MISSOULA OSPREY VS. BILLINGS MUSTANGS

The grandstands at Ogren Park,
Allegiance Field, Missoula, MT

The Missoula Osprey hosted the Billings Mustangs on a pleasant night at Ogren Park. Since we couldn't buy tickets in advance, we arrived early to ensure we could acquire tickets to our liking. For reasons that weren't explained to us, the gates weren't opened until 6:25 for a 7:00 game. The gates typically open an hour before the scheduled first pitch so we were stuck standing outside the park for about twenty-five minutes.


Once we finally got in, we were treated to a splendid evening of baseball. The final score of 11-5 betrays how close the game was for nine innings. The Osprey scored a run in the first inning to take an early lead but the visiting Mustangs tallied three runs in the top of the second. The Osprey answered back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 4-3 lead but the Mustangs scored in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 4-4. The Osprey regained the lead with a run in the bottom of seventh but they couldn't hold it. The Mustangs scored a run in the top of the ninth to tie the score again. The Mustangs shut down the Osprey in the bottom of the ninth so the game went to extra innings.

In extra innings the game quickly became a blowout. My new favorite player, Robert Maddox, led off the top of the tenth with a line drive homer to right field to put the Mustangs ahead 6-5. A barage of walks, hits, wild pitches and another homer followed. By the time the Osprey worked out of it, the Mustanges held a commanding 11-5 lead. The Osprey went down quietly in their half of the tenth leaving the Mustangs with an 11-5 victory.

The Supreme Commander with Ollie the Osprey

It's only 287' to the rightfield foul pole so Missoula compensated with a high fence

A high fence is also present down the leftfield line to compensate for short dimensions

The osprey's nest with St. Patrick's Hospital in the background

The osprey looks out from his nest

The fans along the river path get a free view of the game from behind the fence

A train passes by above Ogren Park

The engineer stopped to watch the game and blasted his horn when the Osprey scored

Ollie fires up the Missoula partisans

Is the Osprey watching the game?

The bounce house is part of the Fun Zone in the leftfield corner

The Fun Zone for kids who are too young to sit for a ballgame

The Mustangs' batter started to bunt but didn't like the pitch

The Osprey try to work their way out of a jam

The Osprey come to bat after shutting down the Mustangs rally

The Osprey have a rally of their own

That's Robert Maddox trying to hold the runner close at first base

The Mustangs think the runner might be trying to steal second base

They were right. He's going!

The kids love Ollie

Get back!

The Mustangs score

And the Osprey answer

The Osprey bullpen below the grass berm

A view of the hills beyong Missoula

The Supreme Commander (with the foam Osprey talon) watches with her uncle

Looking through the Blackfoot Party Deck

Another view from the Blackfoot Party Deck

The grandstand as seen from the concourse on the first base side

The Osprey tally another run

The Osprety retake the lead

That lead didn't last long

The Supreme Commander cheers for the Osprey

The Osprey lead 5-4 after seven innings

The Supreme Commander sports an Ospreys cap featuring Ollie's head

Ollie approves of the new cap

Which twin has the Toni?

The guy in A Flock of Seagulls could have saved a lot of hairspray with one of these

Which Osprey cap should I wear?

Robert Maddox is determined to break the tie

Maddox's homer gives the Mustangs a 6-5 lead

The Mustangs tacked on five more runs and won 11-5