Impact Rides Strong Starting Pitching, Sweeps Doubleheader to Take Series in Billings
By Dave Smith
BILLINGS – Kody Evans and Nolan Oschell handcuffed the Billings UpperDeck Expos for five innings each to lead the Missoula Impact Baseball Club to an impressive sweep of the Billings UpperDeck Expos 18U club, 11-3 and 9-8, on Saturday in Billings. The Expos came back to salvage a game of the three-game series with a 13-3 win on Sunday morning.
Oschell was brilliant in the nightcap on Saturday, allowing only three hits and one unearned run with one walk and six strikeouts. The hard throwing right-hander mixed his mid-80s velocity with a sharp breaking ball to completely stifle the potent Expos hitters. Evans was sharp in the opener, spacing four hits, allowing two walks, and striking out three in five gritty innings of work. The talented southpaw buckled down when he need to, stranding eight runners in his final three innings of work. The strong performances by Evans and Oschell spoke volumes where the Impact club is headed this season.
“The team was able to pull off the series win and showed a lot of promise,” said Ryan Roche, Missoula Impact Manager. “Our pitching staff gave us a fighting chance and our bats were solid. We still have improvements to make and when we do the play is going to elevate greatly.”
Missoula was led at the plate by senior Cole Smith with a 3-for-8 weekend, including a double and two RBIs, along with two walks and two hit by pitches. Sophomore Nick Karvandi also had three hits on the weekend, including a key three-run double to deep center that blew open the first game. Senior catcher Dillon Gunlock hammered two doubles to the fence and made an amazing diving catch on a foul popup. Sophomore Marek Hall had two hits and was robbed on a deep drive to the fence in left. Hunter Johns went 2-for-5 with five RBIs, including two clutch two-out hits. Missoula battled at the plate and created havoc by getting on base.
In the opener, Impact jumped out to an early lead in the second inning. Oschell walked, Smith drilled a line drive single to center, and Gunlock reached on a passed ball to load the bases. Expos starter Camden Borges fanned the next two batters but Johns delivered a clutch line drive two-RBI single down the right field line. Evans sailed through the first two innings, mixing a lively fastball with good off-speed stuff. The junior then helped himself by leading off the third with a sharp single to right field. Smith immediately delivered an RBI double down the left field line to expand the lead to 4-0.
Billings cut the gap to 4-2 on an unearned run in the third and then an RBI single by talented junior Colton Wells in the fourth. However, Evans got out of a bases-loaded jam by retiring Anthony Ferguson on a popup to first base to end the inning. Impact’s Landin Ramsay and Karvandi turned two impressive double plays in the early innings to help Evans. In the fifth, Missoula took advantage of three Expos errors to add two runs, then scored five more runs in the fifth capped by Karvandi’s monster three-run double, taking an 11-2 lead. Ramsay tossed two efficient innings in relief, allowing one hit and one run to seal the victory.
In the nightcap, Karvandi drilled a massive shot off the fence in right center for a triple to lead off the game and scored on a wild pitch. Hall laced a line drive single to right in the second and scored on a throwing error. The Expos matched Impact with single runs in each of the first two innings. Missoula went ahead 4-2 in the third on three walks, Smith being hit by a pitch for an RBI, and Gunlock delivering an RBI walk. In the bottom of the third. Billings loaded the bases on a leadoff triple by Ferguson, a walk, and a strikeout passed ball. Oschell then changed the momentum of the game by taking it up a notch, striking out Borges, inducing a popup by Cannon Hoff, and then bringing the heat to strike out Teagan Murphy to escape unscathed.
Expos lefty starter Ethan Bomer then locked in, fanning the next four Impact hitters as part of a 12-strikeout performance. According to Expos Head Coach Shane Vigus, Bomer’s fastball has been consistently recorded at 81-82 MPH and, as Vigus put it, “he was really chucking it today” with higher velo, likely around 85 MPH. The impressive southpaw will be a prized college recruit over the next two seasons.
With one out in the fifth and Impact clinging to the 4-2 lead, lefty hitters Evans and Smith battled to get the best of Bomer. Evans fought off a nasty tailing fastball with a single to right and a Smith, one trip to the plate after being beaned in the helmet with a fastball, worked a full-count walk, sending Bomer to the showers. Gunlock then delivered the key blow, crushing a fastball from reliever Waskar Capellan over the left-fielder’s head for an RBI double. Hall smoked an RBI single to center and Johns closed out the rally with a two-run single to left, making it 9-2 in the fading light.
In the bottom of the sixth, Impact closer Madden Hensel fanned the leadoff hitter with a nice fastball. However, Billings then took advantage of three Impact errors to mount a six-run rally that cup the gap to 9-8. With the tying run on second base, catcher Hall saved the day by gunning down Jakob Hansen trying to steal third base for the final out to secure the victory.
The Sunday morning game showcased another Expos high-ceiling hurler in sophomore Logan Carr, a hard-throwing righty that has also been clocked in the 80s. Carr tossed a gem the previous weekend in Missoula and came out with very good stuff again on the chilly morning.
Smith opened the action by ripping a sharp one-out in the single to left, which turned out to be Missoula’s only hit against Carr. Evans and Gunlock followed with walks sandwiched around a strikeout to load the bases but Carr retired Hall to get out of the jam. Wells reached on an infield single and scored in the bottom of the frame but Johns matched Carr with two solid innings, pitching down in the zone to induce ground balls. The Expos broke open the 1-0 pitcher’s duel in the third when Pablo Guzman floated a double down the left field line, Wells drilled a triple off the wall in right-center, and they capitalized on two walks, a hit batsmen, and an error to score five runs. With Carr dealing, Billings blew the game open by sending 13 batters to the plate in the fourth inning, scoring seven runs.
Carr was brilliant in allowing only one hit and no earned runs in 4 and 2/3 innings, with three walks and four strikeouts. He unflinchingly struck out Missoula hitters multiple times on nasty 3-2 breaking balls. After Carr departed, Missoula finally scored three runs in the fifth on three walks, an error, and a booming two-RBI double to the left field fence by Gunlock.
Missoula (3-3) returns to action on May 3-5 with the Loggertown Wood Bat Tournament at the iconic Lumberyard ballpark in Libby. The Expos (3-3) play several Wyoming teams over the next few weeks. The teams will square off again in the Billings Expos Invitational Tournament, July 19-21.