Ogden Celebrates, Then Raptors Take Home Opener

After a rough weekend at Idaho Falls to start the 2018 Pioneer League season, the Ogden Raptors turned things around for their home opener on Tuesday night.
Back at the friendly confines of Lindquist Field, the Raptors first celebrated the franchise's 2017 league championship run with video highlights and the unveiling of the championship banner, then used a mix of old players and new to beat the visiting Orem Owlz, 7-2.
After falling behind in the first on an unearned run, the Raptors notched four walks, a double and a single to plate four runs in the second. Ramon Rodriguez and Jacob Amaya earned RBI on bases-loaded free passes and Chris Roller and Luke Heyer knocked in runs in their Ogden debuts in the frame.
After Orem pulled within two in the top of the fourth, the hosts answered in the bottom half. Amaya took a two-out walk, the third of his four on the day, stole second and scored on Heyer's first professional hit.
More new additions put together a rally in the fifth. Niko Hulsizer led off with his first hit and stolen base, Matt Cogen walked and Daniel Robinson drove in Hulsizer with his first professional base knock.
Amaya capped the scoring with a two-out single to center in the seventh to plate Jefrey Souffront.
Dillon Paulson also made his pro debut and laced a double in his first at-bat, and the Raptors welcomed back Ronny Brito, who spent a chunk of 2017 with Ogden before suffering a gruesome, season-ending injury in Great Falls in August.
Austin Hamilton pitched two scoreless innings to earn the victory in relief of Joel Inoa, who started and threw the first four frames while allowing just one earned run. Luis Pasen and Devin Hemmerich combined to face the minimum amount of hitters in the final three innings.
Ogden also succeeded turning rare positive plays from potential defensive miscues. With Orem threatening in the sixth, putting runners on the corners with no one out, a throw to second on a stolen base attempt sailed wide and off the glove of Jeremy Arocho, who was covering the bag. The ball bounced to Amaya, who was backing up, and he threw home to Ramon Rodriguez, who fired to Preston Grand Pre at third to catch the runner from third base in a rundown. In the seventh, an infield single kicked off Amaya's glove and toward foul territory, and Grand Pre picked it up and threw to second base with Pasen covering to retire the batter attempting to take second.
The win puts the Raptors alone in third place in the Pioneer League South division in the early-going, at 2-3.
The Raptors and Owlz conclude their brief two-game series at Lindquist Field on Wednesday, and the first 500 fans through the gates will receive a FREE Raptors poster courtesy of Ellis Printing.