Grand Junction rides late rally in Game 1
Grant Lavigne arrived in the Pioneer League with plenty of fanfare after being drafted with the No. 42 overall pick this June. He exceeded all reasonable expectations in the regular season and carried that production into the playoffs.On Friday, the Rockies' eighth-ranked prospect reached base four times and scored twice
On Friday, the Rockies' eighth-ranked prospect reached base four times and scored twice as Rookie-level Grand Junction rallied late to defeat Ogden, 8-5, at Lindquist Field. Lavigne walked and scored during a six-run ninth -- a comeback that brought four runs home after Grand Junction was down to its final out in the opener of the best-of-3 semifinal series.
"[The comeback] was kind of crazy," Lavigne said. "After the first two batters, we kind of got a sense that [reliever
Gameday box score
The 19-year-old first baseman batted .350/.477/.519 with six homers, 13 doubles and 38 RBIs in his first professional season.
In his first postseason at-bat, he singled to right in the second inning and scored on
"It felt really good, just any way I could help the team win," Lavigne said. "At this point, I'm just trying to do anything I can to get on base and hopefully score runs for the team."
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Lavigne said that the team began to sense a shift in momentum after Montes, the league MVP, came through with the game-tying single to left.
"We were down by one run and we had two outs, so I think it was a really big situation just to get the game tied," the Bedford, New Hampshire, native said. "He did a good job of being aggressive early in the count and getting a pitch that he could drive."
Dodgers No. 22 prospect
The series stays in Ogden for Game 2 with first pitch scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
In other Pioneer League playoff action:
Great Falls 3, Billings 2
Gerard Gilberto is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow and interact with him on Twitter, @GerardGilberto4.