Volcanoes bow out in nail-biter to Canadians 7-6

KEIZER, Ore. - The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes fought tooth and nail to the very end with the Vancouver Canadians, but ultimately fell a run shy of knotting the game in the bottom of the ninth 7-6 on July 22 at Volcanoes Stadium.
Salem-Keizer had the upper hand early on with a two-run bottom of the first inning. Centerfielder Malique Ziegler led off the frame with a two-bagger to right field and scored thereafter on a single by third baseman Shane Matheny.
After a base knock by left fielder Bryce Johnson, first baseman Ryan Kirby advanced Matheny over to third with a fly ball to center. The next batter was second baseman Orlando Garcia, who tapped a ground out to third base and scored Matheny to extend the lead to 2-0.
Yet, the Volcanoes' lead evaporated into thin air when the Canadians knotted the score at 2-2 all in the following top half. First baseman Kacy Clemens kicked off the inning with a single and eventually stole second, even though he would have been caught in a rundown if shortstop Manuel Geraldo was able to hold onto the ball before he applied the tag.
Volcanoes starting pitcher Matt Lujan retired the next batsmen before walking left fielder Norberto Obeso. With Clemens now on third after advancing on a ground ball, the nine-hole hitter Brandon Polizzi pulled a grounder in the left infield hole. Geraldo gloved and made a valiant throw to first, but Polizzi legged out Geraldo's throw, scoring Clemens and cutting the lead to 2-1. Center fielder Reggie Pruitt followed suit with a base hit, which drove in Obeso to tie the ballgame.
Both offenses were held scoreless in the third inning, but the Canadians took the lead in the top of the fourth. After inducing a ground ball out to the first batter, newly inserted pitcher Peter Lannoo walked then proceeding two Canadians. The Volcanoes recorded force out at second, setting up runners on the corners with two out.
Lannoo then faced second baseman Kevin Vicuña, who scalded a liner off of Lannoo that ricocheted to the right side of the infield grass. Vicuna reached safely on the play, allowing Obeso score the go-ahead run of the contest for the Canadians. Shortstop Logan Warmoth tacked on some insurance with a run-scoring single to elevate the lead to 4-2.
The score remained 4-2 until the top of the seventh inning when the Canadians widened the gap a run more. Obeso picked up his first hit and run batted in with a grounder through the right side of the infield, which augmented the lead to 5-2.
Salem-Keizer's bats simmered after their two-run first frame and went scoreless for five consecutive innings, but ignited in the bottom of the seventh. The Volcanoes began the inning with three-straight base hits to pull within 5-3.
Moments later, with the bases juiced, Johnson dribbled a grounder to between second and first base that Vicuna snared, but could not get a good grip on as Johnson reached and right fielder Dalton Combs scored as the Volcanoes inched closer 5-4. Kirby tied the game at 5-5 all with a sacrifice fly to left field later in the inning.
Alas, the score teetered back into the Canadians favor in the top of the eighth. With two outs and two on, Clemens rocketed a deep drive into the left center gap. Ziegler darted diagonally towards the gap, leaped and soared like Superman at the fly ball, but landed on the turf any empty man as Clemens sprinted into third with a two-run three-bagger.
In the bottom of the ninth and down 7-5, the Volcanoes gave it one last hurrah. Ziegler led off with a base on balls, stole second base and reached third on balk by Canadians reliever Orlando Pascual. The next two Volcanoes struck out, but Kirby walked setting up runners on the corners for Garcia.
Vancouver made a pitching change, swapping Pascual for righty hurler William Ouellette to pitch to Garcia. During Garcia's at-bat, Ouellette threw a wild pitch that plated Ziegler and brought the score to 7-6. Garcia then ran the count full and on the 3-2 offering he hit a sharp ball to the glove of Vicuna for the final out of the ballgame.
Pascual was handed the victory in relief, raising his record to 2-0 on the year. Miguel Burgos was charged with his second blown save of the year, and Ouellette earned his fourth save of 2017. John Russell lost his first game of the season for the Volcanoes, dropping his record to 1-1.
Six Canadian hitters had multi-hit performances on the night, including two three-hit games by Vicuna and Warmoth. Kirby, Combs and designated hitter Michael Sexton each had two-hit performances.
Salem-Keizer will play the fourth game of the five-game series against Vancouver today at Volcanoes Stadium. Canadians southpaw Brody Rodning (0-1, 5.40 ERA) and Volcanoes right-hander Stetson Woods (2-0, 1.82 ERA) will be the game's starting pitching matchup. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.