Nelson Baseball Shows Spirit in Loss at Ottawa

The Nelson Warriors' baseball team (4-10) suffered a gut-wrenching, walk-off defeat on the road, falling 6-5 to the Ottawa Spirit at Surprise Stadium, a back-and-forth effort which could have ultimately gone either way.

The Warriors struck first in the top of the second inning when, with two runners on, Josue Franco Jr. delivered an RBI single to drive in Gannon Aguilar to open the scoring. Nelson extended the lead in the third when Ethan Gustafson ripped an RBI single to score Sam Hess, making it 2-0. The advantage grew to 3-0 in the fifth as Matthew Schulz doubled down the left-field line to plate Hess once more.

But Ottawa answered with a vengeance in the bottom of the fifth. With runners on the corners and one out, Devin Duque singled in the Spirit's first run. After a walk loaded the bases, Matthew Carter was hit by a pitch to force home another. Camden Knutson then lined a single up the middle to score two more, giving Ottawa their first lead at 4-3. After a pitching change, the Spirit added a fifth run on a wild sequence: the runner at first attempted to steal second, was thrown out, but the throw sailed past the bag, allowing the runner from third to scamper home and cap a five-run outburst that flipped the game at 5-3.

The score remained the same until the top of the ninth when Nelson themselves loaded the bases and Matthew Schulz worked a full-count walk to drive in Bryan Martinez and cut the deficit to one. After Ethan Gustafson struck out, Manny Bracamonte coolly drew a four-pitch walk to force home the tying run, knotting the game at 5-5 and sending the Warriors into the bottom of the ninth with visions of extra innings.

Ottawa had other plans. After Trevor Esperance led off the inning with a walk, Evan Mendoza attempted a sacrifice bunt to third. Gustafson fielded cleanly but his throw to first sailed past the bag and caromed into the outfield, allowing Esperance to race all the way home from first for the walk-off winner.

The heartbreaking finish capped a resilient effort by Nelson, who erased a two-run deficit late and showed the fight to keep battling. Hess (3) and Adrian Nunez (2) each had multi-hit games, and the offense generated enough opportunities to stay in striking distance throughout. The bullpen kept things close after the big fifth-inning outburst, but the late defensive miscue proved costly.

See the Nelson Warriors' baseball page for their upcoming schedule.

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