Trymayne Cobb (3) looks at this handywork during the home run derby after the Oakland Ballers and Long Beach Coast both finished in a 7-7 draw at Raimondi Park in Oakland on Tue Jun 16, 2026 (Oakland Ballers photo)
FOLLOW THE BOUNCING BALLERS
Monday, June 22, 2026
By Lewis Rubman
OAKLAND–Oh, you can go to the east go to the west,
But someday you’ll come
Weary at heart back where you started from.
You’ll find your happiness lies, right under your eyes
Back in your own back yard.
Al Jolson sang it over a century ago; the Oakland Ballers lived it—or at least some of it—last Tuesday, June 16th, when they returned to the embrace of Scrappy the Rally Possum at Raimondi Park. They beat the nearly invincible Long Beach Coast, 8-7. by winning that abomination, the knock out round, in a game that featured excellent starting pitching, another loss of a comfortable lead, chill night winds, and a lot of fun.
But first a word from Lewis Rubman’s Collection of Connections You Might Not Have Thought Of:
You don’t usually expect T.S. Eliot to pontificate on baseball, although he wasn’t adverse to proclaiming his opinions on a wide range of topics. Parody is a way to pass judgement on its target, and Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the source of the Broadway musical Cats, contains a parody of “Casey at the Bat.” If you don’t want to read the whole thing, feel free to put it in your scrap book, next to your clippings about the Ballers’ mascot. The poem is called “Growltiger’s Last Stand,” and it goes like this:
Growltiger was a Bravo Cat, who travelled on a barge:
In fact he was the roughest cat that ever roamed at large.
From Gravesend up to Oxford he pursued his evil aims,
Rejoicing in his title of ‘The Terror of the Thames’.
His manners and appearance did not calculate to please;
His coat was torn and seedy, he was baggy at the knees;
One ear was somewhat missing, no need to tell you why,
And he scowled upon a hostile world from one forbidding eye.
The cottagers of Rotherhithe knew something of his fame;
At Hammersmith and Putney people shuddered at his name.
They would fortify the hen-house, lock up the silly goose,
When the rumour ran along the shore: GROWLTIGER’S ON THE LOOSE!
Woe to the weak canary, that fluttered from its cage;
Woe to the pampered Pekinese, that faced Growltiger’s rage;
Woe to the bristly Bandicoot, that lurks on foreign ships,
And woe to any Cat with whom Growltiger came to grips!
But most to Cats of foreign race his hatred had been vowed;
To Cats of foreign name and race no quarter was allowed.
The Persian and the Siamese regarded him with fear –
Because it was a Siamese had mauled his missing ear.
Now on a peaceful summer night, all nature seemed at play,
The tender moon was shining bright, the barge at Molesey lay.
All in the balmy moonlight it lay rocking on the tide –
And Growltiger was disposed to show his sentimental side.
His bucko mate, GRUMBUSKIN, long since had disappeared,
For to the Bell at Hampton he had gone to wet his beard;
And his bosun, TUMBLEBRUTUS, he too had stol’n away –
In the yard behind the Lion he was prowling for his prey.
In the forepeak of the vessel Growltiger sat alone,
Concentrating his attention on the Lady GRIDDLEBONE.
And his raffish crew were sleeping in their barrels and their bunks –
As the Siamese came creeping in their sampans and their junks.
Growltiger had no eye or ear for aught but Griddlebone,
And the Lady seemed enraptured by his manly baritone,
Disposed to relaxation, and awaiting no surprise –
But the moonlight shone reflected from a hundred bright blue eyes.
And closer still and closer the sampans circled ’round,
And yet from all the enemy there was not heard a sound.
The lovers sang their last duet, in danger of their lives –
For the foe was armed with toasting forks and cruel carving knives.
Then GENGHIS gave the signal to his fierce Mongolian horde;
With a frightful burst of fireworks the Chinks they swarmed aboard.
Abandoning their sampans, and their pullaways and junks,
They battened down the hatches on the crew within their bunks.
Then Griddlebone she gave a screech, for she was badly skeered;
I am sorry to admit it, but she quickly disappeared.
She probably escaped with ease, I’m sure she was not drowned –
But a serried ring of flashing steel Growltiger did surround.
The ruthless foe pressed forward, in stubborn rank on rank;
Growltiger to his vast surprise was forced to walk the plank.
He who a hundred victims had driven to that drop,
At the end of all his crimes was forced to go ker-flip, ker-flop.
Oh there was joy in Wapping when the news flew through the land;
At Maidenhead and Henley there was dancing on the strand.
Rats were roasted whole at Brentford, and at Victoria Dock,
And a day of celebration was commanded in Bangkok.
After that detour through trivial erudition, reading the line score from last Tuesday, June 16th may come as a relief.
Long Beach Coast (19-6) 000 011 302 7 10 1
Oakland Ballers (12-13) 212 000 111 7 11 1
There was no winning or losing pitcher.
KO round. Oakland: Cobb: 4; Long Beach:
Bardowell, 3.
