Chukars Corner

CHUKARS STUMBLE TO FINISH

So much for that 7-2 start.

The Chukars came blazing out of the gates, leading the Pioneer League South Division nearly wire to wire and ensuring a berth in the playoffs.

But the Chukars dropped seven of 10 games before Saturday’s game against Ogden. In a division race that figured to come down to today’s conclusive third game of the Ogden series to wrap up the first half, the Chukars fell three games behind Ogden with two games left on the first-half schedule.

In other words, the Chukars were in the driver’s seat but turned control over to Ogden.

But that’s not exactly fair. Upon closer inspection, the two punching bags of the Pioneer League, Casper (11-23) in the South Division and Billings (11-25) in the North, might have played as prominent a role in the first-half race as either Ogden or Idaho Falls.

Every team in the league has a winning record except for Casper and Billings. That’s because the top six teams scrap each other and come out around .500. They pound on Billings and Casper and wind up with winning records to show for it.

The Chukars did their part, taking four of five games from Casper. That 7-2 start? Four of those games came against Casper.

However, the Chukars didn’t see Billings in the first half. Instead, their North Division opponents in the first half were Helena and Missoula. The Chukars went 9-7 in those games. Pretty good.

Meanwhile, Ogden’s first-half schedule included 11 games against the punching bags. Ogden swept four games from Casper and took four of six from Billings.

THE JIMS: Chukars catcher Ben Theriot has had a rough season.

First, he tripped running up the first-base line in his first professional at-bat, ruining what would have been an infield single.

And then when the Chukars arrived back at Melaleuca Field on Tuesday, he had a shipment of custom-made maple bats waiting for him, inscribed to whoever Jim Theriot is.

Somewhere between the order from his agent’s office and the manufacturer, the named got mixed up and Theriot earned a new nickname, Jim, after the bats, which are referred to as Jims.

“I gave (Allen) Caldwell a Jim and he’s always asking how the Jims are doing,” Theriot said.

Theriot ordered a new set of bats Thursday, but he isn’t too worried about the inscription.

“They do the same thing if they say Ben or Jim,” he said.

Chukars record

Overall: 19-15

First half: 19-15

Second half: 0-0

Last 10: 3-7

Home: 9-7

Away: 10-8

Extra innings: 1-1

Day games: 3-1

Night games: 16-14

vs. South Division: 11-9

vs. North Division: 8-6

vs. Casper: 5-1

vs. Ogden: 1-3

vs. Orem: 5-4

vs. Missoula: 4-3

vs. Helena: 4-3

vs. Billings: 0-0

vs. Great Falls: 0-0

Take first lead: 11-4

Opponent takes first lead: 8-11

Lead after six innings: 12-4

Trail after six innings: 2-10

Tied after six innings: 5-1

One-run games: 8-5

Chukars score 5+ 10-3

vs. RH starters 8-6

vs. LH starters 9-4

Longest winning streak 4

Longest losing streak 2

Runs scored: 190

Runs allowed: 172

Run differential: +18

League standings

See Page B3

Week in review

Record: 2-5

July 25 at Ogden L 12-8

July 26 at Ogden W 8-7

July 27 at Ogden L 9-4

July 28 vs. Orem L 2-0

July 29 vs. Orem L 9-3

July 30 vs. Orem W 4-1

Aug. 1 vs. Ogden L 4-1

The arms:

Brendan Lafferty, LHP: In a must-win game against Orem, Lafferty Followed up Sugar Ray Marimon’s two-hit performance over five innings by throwing four hitless innings. The effort lowered the lefty’s ERA to 3.47 and preserved the win for Marimon and the Chukars.

4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K

The bats:

Carlo Testa, OF: Continued his hot hitting after five games off due to a hamstring injury, pounding out three doubles and two homers while driving in three. That follows a week in which he had three homers and 10 RBIs. He has raised his batting average from .277 to .318 over the past two weeks.

10-for-25, 3 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI

Coming up

Today vs. Ogden, 4 p.m.

Mon at Orem, 7:05 p.m.

Tue at Orem, 7:05 p.m.

Wed at Orem, 7:05 p.m.

