OGDEN — For three innings, it looked like the large crowd of families at Lindquist Field for Ogden School Foundation night were in for a dandy.

Ogden starter Jorge Gonzalez was perfect through three innings, Billings starter Elijah Gill had a no-hitter going, and it felt like perhaps the teams might reprise the 1-0 contest from Monday.

It fell apart quickly in the fourth inning. The game was a dandy, but only for the Mustangs.

Billings hit grand slams in three consecutive innings and held Ogden to two hits in a 19-1 drubbing in front of 5,868 fans.

It started innocently enough when Crew Taylor hit a weak bloop single to lead off the top of the fourth. But a walk and a hit-by-pitch later had Gonzalez in trouble. After a mound visit, he piped a first-pitch fastball to Billings catcher Andrew Fernandez, who crushed a lining grand slam to center field.

After Gonzalez hit a batter and gave up a single in the fifth, new right-hander Juan Sanchez took over and had a rough welcome. He hit two batters, then saw lefty Jordan Hovey lift a grand slam to right field for a 9-0 score.

Juan Teixeira led off the sixth with a solo homer to right and, unluckily for Sanchez, it still got worse. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for big designated hitter Bryce Jackson, who mashed a grand slam over Raptor Ridge in right-center to make it 14-0.

Ogden finished the game pitching position players Ty Lewis (the seventh) and Dustyn Macaluso (the final two innings) and it might have gotten better, allowing only five more runs.

Raptors third baseman Alejandro Rivero broke up Gill’s no-hitter with a double in the fourth inning.

Shortstop Jesus Valdez broke the shutout with the second and final Ogden hit of the game, a two-out, solo home run to center field in the sixth inning.

Gill might have thrown longer had the score not been 14-1 at that point, but he was pulled after six innings having allowed two hits, one run, striking out nine and walking two.

McClain Harris (one inning) and Jack Cunningham (two innings) put on just two runners in the final three frames, with Cunningham walking a batter and hitting another. But neither allowed a hit, and they struck out five combined. The three Billings pitchers struck out 14 while walking three; at one point, only broken up by Rivero’s double, Gill recorded seven straight outs via strikeout.

The two teams finish the series at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. It’s the final regular-season home game for Ogden, who hits the road next week to Northern Colorado to finish the season. The Raptors will host at least one divisional playoff game at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, against Grand Junction.

The crowd of 5,868 was one of the largest in recent memory; an August 2018 crowd hit 5,780. It was the best crowd this season by 500 fans and was the fifth game the Raptors hosted in front of 5,000 or more fans. Ogden’s single-game attendance record remains 6,317 in the 1997 opener that ushered in the opening of Lindquist Field.

FRIDAY SCORES

Billings 19, Ogden 1

Grand Junction 11, Boise 3

Northern Colorado 8, Rocky Mountain 5

Missoula 10, Glacier 8

Idaho Falls 10, Great Falls 4

PIONEER LEAGUE STANDINGS

Second Half – 7 games left

NORTH DIVISION

*^Missoula 29-12 (64-24 overall)

Billings 22-19 (47-40)

Idaho Falls 20-20 (47-41)

Glacier 18-22 (35-52)

Great Falls 17-22 (44-42)

SOUTH DIVISION

^Grand Junction 30-10 (56-32)

Rocky Mountain 20-20 (35-51)

*Ogden 20-21 (49-40)

Northern Colorado 16-25 (33-53)

Boise 10-30 (27-61)

*-1st-half champion

^-2nd-half champion

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