OAKLAND–The Ballers had their followers singing “You only build me up to let me down” as Oakland built up a 5-0 lead over the first four innings. The B’s bats were blazing. Tremayne Cobb, who would get three for four with a walk and a double in the game and four dingers to win the knockout inning for his team in the first round, started it all with a single to center.
Three batters later, Jared Collura, who would go two for four, launched a blast over the BART sign in left field, and the Ballers were on their way. But from the fifth through the bottom of the ninth it was deja vû all over again.
Back to back doubles to left by Jacob Jablonski and Johnny Pappas shaved Oakland’s lead to 5-1. As the song says, little things mean a lot. Patrick Roche’s solo shot to left center with one down in, the sixth, and it was 5-2.
Valek Cisneros replaced C.J. Blowers on the mound to face the Coast in the seventh. He got Cuba Bess to line out Davis Drewek in left center. Emilio Corona also to left center, but the 1-1 pitch Cisneros sent his way ended up over the fence, and the B’s now led by two tiny tallies, a spec in a gnat’s eye in the PBL.
Another hit to left center, Jacob Jablonski’s single to (you guessed it) left center brought the potential tying run to the plate. A passed ball put Jablonski in scoring position. Cisneros walked Johnny Pappas, and the potential leading run was at bat in the person of Derek Laferriere. Cisneros fanned him on a full count and gave way to Dylan Delvecchio, a southpaw, as was Blowers. Edy Pelc hit to left center, a single that drove in Jablonski with the tying run and moved Pappas to third.
Delvecchio loaded the bases by hitting Cooper Vest with a pitch, and Langston Burkett, whose uniform number had been 0 but now was 13, struck Matt Bardowell nine pitch full count to preserve what now was a precarious tie.
Jeter Ybarra smacked a Julién Hernández fast ball a long way from home, 401 feet to be precise, over the center field wall. The blast gave Oakland the lead in the game and Ybarra the top spot among the league’s home run hitters.
Pesky Eddy Pelc led off the ninth with a round tripper to center off Brandon Nelson, who had relieved ‘Burkett in the eighth. Things got worse after that.
Roche walked and moved up a base when Vest was hit by a pitch. Both advanced another
90 feet on a wild pitch. With a full count on Bardowell, Nelson managed a called third strike. Cuba Bess then was called on to hit for Jaylin Edmonds. Bess grounded into a force out at second that plated Roche. Nelson handed the ball to Matthew Malone, who retired the side. But the damage had been done, and the Ballers now trailed, 7-6.
Zach Voelker took over mound duties for Long Beach and fanned Cobb. He then gave a free pass to Esai Santos on the sixth pitch of a full count. T.J. McKenzie replaced him as a pinch runner and advanced to second on Jake Allgeyer’s infield hit, also to second.
T.J. McKenzie pinch ran for Esai Santos. Collura, as he had in the first, came through. He singled to center and took second when McKenzie was thrown out, Corona to Roche, when he tried to take third on Colllura’s hit. Noah Blyth flew out to right, ending the inning.
That brought on the Shoot Out at the K.O. Corral. Cobb’s four “home runs” bested Bardwell’s three.
You probably are at least as exhausted from reading this prolix recapitulation of the Ballers thorny path to victory against the Coast as I am from writing it. I’ll try, for your sake and mine, to limit the rest of this column to the line scores and some brief comments about what made the game interesting to me.
Sgt. Joe Friday used to say on Dragnet, the popular police procedural television show of the 1950s “Just the facts, M’am.”. I’ll try to do that, but I probably won’t be able to resist saying, as Sgt. Colombo did 20 years later on the show that bore his name, “Just one more thing, sir [or M’am, as the case may be….]”
It was Parks and Recreation Day for the Wednesday afternoon encounter that wrapped up the Long Beach-Oakland series on the seventeenth.. There was very little recreation for the hosts, who took an early lead (what else is new?) with a Jaden Collura double that drove in Tremayne Cobb in the first inning.
The Miles’ Minions, fell behind by two in the second frame, and, in spite of a three run sixth, never came close to catching up with their guests. The final reconning was 12-8. Jeter Ybarra homered in the fourth and ninth, bringing his league leading total up to 14.
Nick Leehey extended his hitting streak to eight games. Without minimizing the importance of winning games, we should remember that one of the purposes of partner leagues like the Pioneer, is to foster the development of young talent. To return to the long digression with which I began this week’s column, T.S. Eliot coined the phrase, “Tradition and Individual Talent.” The PBL isn’t particularly traditional, but it does provide individuals of talent for the traditional teams of MLB and MiLB.
R H E
Long Beach Coast (20-6) 103 400 505 18 21 0
Oakland Ballers (12-14) 100 000 130 5 7 0
Winning pitcher :Nathan Hemmerling (2-0) Losing pitcher: Michael Riley (1-1)
Time: 3:17 Attendance: 2,991
The Coast’s hitting stand outs were Matthew Bardowell, who got five hits in six Abs, including a pair of two baggers and a round tripper, driving in three runs in the process
Derek Laferriere and first baseman Cooper Vest got four hits each. Vest’s included a double and a home run. Jaden Collura was the only Baller with a multiple hits. He got two, one of which was a double.
