FARGO, N.D. -- The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks fell behind, rallied, but came up short in the 20th Home Opener in franchise history. Fargo-Moorhead fell to the Joplin Blasters 10-8 on Monday night in front of 4,284 fans at Newman Outdoor Field.
RedHawks faithful were introduced to a nearly all-new team with only three returners from last season. One of those old faces was Taylor Stanton, who made his first start of the season in the home opener. Stanton showed signs of rust early on. He gave up four runs (three earned) in the first frame, including a two-run homer from Jake Taylor. Stanton settled down for the next two frames before giving up three more earned runs in the fourth.
Meanwhile, Raydel Sanchez started on the hill for the Blasters. Sanchez gave up six runs (five earned) in five innings pitched, keeping the RedHawks out of striking distance.
The tandem of submarine hurler Paul Raglione and Ty Kelley pitched five frames of shutout baseball allowing the comeback to happen. Joplin would not score after their five-run outburst in the fourth, and Raglione and Kelley were solid out of the bullpen.
The RedHawks bats came alive in the fifth inning. Penprase started out the frame with a double in right field. Joplin paid little attention to Penprase on second and he displayed his wheels advancing to third. Mozingo (3-for-4), drove him in with a weak popup to left, and Stefan Gartrell followed with an RBI double to make it 10-5. Frank Salerno would also cross home plate in the sixth inning, to make it 10-6.
Joe Staley lined a two-run homer over right the right field fence in the sixth inning, his first of the season, but that would prove to be the final runs scored in the contest.
Stanton took the loss (0-1) for the RedHawks, while Sanchez earned the win (1-0). Winston Abreu also recorded the save for Joplin in the 10-8 victory.
Fargo-Moorhead drops to 0-5 while Joplin improves to 2-2. Both teams will return to Newman Outdoor Field at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow for game two of the three-game series.
Game Date: 05/25/2015
Joplin Blasters 10 AT Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 8
YTD YTD
Joplin AB R H BI AVG Fargo AB R H BI AVG
M.Gonzalez SS 4 1 2 0 .375 C.Mozingo LF 4 2 3 1 .250
O.Mesa CF 4 1 0 0 .067 F.Salerno 2B 5 1 3 1 .316
Y.Gomez LF 5 2 3 3 .600 S.Gartrell DH 4 0 1 2 .211
A.Gallagher 1B 5 1 2 2 .222 J.Dunigan RF 5 0 0 1 .273
J.Taylor DH 4 1 1 3 .235 M.Antonio 3B 5 1 2 0 .222
S.Tinoco RF 5 0 1 0 .267 C.Duffy 1B 5 1 2 0 .333
C.Ramirez C 4 1 0 0 .267 J.Staley C 4 1 1 2 .263
O.Luna 3B 5 1 1 0 .250 D.Muren CF 3 1 1 0 .333
M.Glasser 2B 2 2 2 1 .714 Z.Penprase SS 4 1 1 0 .278
J.Solorzano 2B,PH 2 0 0 0 .222
40 10 12 9 39 8 14 7
Joplin 4 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 - 10 12 1
Fargo 0 1 2 0 3 2 0 0 0 - 8 14 4
2B--A.Gallagher (2), C.Mozingo (1), S.Gartrell (2), M.Antonio (1),
Z.Penprase (1). HR--J.Taylor (2), J.Staley (1). RBI--Y.Gomez 3 (4),
A.Gallagher 2 (2), J.Taylor 3 (6), M.Glasser (1), C.Mozingo (1),
F.Salerno (2), S.Gartrell 2 (5), J.Dunigan (4), J.Staley 2 (4).
HP--M.Gonzalez (1), D.Muren (1). SF--J.Taylor (1), S.Gartrell (2).
SB--Z.Penprase (2). E--M.Glasser (1), M.Antonio 2 (2), Z.Penprase (3),
M.Noteware (1).
LOB--Joplin 7, Fargo 7.
YTD
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Joplin
R.Sanchez (W,1-0) 5.0 9 6 5 0 1 0 9.00
M.Parish 1.0 3 2 2 1 1 1 6.00
K.Linares 0.2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
V.Capellan 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00
W.Abreu (S,2) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00
9 14 8 7 1 5 1
Fargo
T.Stanton (L,0-1) 3.0 8 8 7 1 2 1 21.00
M.Noteware 1.0 3 2 2 0 0 0 14.40
P.Raglione 3.0 1 0 0 1 2 0 1.59
T.Kelley 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00
9 12 10 9 2 5 1
WP--R.Sanchez (1). HB--K.Linares (1), P.Raglione (2). SO--J.Taylor 2,
S.Tinoco, O.Luna 2, S.Gartrell, J.Dunigan, C.Duffy, J.Staley, Z.Penprase.
BB--O.Mesa, C.Ramirez, C.Mozingo. BF--R.Sanchez 23 (23), M.Parish 7 (13),
K.Linares 5 (12), V.Capellan 4 (13), W.Abreu 3 (10), T.Stanton 18 (18),
M.Noteware 6 (26), P.Raglione 13 (25), T.Kelley 7 (13). P-S--R.Sanchez
78-55, M.Parish 29-17, K.Linares 10-8, V.Capellan 16-9, W.Abreu 11-8,
T.Stanton 63-40, M.Noteware 15-10, P.Raglione 35-24, T.Kelley 27-19.
T--3:06. A--4284
Weather:
Plate Umpire - Tim Kreamer, Field Umpire #1 - Cody Loe, Field Umpire #2 - Marty Bauer