Three Grand Slams Blows Chukars Away in Series Finale Against Ogden

IDAHO FALLS, ID - The Idaho Falls Chukars (20-15) were blownout in the sereis finale by the Ogden Raptors (20-16) by a score of 23-10 on Monday afternoon at Melaleuca Field. The Raptors led wire-to-wire and take the season sereis against the Chukars four games to three.

Ogden got on the board early against starter Nicholas Trabacchi (L, 1-1). The Raptors took advantage of early command troubles by Trabacchi, and loaded up the bases on a single and three straight walks. A Brian Dansereau grand slam gve Ogden a 4-0 lead, and an RBI single and sac fly made it 6-0 Raptors at the end of the first. 

The Chukars scratched a run across in the second on an RBI groundout from Jose Reyes that scored Dusty Stroup cut into the lead, 6-1. With two outs in the third, Hunter Hisky drew a two-out walk to bring up Calvin Estrada. The Van Nuys native belted his eighth homer of the season against Sam Burton (W, 2-0) to make it a three-run game, 6-3. 

Ogden blew it open in the fifth and sixth innings. A Dakota Conners RBI single and an RBI double from Dustyn Macaluso in the fifth chased Trabacchi from the game with the Raptors up 8-3. Nathan Gilman took to the mound with two outs, surrendering four more runs on two doubles and a single which gave the Raptors a 12-3 lead. 

A ten-run sixth put the game out of reach. Two grand slams were hit in the inning by Josh Broughton and Andrew Noviello against Gilman and Alex Fishberg, along with two RBI singles made it 22-3 at the end of the sixth. 

The Chukars did not go quietly, as they put up five runs in the seventh. Idaho Falls loaded up the bases on an Aldo Buendia double, a walk from Brendan Hueth, and a Steve Barmakian single. Hunter Hudson pinch hit for Hunter Hisky and belted a double for his first hit and RBI as a Chukar, knocking in two runs to make it 22-5. Estrada followed up with his second home run of the game, a three-run bomb to make it 22-8. Estrada becomes the second Chukar with a mutli-home game, the other two were hit by Matt Feinstein. 

Ogden put up one more run in the eighth on an RBi fielder's choice to cap give the Chukars a 23-8 disadvantage. Kevin Elefante made his first appearance on the mound since 2014 when he was a freshman at Belmont Abbey and faced the minimum in a scoreless ninth. 

In the home half, Elefante connected for a two-run single to cap the scoring, 23-10. 

The Chukars will start up a six-game homestand against the Great Falls Voyagers (21-14) with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. tomorrow. The game can be viewed on the Idaho Falls Chukars YouTube channel, and heard on KSPZ The Sports Zone on 98.7 FM and 980 AM. Idaho Falls will start RHP Joe Slocum (2-2, 5.74 ERA) and the Voyagers starter is TBD.