Liniak Wins it in the KO Round as Bothwell Sets PBL Strikeout Record

Idaho Falls, ID – The Glacier Range Riders won their penultimate game of the season on Friday night behind a record-breaking outing from Ty Bothwell and a three home run knockout round from Kingston Liniak that broke a 6-6 tie. In the seventh inning, when Bothwell recorded his eighth strikeout of the game, it was his 130^th strikeout of the season which is the most by any Pioneer League pitcher in the independent era. The record was previously held by Alfredo Villa of the Missoula Paddleheads who had 129 in 2023.

Things started out shaky for Bothwell who didn't get a strikeout in the first two innings and instead gave up three runs on a combination of four Idaho Falls hits and two Glacier errors in the bottom of the second. However, it was the Range Riders that answered quickly, in big part thanks to a clutch RBI double from Eli Paton, followed by a monster three-run homer from Jake Millan.

Bothwell finally grabbed his first strikeout of the game to finish off a 1-2-3 bottom of the third, which was sharply followed by Angel Mendoza smashing his eighth homer of the season to make it 6-3 Glacier.

Two more strikeouts were tallied by Bothwell in the fourth, but a clutch two-out triple by Anthony Mata brought two across for the Chukars and made it 6-5 where it would stay for the three and a half innings. In the fifth inning, Bothwell got two more punchies, but with his pitch count already high, he was behind the eight ball in terms of the strikeouts needed for the record. Despite a shutout frame in the sixth, no strikeouts were recorded, so Bothwell still needed one to tie the record and two to break it.

In the seventh inning, Bothwell struck out the first batter in Mata to tie the record, before the next batter plopped a single against him. He then matched up with the offensive MVP of the season for the Chukars, Trevor Rogers, who he promptly struck out to grab sole possession of the single season strikeout record.

From there a flyout ended seven innings and four earned runs against Bothwell. Jacob Hasty picked up two strikeouts in the eighth inning, but an unearned run scored against him on a passed ball. That tied the game. Luke Cooper locked 'em down in the ninth inning with a 1-2-3 frame to send it to the Knockout Round.

In his second-to-last game as a Range Rider, Liniak stepped up in the extra inning alternative as a man on a mission. Treating it more like a home run derby than the KO Round, Liniak belted three straight bombs to set a high mark for the Chukars to follow. Despite a playoff spot booked with a win, the Chukars batter came up short, hitting just one home run.

Back in Montana, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox beat the Billings Mustangs, thus clinching playoffs for the Chukars anyway, so both teams had things to celebrate on the night. The playoff teams are now set with Oakland, Missoula, Ogden, and Idaho Falls making up the postseason field.