Mustangs walk off, win Finals opener

Taylor Sparks played a key role in getting Billings to extra innings in the opener of the Pioneer League Championship Series on Tuesday night, but he was not involved in the decisive frame.

That's probably for the best, considering the anxiety that overcame him in the dugout.

"It was fun, but I almost had a heart attack just watching," Sparks said.

Without hitting the ball out of the infield, the Mustangs took advantage of two errors to score the winning run in the 11th inning, beating Orem, 4-3, at Dehler Park to grab the advantage in the best-of-5 Finals.

"It's amazing," said Sparks, a 2014 second-round pick of the Reds. "Since we only play one game at home, it's special to be able to win the last home game for your fans and everything. ... And being a game up, it's just a little more relaxed than we would be if we were down a game."

After taking a break Wednesday, the clubs will resume the series Thursday in Orem, where Game 3 will be played Friday, if necessary.

Garrett Boulware led off the bottom of the 11th by reaching on an error by reliever Zach Varela. Shedric Long entered as a pinch-runner, took second on Kevin Franklin's sacrifice but stayed there on Cory Thompson's infield single. Ty Washington followed with another infield hit, with Long scoring the winning run on third baseman Raul Linares' errant throw to first.

"You didn't know what was going to happen next," said Sparks, who recorded three hits. "Any ball that got put into play, there was a possibility that we got on."

After Orem took the lead with two runs in the top of the second, Sparks led off the bottom half with a single and came home on a base hit by Caleb Adams before Ty Washington drew a bases-loaded walk. Sparks also scored the go-ahead run after leading off the sixth with a triple. But the Owlz got that run back in the seventh on Bo Way's safety squeeze.

Mustangs reliever Conor Krauss (1-0) allowed one hit over three scoreless innings for the win, striking out six and walking one. Varela (0-1) was charged with an unearned run on three hits and a walk with one in 1 1/3 frames.

"This is a special group of guys. We play great together," Sparks said. "It's awesome to be able to be one game away from the championship."