After a disappointing 9-8 loss Thursday night against the Idaho Falls Chukars, it wasn’t a wonder that the Orem Owlz fought back with offense Friday night against the Ogden Raptors with a 17-3 win.
C.J. Cron had six RBI and hit two home runs, giving him six home runs in the past three games against Ogden. Cron now has a league-leading 13 home runs this season.
“He’s got a tool you can’t teach, which is plus-plus power.” Owlz manager Tom Kotchman said. “He’s got game impacting power.”
“I’ve just been seeing the ball well lately.” Cron said.
Cron wasn’t the only star during Friday night’s game. Right fielder Ryan Jones went 3-for-5 with five RBI, including a 3-RBI triple in the bottom of the second inning. It was his third triple of the season and Jones has now gone for 10 hits over the last 10 games.
Jones also performed well defensively, especially in the eighth inning. Jones caught a hit by Ogden’s Noel Cuevas in right field and quickly threw it to catcher Ricky Pacione, who tagged out Ogden’s Joe Pederson and prevented the score.
“I’m the type of guy that isn’t going let the pitcher get hung out to dry,” Jones said. “We’re going to go one hundred percent until the last out is recorded.”
Owlz pitcher Ryan Crowley started the game off strong, keeping Ogden at zero hits in the first three innings. He was then relieved by Baudilio Lopez in the top of the fourth inning.
“He’s building his arm back up,” Kotchman said. “That’s why we cut him off where we cut him off…We’ve just got to get him through this year healthy because he’s got an idea of what he’s doing on the mount.”
The Owlz showed on Friday night they can remain positive after a rough game.
“You better have a short-term memory in this game whether you win or lose,” Kotchman said.
Kevin Olsen can be reached at kvncups12@gmail.com.
