Raptors Regroup Before Their Roadtrip to Boise

While the Raptors may have dropped the final game in this season-opening series to the Jackalopes, they still come away to a very positive tune, taking 4 of 6 games, and finding themselves just 1 game back of the Boise Hawks for 1st place in the PBL Southern Division. They will aim to take sole possession of 1st place, as they kick off their next 6-game series tomorrow night at 7:05 against the Hawks in Boise. The Raptors seek to spark some fire in their lineup as they head on their first road trip of the new season facing a red-hot team coming off of 5 straight wins. If the Raptors want to secure another series win, they will need to enforce their gameplan via long drawn out at-bats that work through opposing pitchers and have their rotation and bullpen working to let their offense set the table. 

With the Raptors trailing 7-1 at one point in this one, all hope had seemed lost, but after putting up a 5 spot in the 7th inning, they brought the deficit back to within just 1. While some late mistakes on the mound in the top half of the ninth did eventually put this one out of reach, the team's MVP in this one was without question Salvator Gozzo after he accounted for half of his team’s hit and RBI totals. He had a monster night totaling 4 hits and 3 RBIs one of those hits going to the tune of a 3 run 7th inning bomb which is obviously an encouraging sign for this deep Raptors roster. It’s this type of explosivity the Raptors will need to harness if they want to stay shot-for-shot with the dangerous lineup of the Hawks. With both of these teams tallying over 40+ runs within their first 6 games, it should be a treat to watch these two face off and trade punches over the course of this series. 

The Raptors will need to strike first if they want to be in the driver's seat as they will no longer have home-field advantage on their side. If they can replicate the production at the plate and damage limitation out of the pen that we saw in games 1-3 against the Jackalopes, then this Raptors ballclub will find themselves in a far better position to win these first 6 games on the road. The Raptors will look to open the floodgates on offense tomorrow night at 7:05 PM in Boise.