On June 29, Otto traveled to Worland with the Minors falling 8-6 and the Majors falling 15-8. In the Minor League game, Malachi Cook started on the mound and while he has improved over the season, Coach Janalee Call said he struggles with consistency. Tanner Jones took over in the second inning. The two pitchers gave up the eight runs on four hits, nine walks and five strikeouts.
Offensively, Call said she asked her players to be more aggressive at the plate, and they were more aggressive swinging, but not connecting with the ball. All six runs came in the second and third innings. Delaney Neves had the lone hit of the game with other runs coming from walks and steals.
The Major League team hit better with six hits in the game, Bridger Jones and Isaac Stanworth each had two hits in the game, Torey Wardell and Jaydin Dehl one each.
Bridger Jones and Stanworth handled the pitching duties in the game with Alax Jones and Bridger Jones catching. Call said Bridger Jones’ slower pitching style caught the Worland Cross HVAC batters off guard in the first inning but in the second the batters adjusted and were able to get hits off of Jones.
She said the outfield, made up of Minor League players, struggled fielding some of the hard hit balls.
The pitchers gave up 15 hits in four innings off 17 hits, eight walks and four strikeouts.
Call said the game should have been called after the third inning with Otto down 9-3 due to time but both teams opted to continue to play. “Any kind of game experience is good and makes them better players,” Call said.
On June 30, Otto hosted Greybull in a game rescheduled from a rain out earlier. The Minors fell 8-6 and the Majors lost 9-3.
Wardell started on the mound for the Minors and left in the third inning after getting injured attempting to tag a runner at home. He had six strikeouts until then and allowed one in-the-park home run by Braeden Tracy due to fielding errors.
Tallon Wiles moved from catcher to pitcher in the third.
Offensively, there were more strikeouts swinging than looking. “Having them swing rather than wait for a walk is what I’ve wanted to see all year,” Call said. “Hopefully we can make better contact next time.”
When an Otto batter got on base, they were able to steal bases to score. Call said all but one batter scored.
Torey Wardell earned the game ball for pitching and base running.
Wardell and Wiles each had a hit for the Rattlers.
Alax Jones, Isaac Stanworth and Bridger Jones were the trio on the mound for the Majors. Call said she wanted A. Jones to get some experience and had him pitch to just four batters. Stanworth, she said, is usually fast and accurate but had an off night.
The three pitchers gave up nine runs on 16 hits, five walks and no strikeouts. They had six infield outs and two pop-ups. Call said the infield defense was strong in the game. “If our batting had only matched our defense we would have won the game,” she said.
Alax Jones received the game ball for hitting, and his play behind the plate and at shortstop.
He and Wardell each had two hits in the game, Bridger Jones one hit.
The Rattlers ended the season against Cowley July 1 with the Minors falling 10-2. With it being the final game of the season, Call gave each pitcher one inning with Dontae Garza starting, Tanner Jones pitching in the second and Torey Wardell finishing the game.
She said Jones has been working with one of the Babe Ruth pitchers and he showed improvement in his inning.
Wardell pitched the last two innings, Call said, with a quick third inning, getting the first three batters out.
The trio allowed 10 runs on 10 hits, seven walks and 10 strikeouts.
“Offensively, we were swinging our bats and connecting pretty well in the first inning, especially since there was a Major League pitcher on the mound for the first two innings,” Call said, adding that Cowley was short Minors so had four Major League players in the game. She said the Otto batters were intimidated by the older pitcher and the Major League batters for Cowley got easy hits off of Otto’s Minor League pitchers.
Tanner Jones got the Rattlers lone hit in the game.
Cowley edged Otto in the Major League game 8-7. “We played with half of our team Minor League players and almost beat their full roster of Majors,” Call said, adding that she told the players it would have been nice to get the win but they had nothing to feel bad about. “I am proud of them and looking forward to a good season next year.”
Otto got four hits off of Cowley including a home run by Isaac Stanworth and a double by Bridger Jones. Ten players got on base with walks.
Bridger Jones started on the mound for Otto with Stanworth finishing the game in relief. The two combined for five strikeouts, four walks and 19 hits.