Shortstop John Urcioli swept into the hole behind second base to steal a sure base hit. When first baseman Rob Bargas neatly picked up Urcioli's one-hop throw, the Salt Lake Trappers had the all-important first out of the last inning Wednesday night at Derks Field.
And Trapper fans got a glimpse of the kind of transformation the club has undergone in the past week on the road."This road trip, up at Great Falls, that's when our defense really started coming together - and we brought it here," said Urcioli. "Defense is going to win the games, along with the pitching."
The Trappers opened a three-game homestand with their fourth straight victory and eighth win in 10 games, beating the Gate City Pioneers 5-4.
The win, coupled with Butte's 4-3, 10-inning loss to Idaho Falls, put Salt Lake a game ahead of the Copper Kings and in the lead in the Pioneer South.
Quite a turnaround after the dismal first week of July when they lost five straight at home.
"Unfortunately, the fans didn't get to see them play defense on the road," said Manager Nick Belmonte, taking note of the club's two errors Wednesday. Errors weren't a problem on the trip.
Urcioli's confident-looking play in the ninth told a story all its own. Urcioli opened the season with 12 errors in 12 games. The Trappers replaced him, then found out he'd been concealing a broken, infected index finger on his throwing hand. Most of the errors were on throws. "I was pretty stupid," Urcioli said about hiding the injury.
The finger's healed, "I've got my head on straight," he says, and now Urcioli and the Trappers seem to be heading the right direction.
"We're finally relaxing and coming together as a club," says third baseman Tom Duffin. He noted the pressure of the Trappers' winning legacy and said being swept at home by Great Falls had everyone down. They held a team meeting, tried to relax. And healed themselves, apparently.
"Knock on wood," said Belmonte, who did.
He was especially grateful for the win after an 11-hour bus trip home from playing in Great Falls Tuesday night.
Duffin had two hits, stole a base and scored three runs, including the game-winner, in his three at-bats. The stolen base, in the fifth inning, was critical because Duffin went to third on Joe Burnett's infield single and scored the Trappers' final run on a balk. It broke a 4-4 tie. "I guess that's our type of ball," said Duffin, mentioning Belmonte's fondness for running.
Salt Lake started with a 2-0 lead in the first inning, Mike Moberg and Duffin riding Kevin McMullan's triple home.
The Pioneers went up 4-2 with a four-run second. Two errors made all four runs against Mike Steinkamp unearned, though the inning saw five Gate City hits including Gus Santiago's RBI double and Hiruyuki Sato's two-run homer.
Steinkamp gave up an infield single and bloop single to start the third, but he threw out a runner on a force at third, and Bargas made a diving stop and backhanded flip to Steinkamp at first to get the third out. "He got himself into trouble but got himself out," observed Belmonte. Steinkamp lasted through the sixth, giving up just one more single, for the win.
Jeff Hagy threw two no-hit innings, and Gary Boone struck out two to end the game after Urcioli's play in the hole.
The Traps had tied the game 4-4 in the third when Bargas singled and scored on a wild pitch, Duffin's single and another wild pitch, and Duffin got home on the wild pitches and a groundout.
The 16-11 Trappers meet 7-20 Gate City tonight and Friday in Derks before a three-game trip to Butte starting Saturday.