OGDEN — Tuesday night just didn’t feel like Ogden’s night, especially after the Rocky Mountain Vibes scored six runs in the second inning.

But somehow, despite trailing by six runs early and by four late, the Raptors found a way.

Trailing 11-8 with two outs in the ninth inning and no runners on base, Ogden miraculously pulled off a 12-11 victory at Lindquist Field when Reese Alexiades singled home Coleton Horner with the bases loaded.

Ogden trailed 11-8 with 2 outs in the 9th and nobody on

Reese Alexiades just singled in a walk-off victory. Raptors win, magic number is 1 pic.twitter.com/fUaB6EoWFp

— StandardEx Raptors (@RaptorsSE) July 12, 2023

The win gives the Raptors a 28-15 record with five games left in the first half. The team’s division lead remains 3 1/2 games over Boise, who defeated Billings 7-6 on Tuesday. Ogden and Boise have matched results for nine consecutive games.

The take-home is this: Ogden needs just one more win, or one Boise loss, between now and Saturday and the Raptors clinch the Pioneer League South Division first-half championship.

The offensively gifted Vibes (18-24) pushed a small lead to 11-7 in the seventh when Chase Stratton walked in a run with the bases loaded. But Stratton also left the threat there, getting Elvis Peralta to ground out hard to Dakota Conners at second, which he cleaned up to end the inning.

That, and a Conners sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh to score Logan Williams, helped make the wild ninth inning possible.

Rocky Mountain reliever Chris Macca got two quick outs to start the bottom of the ninth before shortstop Sal Gozzo crushed a solo homer to left-center field to make it 11-9.

Still with a hill to climb, the rally restarted when Conners grounded sharply to Peralta at shortstop, which he mishandled for an error. Nick Ultsch reached when his grounder took a throw to second base, which Conners beat safely.

The catcher Horner then battled back from a quick 0-2 count and singled to right field, scoring Conners for an 11-10 tally. Macca plunked Rafael Narea squarely in the back to load the bases, then walked Cam Phelts in four pitches to score Ultsch as the tying run.

With Macca struggling, Alexiades keyed on the first pitch he saw and bounced a single through the left side, sending Horner home and the Raptors pouring out of the dugout.

Ogden is now 18-6 since starting the season with a 10-9 record.

League-leading RBI man Dusty Stroup cleared loaded bases with a double in the second as part of a six-run inning that gave the Vibes an 8-2 lead against Riley Ottesen, who made his first start on the hill this season for the Raptors.

Ogden nearly climbed all the way back from that when the third baseman Narea lined a grand slam just over the wall in left to make it 8-7 in the fourth, only for the visitors to push it back to 11-7.

Utility man John Pyle recorded the win in his pitching debut by facing a minimum three batters in the top of the ninth.

The two teams play twice Wednesday: first at 4 p.m. in resuming a previously suspended game from June, which is tied 1-1 in the fourth inning, then contest a seven-inning game to follow.

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