Chukars salvage win against RedPocket behind Ostrander cycle

IDAHO FALLS — Garret Ostrander hit the first Chukar cycle since Trevor Rogers did so on August 3 last season.

The Chukars (5-24) hammered their way to their third win of the week, with a 23-12 win over the RedPocket Mobiles (7-23).

In the first inning, Ostrander had the Chukars’ first hit of the day with a single. He would later score on Sam Canton’s team-leading 11th home run of the season. The very next inning, he doubled home a pair.

In his next at-bat, in the fourth inning, he tripled to center field and would later come around to score on another Canton RBI. In the fifth inning, he walked and scored, and in the sixth inning he reached on an error and crossed the plate again.

In the seventh inning, with runners on first and second, Ostrander blasted his first home run of the season, after hitting the top of the wall numerous times over the last two weeks, to complete the cycle.

He would finish the day with four hits, five runs, five RBIs, a walk and his team-leading sixth stolen base for good measure.

Ty Dooley had a multi-home run day with a three-run shot in the fourth to give the Chukars a two-run lead. Two batters later, Justin Trimble hit his 10th home run of the year, again, to the opposite field.

Dooley would homer again in the eighth inning with a solo trip. He finished the day with four runs driven in.

On his 23rd birthday, Trimble had three doubles, a home run and a single with four driven in, a triple shy of the cycle.

Each Chukar recorded a hit as the 1-5 spots in the order drove in 20 of the 23 runs scored.

The 23 runs on 22 hits and six home runs were each game high’s for Idaho Falls. In the three-game series, the Mobiles and Chukars combined for 22 home runs, with RedPocket blasting 16, and eight alone on Saturday night.

Idaho Falls would score in every inning but the third, with two in the first, three in the second, five in the fourth, six in the fifth, one in the sixth, five in the seventh and one in the eighth.

The Chuks finished the first half of their 12-game home stand going 3-3 and will host the Great Falls Voyagers for a three-game mid-week series before Boise returns to Melaleuca Field for a three-game weekend set.

Current PBL standings
1. Long Beach Coast (24-6)
2. Billings Mustangs (23-6)
T3. Boise Hawks (18-12)
T3. Modesto Roadsters (18-12)
T3. Ogden Raptors (18-12)
6. Glacier Range Riders (16-14)
7. Missoula PaddleHeads (15-15)
8. Oakland Ballers (13-17)
9. Great Falls Voyagers (12-18)
10. Yuba-Sutter Freebirds (10-20)
11. RedPocket Mobiles (7-23)
12. Idaho Falls Chukars (5-24)