Chukars outlast Owlz to earn Finals trip

When he went to sleep Thursday night, Joshua Banuelos was hoping to wake up feeling a little better. After Friday, he and his Idaho Falls Chukars teammates are on top of the world.

Banuelos went 3-for-4 with a homer and two runs scored, and Nick Dini singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning as the Chukars edged Orem, 4-3, in the decisive third game of the Pioneer League semifinals.

"I had a little sickness, a stomach virus," Banuelos said. "I was just hoping that I would wake up a little bit better because yesterday was a horrible day for me. I ended up getting 11 hours, 12 hours of sleep last night and I woke up feeling 100 percent better. I knew that I needed to pick my game up today."

The 2014 28th-round pick did just that, sparking his team in the fourth with a leadoff single and scoring four batters later on Roman Collins' base hit to center field. With Idaho Falls trailing by a run in the eighth, Banuelos hammered a leadoff homer to right. 

"I think it's kind of the theme of our whole season," the 24-year-old first baseman said. "It's been that way. The theme was coming from behind. The first half of the season, we were the worst team in the Pioneer League. We've had some guys step up big in the second half. It was kind of the whole theme of our story this whole second half, coming up big when we've needed runs, people picking teammates up and coming up clutch."

The Chukars followed that formula one final time in the semifinals. With two outs and a runner at second in the 10th, Dini came through with a single to center.

"From the bullpen to Dini coming up clutch that last at-bat, everyone in the lineup, one through nine, our whole bullpen, our whole staff was just amazing today," Banuelos said. "We were hungry today, and it showed."

Reliever Jacob Bodner kept things quiet in the bottom of the 10th, retiring the Owlz in order and finishing off the save with an athletic play on a comebacker before firing to Banuelos.

"I see the ball coming right for my chest and I looked at the runner a little bit out of the corner of my eye," the Royals prospect said. "I peeked and was like, 'He's out.' [When I caught it], I was like, 'Let's go. We're going to the championship.' Everyone started going crazy in the middle of the field. It was a great experience for this whole team. Going from last place to best in the Pioneer League is an amazing experience. It just shows the fight we have."

Idaho Falls hosts Missoula in Game 1 of the best-of-3 Pioneer League Championship Series on Sunday afternoon.

In other PIO playoff action:

Missoula 6, Billings 3
Getting homers from Austin Byler, Luke Lowery and Matt Jones, the Osprey secured their place in the Championship Series with a Game 3 victory. Byler and Jones cracked solo shots in a two-run fourth to tie the game and Lowery belted a solo blast in the sixth to put Missoula ahead for good. The Osprey won four of seven regular-season matchups with Idaho Falls, its opponent in the Finals. Box score