Link Report for Mon. 9/16 - Pioneer League Championship; Helena hangs on, 7-5, Winner Take All Tuesday Night!

[Mass Haas]

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[Mass Haas]

Helena: RHP Taylor Williams at home vs. Idaho Falls (Royals), 7:50 PM Central pre-game, 8:05 gametime; Idaho Falls leads the best-of-three series one game to none; game three in Helena, if necessary (hopefully), Tuesday

 

Free Live Audio Link

 

Voice of the Helena Brewers Steve Wendt is back on board, and this year he's added Twitter to the mix @steve_wendt. We've been treated to Steve's work for many years now (ten!); he is among the very best at the art of the pre-game interview, especially considering how at ease he makes all these first-time professional ballplayers.

 

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Follow Monday's action as it happens with box score / game log links:

 

Helena Box Score / Game Log

 

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Weather.com:

 

Helena, MT

[Mass Haas]

2nd year pro Patrick Conroy, another lefty who has had a fine season, looks to give the Chukars the crown.

 

Learn all about Taylor Williams and more in tonight's Media Notes.

[Mass Haas]

Brewers return needing some Kindrick magic

By Zac Vierra for the Independent Record

 

After losing to Idaho Falls 2-1 in the first game of the Pioneer League Championship Series on Saturday night, the Brewers returned home needing a win to continue their season.

 

They will go after that win today at Kindrick Legion Field. First pitch is set for 7:05 PM (8:05 Central).

 

Helena was limited to just four hits on Saturday and the road will not get any easier for the offense.

 

Pioneer League All-Star Patrick Conroy will get the start for the Chukars in tonight’s game. He posted an impressive 6-2 record with a 3.30 ERA during the regular season.

 

Conroy’s record aside, Helena has had success against some of the better pitchers in the league — including when the Brewers knocked around the Pioneer League Pitcher of the Year Jake Sanchez for six runs on nine hits in a first-round playoff game against Great Falls.

 

In Conroy’s only start against Helena this season he allowed four runs (although none were earned) on six hits in five innings on July 9 at Kindrick Legion Field.

 

The Brewers will counter with Taylor Williams, who outdueled Sanchez in the first game of the playoffs. Williams earned the win in that contest after allowing three runs on four hits in five innings.

 

In his lone outing against the Chukars, on July 10, Williams allowed three runs on five hits in four innings.

 

Although the Brewer pitching staff limited Idaho Falls to just two runs in Game 1, shutting down the Chukars’ offense will not be an easy task the rest of the series.

 

Idaho Falls led the Pioneer League this season with a .298 batting average. The Chukars averaged 6.7 runs per game. Helena hit .279 as a team and averaged 6.2 runs per game in 2013.

 

Helena does have the advantage of being at home for the final two games of the series, but the Brewers will have to win both games if they want to be champions of the Pioneer League.

 

The Brewers did beat Idaho Falls in back-to-back games at Kindrick Legion Field in early July. But the Chukars also beat Helena twice at home this season.

 

Along with this, Idaho Falls was actually better on the road during the regular season, going 24-14 in away games. Helena was 23-15 at Kindrick this season.

[MTBrew]

Helena wins 7 - 5, to stay alive for deciding game tomorrow.

Big first inning, 6 runs, and Taylor Williams, with the start, pitches 6 innings giving up 1 run.

T Diggs really mixed up the line up and it paid off.

 

Box - http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2013_09_16_idarok_helrok_1&t=g_box&did=milb&sid=t433

[battlekow]

Final: @Helena 7, Idaho Falls 5

 

Brewers Force Deciding Game Three

By Zac Vierra / Helena Brewers

 

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(Seth Eikomstead)

 

After managing just one run in the first game of the series, the Helena Brewers wasted no time getting the offense rolling in game two. The Brewers exploded for six runs in the first inning and that would be the difference as Helena held on to beat Idaho Falls 7-5 to tie the best of three series at one game apiece.

 

Facing elimination, the Brewers bats jumped on Pioneer League All-Star Patrick Conroy right out of the gate.

 

Omar Garcia and Dionis Hinojosa started the game with back-to-back singles and Michael Ratterree drove them both in when he hit a double off the wall in left field.

 

Ratterree would later score when Clint Coulter hit into a fielder's choice.

 

With two outs and runners on the corners, Angel Ortega would deliver with a two-run double to give Helena a 5-0 lead.

 

Nathan Orf would follow with a single up the box to give the Brewers a 6-0 advantage as they batted around in the first frame.

 

"They came out and did a great job in the first inning. They scored a lot of runs, the approach was good, they put the ball in play the way we had talked about and they kept their approach," said Helena manager Tony Diggs.

 

Conroy would settle in and keep the Chukars in the game tossing five scoreless innings the rest of the way, but he was ultimately handed the loss.

