greene. Four balls that sent the man second in home runs in the league to first base, loading the bases with Mitch Moreland – a .304 batter who was 1-3 on the night, and by no means a pushover – coming up to the plate.
It was a calculated risk. And one that paid off.
Moreland played right into Beyers’ plan as he grounded into a force out that gave the Hawks two outs, reloaded the bases, and brought up Gac, the NWL’s home run leader.
“Base hit. That’s all I was thinking,” Gac said. “I thought the first strike was a little low. I got a little two big on the next swing and tried to shorten up.”
On a 1-2 count, the crowd gasped collectively as Gac made a move to hit the pitch barreling toward him, then checked his swing at the last second and watched it sail by just outside the strike zone.
Gac connected on the next pitch, turning it into a high velocity grounder.
But it wasn’t enough.
Boise shortstop Dylan Johnston fielded the ball, throwing Mitch Moreland out at second, and giving the Hawks a 3-2 win and sole possession of first place in the NWL East Division.
Walking Greene had turned out to be just the thing the Hawks needed to maintain the lead.
“We had two strategies there,” explained Beyers, “The strength of Greene was a factor, he’s had a heck of a year. But we were also trying to set up the defense.
“It was a risk, but we were put in a bad situation to start with, and you’ve got to give yourself a chance for the double play there.”
The Indians (26-30) will try to overcome Boise’s (27-30) half-game lead at 6:35 tonight in the second game of the three-game series at Avista Stadium.
“ Julio Borbon, the 35th overall pick in this year’s MLB First-Year Player Draft signed with the Texas Rangers this week and will join the Indians tonight.