The beauty of the Oahe Zap and ILB baseball is you never know what you might see when you show up to the ballpark. In Saturday’s case, you could catch a game that sees 29-combined runs with scores coming from every spot on your bingo card. Or, like in last night’s series finale between the Zap and the defending champion Sasquatch, a low-scoring pitchers dual that hangs on every pitch.
The Zap looked to carry some momentum into a few days off before their series with the Casper Spuds, and a win against the top team in the league might be just what kickstarts the teams summer. Looking back to a season ago, the Zap too had a slow start to the summer. Understandably so, a group of college players from all over the globe converging to join a team in the heart of South Dakota can be a little bit of a culture shift. The Zap took some time to get acquainted, but there was a distinct turning point when the Zap completed a comeback in front of a huge crowd at Hyde when the season flipped on its head. The Zap battled back to get a late inning win against the Sasquatch last year, and the season took off from there. The Zap would use that jumping off point to make a run to the championship series, and they hope to use Monday night’s win to do the same.
In their 3-1 victory over Spearfish last night, Mason Manning recorded 18-outs for his Zap in one of the strongest starts of the summer from the Zap starting corps. In the third inning, a Ty Farwell single followed by a Mason Melton double would thrust the Zap out in front, leaving Manning a two-run lead which would prove to be all he needed.
“It’s great to win for this community, but also great for these guys to pick up this win,” said manager Jamy Haberger who knows just how long this season is and how quickly his squad can turn it around. Haberger continued, “Our returning guys are incredibly important, they know how this whole thing works and seeing them get these new guys welded into the team and community is great.”
The Zap carry the win into a much-welcomed three day break before their weekend series with the Casper Spuds, a team they beat 10-8 in an offensive marathon the last time the two faced. Friday night first pitch at Hyde Stadium is scheduled for 6:05 PM CT, catch the game live on River 92.7 and www.DRGnews.com/River.
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