They say that three’s a charm but, for the Helena Brewers, it is more like 10 is the magical number. After losing their last nine-games to the Great Lakes Voyagers, the Brewers won on an error when Dallas Carroll was able to make contact on the 10th pitch thrown to him in the 10th inning. A throwing error allowed Nick Roscetti to score the winning run to give the Brewers a 3-6 record on the season.

After a scoreless first inning, Helena took the lead in the second. Brent Diaz started the inning with a single and moved to second when Jay Feliciano singled two batters later. That brought Zach Clark to the plate, who hit his first homer of the year to make it 3-0.

In the fourth, they extended that lead to four. Feliciano led off the inning by grounding a ball down the line in left and legging it out for a double. Charlie Meyer followed with a base hit that moved Feliciano to third, and he scored on a single by Nic Pierre.

Michael Petersen started for Helena, and he was cruising through the first four innings. The right-hander retired the first nine batters he faced, seeing his run end when he issued a walk to start the fourth. Great Falls was able to get runners to second and third with one down, following a double by Craig Dedelow, however, Petersen remained calm, striking out Anthony Villa and Franklin Reyes to end the threat.

Trailing by four, the Voyagers would start to chip away at the lead. In the fifth, they would get two of those runs back. Justin Yurchak started the inning by hitting his first home run of the season to make it 4-1. Two batters later Jacob Cooper drew a walk, and Felix Mercedes singled to put runners as the corner with one down. A ground out by Max Dutton scored Cooper, and Great Falls was within two.

In the sixth, Great Falls tied the score. Villa and Reyes led off the frame with back-to-back singles. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, and Yurchak followed with a single that scored both to tie the game.

From there this became a battle of the bullpens. After giving up the two runs in the sixth, Brandon Texiera kept the game tied through the seventh. Parker Bean would then toss 1.2-innings of scoreless relief, but found himself in trouble in the ninth. Dutto walked to start the frame, before Bean struck out Tate Blackman and Dedelow. However, back-to-back wild pitches moved Dutto to third, before Villa walked. That brought Juan Diaz into the game, who got a ground out to end the inning.

The contest went to extra innings, where the Helena Brewers would win their first extra-inning game of the year. Nick Roscetti beat out a bunt for a single to start the inning. He moved to second on a wild pitch with Dallas Carroll at the plate. Carroll then grounded a ball that looked destined for right field, but Blackman made a great play to bat it down. He recovered and threw to first. His throw was not going to be in time to catch Carroll, but it was wild anyway, allowing Roscetti to score the winning run on the error.

Juan Diaz (1-0) earned the victory. Jay Feliciano led the Helena Brewers offense, going 2-4 with 2-runs scored. Zach Clark had a home run and 3-RBI for Helena. The Voyagers got 3-hits and 3-RBI from Justin Yurchak.

These two teams will complete their two-game series tomorrow. Kyle Van Ruden (0-0, 15.75) starts for Great Falls. He will be opposed by Karsen Lindell (0-0, 3.60). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier