Raptors Hitting Rampage on Opening Day

The Ogden Raptors played some truly electric baseball to take a commanding 7-2 victory over the Grand Junction Jackalopes in their 2023 season home opener. With the help of some scorching hot bats staying productive with runners in scoring position throughout the game and terrific pitching with traffic on the base paths, the Raptors brewed together a winning formula against the Jackalopes. 

Right away in the top of the first inning, Raptors starter Brock Gilliam showed poise on the mound, finding himself stuck with 2 runners on base and nobody out. He limited the damage to only one run and escaped the jam, which would become a recurring theme throughout his whole start, giving up just 2 runs in 6 damage-resistant innings of work. This momentum transferred to the Raptors lineup right away as Brandon Crosby retaliated in the 2nd inning with a moonshot to knot the game up at 1. Some clutch hitting with RISP tallied with expert efficiency from the starting and bullpen pitchers aided the Raptors in holding down a 4-2 lead throughout the middle innings. That is until 2nd Baseman Dakota Connors launched a hope-crushing 3-run clutch dinger down the left field line which put the finishing touches open this opening day win for the Raptors.  

Despite the adversity that the team faced with the rain delay, they showed up and showed out for the Raptors faithful in attendance on opening night in 2023. While it’s easy to say that the two longball hitters were the biggest difference makers in this one, it really felt like all 9 batters in this lineup played a huge impact on the game out there, either with defensive gems in the field, or disciplined approaches with the bat. It was a great showcase for this Raptors roster, as the team rallied around each other on both sides of the ball, and it's an exciting glimpse of the sky-high potential that this 2023 Raptors team possesses. The Raptors look to stay hot moving into game 2 of the series, tomorrow night at 6:30 PM.