 

"[Conroy] made a couple mistakes pitching but I think defensively we made a couple of errors and a double play that we should have turned there and we didn't a couple things like that on defense. We lost the game in the first inning. It would have been a different story if they didn't score those six runs," said Idaho Falls manager Omar Ramirez.

 

For the second straight game the Helena staring pitching was superb.

 

Taylor Williams (above) got the start and went six innings and allowed just one run on six hits. He struck out four and walked just one.

 

It was his second win in as many starts for the Brewers this postseason.

 

"Williams has had it in him all year. Certain things we do as far as out pitching techniques as far as tandems and everything else may not have allowed him early in the season to get wins that he probably could have gotten," said Diggs. "Second time that he has done it in the playoffs. He kept his calm and he did a great job. You expect that out of him."

 

With the Brewers up 7-1, the Chukars battled back to make it a ballgame in the eighth inning off of Tyler Linehan.

 

After Hunter Dozier drove in Humberto Arteaga with a single to make it 7-2, Cody Stubbs provided a blast to put Idaho Falls back in the game. With two men on, Stubbs pulled a homer to right to make it a 7-5 game.

 

Just when the momentum had seemed to swing in the favor of Idaho Falls, Andy Hillis was brought into the game and he retired the next three batters to get out of the mess.

 

The Chukars brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning but Hillis struck out the final two batters of the game allowing the Brewers season to live another day.

 

"That's the whole course of the year. We have always talked about playing 27 outs. We have talked about playing the whole game and not giving in. You can't say enough about the effort that they have been putting in year in and year out. They continued to do it and they did it again tonight so hopefully we come out prepared to play tomorrow," said Diggs.

 

After 80 games, the season will come down to one final contest as the Brewers will try to claim their fifth Pioneer League title on Tuesday night.

 

Helena box score

 

Helena play-by-play

[Mass Haas]

Ratterree, Brewers even Pioneer Finals

Circuit MVP helps Helena force Game 3 for the championship

By Josh Jackson / MiLB.com

 

The Helena Brewers didn't waste any time returning to form Monday.

 

"To come out and score six in the first inning really set the tone," said Pioneer League MVP Michael Ratterree.

 

Ratterree was a key part of the opening-frame rally and he finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs and a run scored to help the Rookie-level Brewers beat the Idaho Falls Chukars, 7-5, at Helena's Kindrick Legion Field. The victory evened the best-of-3 Finals.

 

In the No. 3 hitter's first at-bat, he faced Patrick Conroy, who was 6-2 with a 3.30 ERA during the regular season. The Brewers had runners on first and second.

 

"I was thinking, 'Drive the ball into the outfield. Hit a line drive,'" Ratterree said.

 

He got a second consecutive changeup from Conroy on a 1-1 count.

 

"This one was kind of high and I was able to connect and send it over the left fielder's head."

 

Ratterree, this year's 10th-round pick by the Brewers, came around to score on Clint Coulter's groundout. Two batters later, Angel Ortega doubled in two more runs and Nathan Orf singled in Ortega.

 

Helena scored 24 runs over two games in its semifinals sweep of Great Falls, but the Brewers had only four hits in Saturday's 2-1 series-opening loss at Idaho Falls.

 

"I thought [scoring early] was really important," Ratterree said. "[in Game 1], we didn't hit the ball well at all."

 

The Brewers held a 7-1 lead headed into the eighth inning when the Chukars rebounded for four runs -- three of them coming on a Cody Stubbs home run that sailed over Ratterree's head in right field. He didn't have much of a chance to catch it.

 

"I went after it like I could," he said, "but it was a pretty far one."

 

The Rice University product admitted Idaho Falls had the Helena team nervous late in the game.

 

"They're a great team. We knew they're not going to go down easy. They can hit," he said. "Fortunately, we were able to buckle down and finish the game."

 

Brewers starter Taylor Williams improved to 2-0 in the playoffs by limiting Idaho Falls to one run on six hits and a walk while striking out four over six innings. Andy Hillis snuffed out the Chukars' rally in the eighth and worked around a ninth-inning single to earn the save.

 

No. 7 Royals prospect Hunter Dozier was 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored for Idaho Falls.

 

The Brewers host the decisive third game of the series at 9:05 PM (8:05 Central) on Tuesday. Ratterree and his teammates hadn't yet talked much about a gameplan.

 

"Not right at this moment, but once we get home and have a good rest tonight, we'll have our heads ready for tomorrow," he said.

 

Michael Ratterree hit .318 wtih 12 homers and 58 RBIs in his first pro season. (Helena Brewers photo)

 

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[Mass Haas]

James Ridle photo, Blackfoot Media Group

 

Omar Garcia singles to start off an explosive first inning for the Helena Brewers. The Brewers would go on to score six runs in the frame.

 

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