I’ve reported recently on the success of previous Baller pitchers who have moved on to major league organizations. The winning on Thursday the eighteenth was a one time Baller who had moved on to another PBL team. Nick Bautista allowed three runs, all earned, on eight hits and a walk in five innings on the bump. Those are respectable numbers in the hitter friendly, erratically fielding Pioneer Baseball League.
R H E
Long Beach Coast (21-6) 031 232 100 12 16 0
Oakland Ballers (12-15) 100 103 012 8 13 1
Winning pitchers: Nick Bautista (3-1) Losing pitcher: Aidan Rise (1-3)
Time: 3:15 Attendance:1,607.
On Friday the nineteenth J.T. Snow’s Modesto Roadsters made their first appearance in a regular season game at Raimondi Park. Tremayne Cobb placed a roadblock to their hopes by smacking a couple of home runs, the second of which was a three RBI walk off fence clearer that allowed the Ballers to sneak past their powerful rival to the north. Nick Leehey’s round tripper, this one a shot to left with Cam Bufford on base, put the B’s on the comeback trail and extended the second baseman’s hitting streak to nine games. It was his third dinger in as many games.
R H E
Modesto Roadsters (16-12) 310 000 010 5 8 0
Oakland Ballers (13-15) 000 020 023 7 7 1
Winning pitcher: Matthew Maloney (1-0) Losing pitcher: Mike Cardinal (1-2)
Time: 2:39 Attendance:1,850
The Ballers’ recovery was stalled on Saturday afternoon. Although their performed well enough to a dozen runs on as many hits, their pitchers misfired. Only one of the four they used was unscored upon, and I’ll get to that after I give you the line score.
R H E
Modesto Roadsters (17-12) 052 300 530 18 13 2
Oakland Ballers (13-16) 300 400 122 12 12 1
Winning pitcher: Aaron Moreno (3-1) Losing pitcher: Griffin Smith (0-1)
Time:3:20 Attendance: 2,710
Now, to what got my goat: I wrote this on June 29, 2024 for Sports Radio Service:
In my report on last Saturday’s Baller-Yolo High Wheelers game in Davis, I discussed JP Gates pitching in relief to two Yolo batters without retiring the side and then being replaced by Connor Richardson without any objection by the umpires or High Wheelers.
It caused quite a buzz in the press box. Tyler Peterson, the B’s sportscaster on 860 AM was especially animated, but no one in the press box, including the knowledgeable Doug Greenwald, had an explanation for this violation of the three batter or last out of the inning rule.
After this afternoon’s contest, I had a chance to talk with the Ballers’ manager, Micah Franklin. He had a very simple explanation for this puzzling event; that rule doesn’t exist in the Pioneer League. There’s a certain irony to this. A few days before I went to Davis to cover the game, I wrote to the league offices to ask how I could acquire their rule book. Their answer came after I’d returned to Oakland. They said the rule book wasn’t available to the public. Go figure.
In Saturday’s game, the right fielder, Noah Blyhte, relieved the pitcher, Diylan Del Vecchio, and Esai Santos entered the game to play in right. The game was delayed for at least 15 minutes while home plate umpire Robert Headley and both teams’ managers discussed the fine points of who should bat in what slot. We never got a clear explanation. In any case, Blythe came to bat and flew out.
Since 2024, I’ve been trying to get a copy of the PBL’s rule book. The most recent response came about a week ago. They sent me a ticket and told me to wait.
Go figure.
Sunday’s loss was marked by all sorts of rookie mistakes: trying to take the extra base when caution would have been preferable, throwing to the wrong base, that sort of baseball growing pains. I’ll give you the line score, make some observations which seem relevant to me, but that’s for you to decide, and then call it a day.
R H E
Modesto Roadsters (18-12) 172 113 210 18 15 1
Oakland Ballers (13-17) 104 100 200 8 12 1
Winning pitcher: Johan Castillo (3-1) Losing pitcher: Jacob Petersheim (0-1)
Time:2:59 Attendance: 3,277 BTW: It was Petersheim’s pro debut
As I drove home, I thought about the rookie mistakes I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Then I listened to a CD of the anecdotes with which Hall of Fame pitcher Waite Hoyt, who enjoyed a 24 year career as the radio voice of the Cincinnati Reds, would regale his listeners during rain delays.
Hoyte was the losing pitcher in the final game of the 1926 World Series, the one in which Tony Lazzeri hit the foul ball that comes closer to having been a home run each time someone tells the story. Hoyt didn’t dwell on that classic moment; he said that Grover Cleveland Alexander pitch well and that he struck out Lazzeri.
What rankled the pitcher turned announcer was the bone head plays of a couple of his teammates that had allowed the Cardinals to take the lead. If members of the powerful 1926 New York Yankees, how can you blame youngsters just starting out on their baseball careers for trying to take the extra base at the wrong time?
The Ballers will hit the road for a three game series against Modesto in Modesto. Game time will be 7:11 each day, Tuesday through Thursday. Then they’ll come home to face the Yuba-Sutter Firebirds on Friday evening and Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
