A week has now passed since the first Crosstown baseball game and even though it's fresh in our minds now, this is a game that will be remembered for ages.
To start, even Glacier coach Erik Brink believes that the inaugural could go down as one of the all-timers.
“It might be the most memorable crosstown ever, even though it was the first one,” Brink said.
The crowd that packed in to ABS Park was treated to 3 1/2 hours of action, an eight-run comeback and a walk-off at the brink of sunset.
The 17-16 scoreline would be more suited for highly competitive football game, or a sluggish first half on the basketball court, but on this Tuesday it was perfect for the diamond.
While Flathead came out the victors, you must admire the fight from each player on both rosters.
“The battle that both teams had was great. Great job to coach Brink and Glacier to never give up and be able to battle and come back,” Flathead coach Richard Burland said. “And great job to our boys to take that last inning and work it to get that victory.”
Two different styles of offense met as well: Flathead’s hard-hitting mentality and Glacier’s aggressive baserunning.
Glacier plated 16 runs on six hits — and if you ask Burland, the Braves needed to work on finding the strike zone — but you don’t score that much without looking to run.
The basepaths led to success, including three steals over the second and third inning that helped the Wolfpack to a 7-2 advantage. It also led to an inning-ending tag at home as Ryne Gillette tried to steal a run in the fourth — a run that could have been the difference.
The Braves’ high-flying offense had more extra-base knocks than Glacier had total hits.
Miles Arrowsmith and Eli Coopman combined for five of Flathead’s seven doubles. Coopman’s second sparked the two-out rally that won the game. The lefty was not shy about it after the game.
“We raked the ball. We could not stop hitting the ball, that is what won us the game,” Coopman said. “Glacier, they can go and bunt and do their little small ball game, but we like to hit it.”
But despite the big lumber, Glacier rallied back from a 16-8 deficit to tie the game in the seventh inning.
Enter Dillon Wink: the junior’s bases-loaded single closed out the game and lifted his name into Crosstown lore forever.
Had Wink produced an out, he still may have sent the crowd home. As the sun dipped behind the clouds at the end of the evening, the light on the field quickly disappeared.
The umpires would have been left with quite the decision: play out an extra frame in the quickly dying light, or pack things in and finish at a later date.
Thankfully for all involved — well, maybe not everyone — Wink made sure that decision wasn’t necessary.
Glacier has its chance at redemption though. The two teams meet again on Thursday, May 7 at Griffin Field.
After the first one, this next game has a lot to live up to.