JACKSON, Wyo. – The ‘Cardiac Kids’ known as the Post 43 Jackson Giants just might give their manager a few more gray hairs with every game, but it sure has been exciting baseball to watch.
It looks like playing a very difficult schedule thus far is beginning to pay off for the Giants as the home town boys of summer put on a fireworks display of their own Sunday with 23 total runs in two games. This after eking one out Saturday morning against Fort Morgan Colorado and pummeling Thunder Ridge Friday night as Jackson went 4-1 during its hosting of the Teton Classic over the holiday weekend.
The Giants could have gone without a blemish for the four-day stretch but an opening game loss to Lone Peak 5-4 was a heartbreaker in every sense.
The Post 43 Giants used that loss as motivation the rest of the way and, boy howdy, did they ever avenge themselves.
Friday, July 3
After Thunder Ridge touched Jackson ace, Connor Lang, for a run in the opening frame, Jackson responded with 2 in the bottom half and cruised to a 14-6 victory. The top of the lineup did most of the heavy lifting. Parker Bleggi (3-3, 1RBI), Mason Wright (3-3, 3RBI), Seth Christiansen (3-4, 3RBI), Quentin Bruno (2-3, 3RBI), and Connor Lang (3-4, 3RBI) were a veritable Murder’s Row, allowing Lang to scatter 6 runs on 12 hits for a complete game win.
Saturday, July 4
Saturday’s game was a real gut check for the Giants. Learning how to win the close ones, how to hang in there when it doesn’t seem things are going your way, is a sign of a maturing ballclub. Jackson traded runs with Ft. Morgan in the 1st inning and then watched the Colorado team try to pull away as starter Aaron Moya pitched his heart out for 7 innings. It wasn’t a masterpiece but it was exactly what the Giants needed.
Moya kept the Giants in the game until the bats could get going in the 5th when the Giants plated a couple on a Steven Ashurts double to start the inning and RBI singles from Wright and Bruno to pull the Giants close.
With the score tied 4-4 heading into the 9th, Ft. Morgan manufactured a run in the top half of the inning on closer Kyle Cranston’s continued control problems. A walk, a wild pitch—and without a hit Ft. Morgan had a run.
Undeterred, the Giants knew if they could just get to Wright and Christiansen in the batting order with men on, they had a chance.
Wright, who has been on some kind of a tear at the dish, knocked in the tying run on a double to right. Seth Christiansen followed with a double of his own and the speedy Wright brought home the winning run in a 6-5 walk-off for the Giants.
Sunday, July 5
The back-to-back wins had the Giants feeling mighty confident heading into their twinbill Sunday. And Post 43 closed out the tournament in high fashion.
With pitching arms somewhat depleted, Coach Huggins figured his team would have to score runs. Right on cue, the bats came alive and the hits kept coming.
Starter Steven Ashurts ran into trouble in the 2nd until Huggins handed the ball to Grant Parkin. Parkin held the fort while the Giants climbed back into a game against Evanston after squandering an early 3-0 lead.
Both teams traded punches until the bottom of the final inning when the Giants, trailing by 2, presumably had the Outlaws right where they wanted them.
Parkin started the inning with the stuff a lead-off at-bat is made of. After falling behind 0-2, Parkin worked the count full by spoiling pitch after pitch with foul balls, eventually working out a walk. The at-bat took the wind out of Outlaw reliever Jorden Schneider, who then walked Moya on four pitches and gave Lukas Gralund a free pass to load the bases.
Errors and miscues cost Evanston as the Outlaws just unraveled, committing 4 errors in total and allowing 3 runs in the final inning without a Giants’ hit.
Final: Giants 12, Outlaws 11.
In the afternoon game, the Giants did not let a 3-spot off rookie Xander Witt in the opening frame deter them. Cooper Christiansen and Aaron Huggins combined strong long-relief stints to keep the Archie Hay Post 24 Sand Puppies at bay (they stranded 8 men on base for the game) while Jackson scratched away at Rock Springs starter Paxton Hunt.
Bruno (2-2, 4RBI) and Lang (2-3, 3RBI) paced the Giants offense through 5 innings until the fateful final 6th. Again, with a flair for the dramatic, Post 43 had the stage set for another thrilling come-from-behind victory. It was just a matter of who would step up to be the game’s hero.
Bruno had already slammed the door shut on the Sand Puppies, fanning 3 in 1 2/3 innings of relief. When the Giants came up for their last licks, they trailed by 2. No problem.
Three Giants (Ayden Gralund, Seth Christiansen, and Bruno) took one for the team—hit by a pitch— and another (Bleggi) walked. Without a hit, the Giants were within 1 run with the bases jacked.
Lang came through with a single to score Wright and tie the game at 10 apiece. Moya then bounced one to short and the Sand Puppies could not turn the double-play as Christiansen came home with the winning run for the 11-10 victory.
Next up…
After the weekend, the Giants improve their record to 10-17 on the season. The Outlaws will be looking for revenge as the Giants head to Evanston for a 3-game stand on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then it’s off to Cody for a tournament there this weekend.
Post 43 returns home Monday, July 13 for a scheduled doubleheader with the always tough Casper Oilers.
