Ogden Raptors conclude 2024 season; attendance crown goes to Boise
The Ogden Raptors concluded the 2024 season with a record of 41-55, a rare campaign below .500 in the franchise’s 30 seasons in Ogden, after a 10-3 loss in the Sunday finale against the Glacier Range Riders.
Ogden again enjoyed a healthy attendance average this season at 3,110 fans per game entering Sunday. But the Raptors’ run of 26 consecutive seasons as the league’s attendance king has come to an end.
Boise pulled in a per-game average of 3,211 this season to take the crown, the first non-Ogden team to lead the Pioneer League in attendance since 1996. Four of the league’s 12 teams averaged more than 2,000 fans per night, with Rocky Mountain (Colorado Springs) at 2,504 and Glacier (Kalispell, Montana) at 2,309.
Ogden catcher/first baseman Chris Sargent hit two home runs and drove in seven RBIs in Saturday’s win over Glacier, giving him the Raptors’ season HR crown with 19 (overcoming Raymond Gil, who had 18 but was injured a few weeks ago). Sargent drove in 95 runs to lead Ogden.
The Raptors won Saturday’s game in thrilling fashion, 14-13, by giving up two runs in the top of the ninth only to score two in the bottom half, with Drew Brutcher’s bases-loaded single providing a walk-off victory.
Raptors infielder Connor Bagnieski led the team with a .362 batting average in 73 games, while Brutcher hit .363 but only in 35 games.
Three players in the Pioneer League challenged Missoula’s Jayson Newman’s single-season home run record (32, 2022) this season: Missoula masher Adam Fogel won the crown with 35, while Rocky Mountain’s Steven Rivas bashed 31 and Northern Colorado’s Dario Gomez had 30.
Fogel flirted with the triple crown, batting .388 to overtake teammate Mike Rosario (.387) on the final day to lead the league in average. Fogel had 115 RBIs but Rivas won that battle with 124.
Missoula, Glacier, Oakland and Yolo will contest the league’s 2024 playoffs, which begin Tuesday.
This year’s format featured no divisions but was still split into halves. Missoula (62-34) won the first half with Glacier (48-48) in second; those two will face off in the first round. California newcomers Oakland (58-38) and Yolo (53-41) were the top two in the second half.
Northern Colorado (54-41) finished third but won’t make the playoffs.