Behind Elliott’s gem, Ogden Raptors top Boise 6-1 in clean, quick baseball game

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner
Ogden Raptors players stand in the dugout on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.OGDEN — Great baseball doesn’t always have to be quick, but it often is.
The Ogden Raptors played their cleanest game of the season Friday night at Lindquist Field, and it also happened to be the shortest.
Eli Elliott pitched a seven-inning gem, Ogden committed zero errors and issued one walk, and the Raptors cruised to a 6-1 win over the Boise Hawks in 2 hours and 14 minutes in front of 4,141 fans.
Boise (20-14) got to Elliott just once when Micah Yonamine lifted a towering fly ball to left, its high arc just clearing the top of the wall for a solo homer with two outs in the first inning.
With Yonamine’s homer, the Hawks technically never stationed a baserunner past first base for the entire game. Of the team’s five other baserunners (four singles, one walk), one was left on first base with a pop out and strikeout, two were doubled off first base after the batter lined out during a hit-and-run, and one catcher Landen Barns caught stealing to end the eighth inning.
Elliott allowed his one run on four hits, striking out three and walking zero, in seven innings. Brayden Bonner surrendered one hit and the lone walk in the eighth, but got one of the double-play lineouts and the runner caught stealing to clear the bases.
Lefty Quinn Waterhouse got back into stride as a shutdown closer, throwing a 1-2-3 ninth inning with plenty of sunlight still washing over Lindquist Field.
The Raptors (15-19) didn’t trail for long. Chris Sargent, on designated hitter duty for the night, cracked a two-run homer to right-center in the bottom of the first to put Ogden ahead 2-1.
Luke Malone took the tough loss for Boise, allowing three runs on seven hits over six innings. His final tally came in the fifth when Jack Cone tripled to the right-field corner and fellow outfielder Nick Ultsch hit a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 Ogden lead.
Waterhouse got a cushion he ultimately didn’t need; as he warmed in the bullpen, Connor Bagnieski and Chris Coipel singled for the Raptors and Barns wore a pitch in his ribs to load the bases. Second baseman Raymond Gil brought them all home with a double to left field, accounting for the 6-1 final.
With the series tied 2-2, the two teams finish the set at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.