The Oakland Ballers

Rocky Mountain Vibes (22-24) 000 000 300 3 5 1

Oakland Ballers (36-11) 120 040 02x 9 13 1

Time: 2:50

Attendance: 2,703

Saturday, July 12, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–This clear and breezy afternoon at Raimondi Park was the scene of a repeat performance of Friday’s 9-0 shellacking of the visiting Rocky Mountain Vibes by your Oakland Ballers. The Vibes hail from Colorado Springs, from which you can see Pikes Peak, and the Ballers certainly busted the Vibes on both occasions. Saturday’s Baller win was by an ample 6-3 margin.

Once again, the B’s starting pitcher—Saturday he was Luke short— held his opponents scoreless over six innings of play. He made short work of them, allowing but two hits and a pair of walks, and uncorking a wild pitch, all on a total of 54 pitches. He earned his sixth win of the season against one loss.

Oakland’s bullpen wasn’t as effective in Saturday’s sunlight as it had been under Friday night’s artificial illumination. Conner Richardson, Short’s successor, coughed up the Vibes’ three runs four batters after taking over mound duties in the top of the seventh.

Ex-Baller Stephen Wilmer and Will Butcher hit back to back singles. Aleck Davis fanned and then catcher Otto Jones sent Richardson’s 0-2 delivery over the left field fence for his first professional home run. The game no longer was as one sided as its predecessor. Richardson set down his next two mountaineers to end the inning. Carson Lambert and Connor Sullivan pitched a shutout frame apiece, and that was it for the Vibes.

There were no sustained anomalies comparable with Friday’s six players in the seventh slot phenomenon, but the game’s final out was a doozie. Sully issued a one out walk to Adams to bring Jones to the plate. He lifted a popup to second for the out number two. But Adams, who most likely had forgotten that there had been only one down, hadn’t reversed his advance towards second, and Harris tagged him for an easy no brainer game ending unassisted double play.

Although Lou Helmig went hitless in four at bats, the B’s continued to have a potent offense. Indeed, Helmig was the only starter not to get at least a single. Davis Drewek, back from the injured list, went two for four with a walk and an RBI. Christian Almanza, Dillon Tatum, Nick Leehey, and Esai Santos each contributed a double. Leehey drove in three runs; Dillon Tatum, two, and Cobb, Drewek, and Ryan Pierce, one apiece.

The only unscored upon Rocky Mountain pitcher was Thomas Peltier, who surrendered a double in the seventh, the only inning he worked.

The teams will close out the first half Sunday. Game time is 1:05. I won’t be covering that contest, so why don’t you drop by at 18th and Wood. You’ll probable enjoy the vibes (note the lower case, although the ones with a capital V provide some pretty entertaining counterpoint to your Oakland Ballers),