Thur at Ogden, 7 p.m.

Fri at Ogden, 7 p.m.

Sat at Ogden, 7 p.m.

AROUND THE PIONEER LEAGUE

Nicholas Bucci had one of his worst starts on the mound for Helena this season on July 26. The Brewers’ ace, who remains undefeated on the year, allowed six hits and three earned runs in six innings while striking out six and walking two. … Casper outfielder Avery Barnes stole home against Ogden last week. He has 15 SB, second in the league (Thursday afternoon). Those are needed because even though he is third on the team with 28 hits, only two have been for extra bases. Barnes led the Southeastern Conference in batting average, hits and runs during league play in his senior season at Florida. … Former major league journeyman Mike Timlin made his first start for Casper in his attempt to return to the majors. The 43-year-old held Orem hitless in one inning. Timlin, who pitched for nine teams over 18 seasons, won two World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays and two more with the Boston Red Sox. … After shutting out the Chukars for four innings this week, Orem pitcher Carson Andrew has allowed just one earned run in his last 182/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 1.85. Great Falls’ Jose Vargas is hitting .545 through his first five games (Sunday the last). He hit home runs in four consecutive games this week, including a multiple-homer performance July 24.

League leaders

BATTING

Runs

Player Team G R

Segura, J. OREM 33 32

Prince, J. HEL 34 31

Sands, J. OGD 35 31

Cavazos-Galves, B. OGD 35 31

Colligan, K. GTF 34 30

Home runs

Player Team G HR

Sands,J. OGD 35 12

Kreiger, S. HEL 34 10

Cavazos-Galvez, B. OGD 35 10

Batista, D. I.F. 30 8

Goldschmidt, P. MIS 35 8

Stone, B. MIS 36 8

RBIs

Player Team G RBI

Krieger, S. HEL 34 38

Stone, B. MIS 36 35

Sands, J. OGD 35 33

Goldschmidt, P. MIS 35 32

Batista, D. I.F. 30 31

Stolen bases

Player Team G SB

Prince, J. HEL 34 26

Barnes,A. CAS 23 15

Richardon, H. I.F. 27 13

Brownstein,M. HEL 29 13

Three others tied with 10 SBs

Batting average

Player Team G Avg.

Clark, J. CAS 22 .366

Gregorius, M. BIL 24 .364

Segura, J. OREM 33 .358

Sands, J. OGD 35 .352

Cheatham, J. GTF 27 .344

On-base percentage

Player Team G OBP

Prince, J. HEL 34 .431

Darodowski, D. MIS 36 .429

Colligan, K. GTF 34 .428

Gregorius, M. BIL 24 .423

Castillo, R. MIS 35 .420

Slugging percentage

Player Team G SLG

Cavazos-Galvez, B. OGD 35 .687

Sands, J. OGD 35 .669

Testa, C. I.F. 24 .625

Batista, D. I.F. 30 .598

Goldschmidt, P. MIS 35 .574

PITCHING

(Min. 20 IP)

ERA

Player Team IP ERA

Contreras, E. OGD 35.2 2.27

Rosario,A. HEL 32.0 2.53

Bucci, N. HEL 47.0 3.06

Martinez, J. GTF 30.2 3.22

Gloess, B. 30.2 30.2 3.23

WHIP

Player Team IP WHIP

Bucci, N. HEL 47.0 0.89

Pimentel, E. OGD 37.1 1.18

Martinez,J. GTF 44.2 1.21

Magill, M. OGD 34 1.21

Kloess, B. GTF 30.2 1.24

Innings pitched

Player Team G IP

Bucci,N. HEL 8 47.0

Martinez, J. G.F. 8 44.2

Astorga, L. BIL 7 38.2

Pimentel, E. OGD 7 37.1

Krestalude, D. HEL 7 37.1

Strikeouts

Player Team IP K K/9

Fiers, M. HEL 21.0 35 15.0

Doyl, T. GTF 21.2 36 14.9

Puls, D. GTF 20.1 28 12.4

Anderson, C. MIS 26.0 34 11.8

Wickswat, M. GTF 34.1 44 11.6