The best first half in Missoula PaddleHeads history ended on a high note Sunday afternoon at Ogren-Allegiance Park.
Rookie slugger Adam Fogel slugged three home runs and Zootown’s pro baseball team posted a 12-5 win over the defending Pioneer League champion Ogden Raptors. Missoula won the series, 2-1.
The PaddleHeads finished the first half of the season with a team-record 37 wins (37-11). Missoula secured the first-half pennant and punched its ticket into the September playoffs for the fourth straight year.
Fogel, a California native who played his college ball for the Kentucky Wildcats, ripped two-run home runs in the first and second innings in helping the hosts build a 5-0 advantage. Fogel’s solo homer in the seventh gave his team a 7-2 lead and the PaddleHeads added five insurance runs in the eighth as Josh Elvir hit a two-RBI double and Taylor Smith a two-RBI single.
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Playing in front of 500 fans on an afternoon when the temperature reached 95, Missoula collected 12 hits to eight for the Raptors (22-26). Fogel finished 3 for 4 with five RBIs and four runs scored. Elvir had two doubles and a single.
Fogel is on pace to set a new single-season league record in home runs. He has 23 and the record is 32, set two years ago by former Missoula first baseman Jayson Newman.
Nick Parker earned the pitching win. He allowed just one earned run on four hits with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
The PaddleHeads will hit the road for a series at Glacier (Kalispell) starting Tuesday. The Range Riders (29-19) earned a playoff berth by finishing second in the first half of the season.
Bill Speltz is Missoulian Sports Editor. Email Bill at bill.speltz@missoulian.com.
