GREAT FALLS — The Great Falls Voyagers wrapped up the first half of the Pioneer League baseball season with an 18-30 tally, but are resetting the record heading into the second 48 games of the summer.
"We didn't have the first half result-wise that we wanted, but there's a lot of positives that we got out of this," manager Sean Repay said during Tuesday's batting practice at Voyagers Stadium.
"Offense is rolling a little bit, we started to settle in pitching a little bit there in the last week and that's all good signs, and, you know, onward and upward."
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In the first half, the Voyagers boasted impressive offensive numbers, hitting .327 as a team while plating a total of 472 runs.
Tommy Specht and Trey Cruz contributed nicely to that offensive production. Specht is batting .300 while Cruz was hitting .365 entering Tuesday. The two said the team is in a good spot.
"We've made some moves and stuff like that but I think we're really on the right track," Specht said. "We're playing good ball, we're meshing well as a team."
"This is a game of failure. You're going to fail 70% of the time and be considered the man still," Cruz said. "As long as we continue to stay behind each other and support each other, I think we're going to do real good things this next half."
One thing Repay said he'd like to see is more aggressive pitching.
"We lead the league in strikeouts on the mound but we lead the league in walks," Repay said. "We have the stuff to put guys away. I got a lot of young guys on that side of the baseball too that this is their first taste of professional baseball."
Last year, the Voyagers turned things around a bit in the second half. Specht said he expects to see more of the same.
"It starts in the clubhouse," Specht said. "We're all very close, this is a place where we all feel comfortable playing, you know, and we play for each other at the end of the day. You know, we all want to see each other do well, get out of here and stuff like that, and win ballgames along the way."
Cruz and Repay said the team is ready to take a step forward.
"There's nothing better than having a group of guys and a staff of coaches that is ready to kind of attack this next 48," Cruz said. "Going into this next 48 really excited."
"We had a good meeting (Tuesday) as a group and (we're) just kind of resetting the energy," Repay said. "We start 0-0. It's a refresh. It's almost a new season right now. And so our guys feel that a little bit and it's a new time to do something special."
Great Falls opened up the second half at home Tuesday with a three-game series against the Billings Mustangs.
