Tag: Oakland Ballers

Ballers late innings runs payoff in 9-6 win over Jackalopes

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The Oakland Ballers scored twice in the eighth and three times in the ninth to cash in late in the game to defeat the Grand Junction Jackalopes Sun Jun 1, 2025 at Raimondi Park in West Oakland (Oakland Ballers photo)

Grand Junction Jackalopes (3-9) 000 310 200 6 12 5

Oakland Ballers (7-5) 130 000 23x 9 12 0

Time: 2:29

Attendance: 2,367

Sunday, June 1, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–It’s been said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Last Sunday’s 9-6 Ballers triumph over the Jackalopes bore many resemblances to last evening’s 12-10 defeat at the hands of the visitors.

Both games featured an eighth inning, come from behind rally by the B’s. There was, of course, a noticeable difference; in the second of the two games, the sixth and final encounter of the series, the hometown team didn’t just turn a rout into a nail biter; it converted an impending loss into a well earned victory.

There was no fire visible from the stands today, but the scoreboard’s malfunctioning gave an encore performance. The Jackalopes once more committed five errors while the B’s defence, although not flawless, wasn’t charged with any errors.

For something new and completely different, second baseman Nick Leehey, fresh from his graduation from UC Davis, signed with the Ballers and made his professional debut. He fielded well but went 0-4 with three strikeouts, all swinging.

Each team used five pitchers. Right hander Zach St. Pierre started for Oakland and lasted four innings, during which he threw 66 pitches to 20 batters and yielded three runs, all of them earned, on seven hits and two walks while fanning two.

He was followed by Caleb Franzen (three runs, all earned), three hits and a walk, a pitch count of 34 in 2-1/3 innings; Connor Richardon made a cameo appearance of 2/3 of an inning and wasn’t charged with any runs, but the last two runs attributed to Franzen were one that Richardson had inherited from Franzen to score. Brody Eglite threw a 13 pitch perfect eighth to earn the win and now is 1-0). Connor Sullivan notched his mowed the Jackaloopes down, one, two, three in top of the ninth to earn his third save of 2025.

Oakland opened the scoring in a scrappy but not particularly confidence inspiring way. Tremayne Cobb, still struggling to regain his mojo at the plate—although I can’t think of a player who wouldn’t want to have his post game BA of .404—drew a leadoff walk.

The Jacks’ third baseman, Robin Fernández, committed an error that allowed the next batter, Pat Monteith, to take first while Cobb moved up 90 feet, into scoring position. A full count walk to Davis Drewek made the basepaths FOB (Full of B’s), to put new wine into the old bottle of Red Barber’s way of categorizing three on base Brooklyn Dodgers.

Cam Bufford hit into a 6-4-3 double play, plating Cobb, and the Ballers went ahead, 1-0, without recording a hit or run batted in.

They added another three runs to their lead in the next episode. Consecutive singles by Tyler Lozano, Daryll Bogs II, and Cobb clogged the basepaths. Monteith blooped a Texas League single to right that drove in Buggs and Lozano and advanced Cobb to third. Cobb came home when Drewek, the next B to come to the plate, singled to left.

In their half of the fourth, Grand Junction removed any complacency the Ballers and their fans might have begun to harbor. The Jackalopes cut their deficit by three runs on an RBI single by Isaac Núñez, a bases loaded walk to Luis Hernández, and a sacrifice fly to center by Zeb Roos in the next inning, they completely wiped out Oakland’s lead. Evan Scavotto doubled with two down and scored on Mason Minzey’s single to right against Caleb Franzen, who had relieved St. Pierre at the start of the frame.

Franzen kept the visitors off the board until the top of the seventh. With one away, he walked Kendall Foster, who reached third on a single to right by Robin Fernández. Exit Franzen, enter Conner Richardson. Scavotto singled to left, and Minzey’s doubled to the same field. Both runs were charged to Franzen. More important, Grand Junction now was ahead, 6-4.

Evan Massie had started for the Jacks and pitched decently. With his team’s resurgence, he stood to be the winning pitcher. He should have stood in bed. (Thank you, Dizzy Dean). Aydan Alger lasted 2/3 of an inning and coughed up the lead thanks to singles by Monteith and Drewek and a two out single by Dannie Harris IV that caused Alger to get the hook. Another single by Christian Almanza, this one off Tai Atkins, and Oakland was back on top, this time to stay.

A trio of Jackalopes hit for extra bases; Zeb Roos, Evan Scavotto, and Mason Minzey connected for a two bagger apiece. None of the Ballers had an extra base hit, but four of them had a multihit afternoon. Monteith, Drewek, and Buggs formed the trio each member of which contributed a pair of safeties; Harris went three for five and drove in three runs.

The win left Oakland tied with three other teams for fourth place in the overall Pioneer Baseball League standings. The team is scheduled to fly Monday morning at 8:00 o’clock to Portland. They’ll bus from there to Flathead County, MT, where they’ll take on the GlacierRange Riders, of the teams with whom they’re deadlocked for a six game series.

Next on the itinerary are three mid-week games against the Missoula Paddleheads. Then, it’s on to Ogden to battle the Raptors on Friday the 13th through Sunday the 16th. After a brief day of rest, they’ll return, as Al Jolson predicted, weary at heart, back where they started from, back in their own back yard to duke it out once more in a six game set-to with Grand Junction.

Ballers just get by Jackalopes 4-3

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photo image by Oakland Ballers

Grand Junction Jackalopes (2-8) 002 100 000 3 9 0

Oakland Ballers (6-4) 110 100 10x 4 5 0

Time: 2:53

Attendance: 1,628

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–It was an anomalous night this Friday at Ernie Raimondi Field. The thermometer read in the 70s, but a brisk wind led many of the 1,628 paying customers to layer up, only to take their extra layer off once the wind died down and then put it back on after sunset.

The sky was a brilliant blue that was smeared with the black smoke of a fire that burned behind the left side of the field, moving towards center, always, the PA announcer told us, at a safe distance from our West Oakland venue.

For the first half of the see-saw (or teeter totter if you’re a left coast native) contest, the scoreboard was a vast wasteland, devoid of information). The Ballers’ first run of their 4-3 squeaker victory over the tough luck Grand Junction Jackalopes crossed the plate in the person of a batter who had struck out.

It came on the feet of Tremayne Cobb, Jr., who was held hitless for only the second time this season. (The first occurred Wednesday). Grand Junction’s Johnnuelle Ponce, put the interlopers ahead 3-2 in the top of the fourth with a blast over the left center field fence that brought his BA up to .100. He was his team’s designated hitter. The visitors outhit their hosts by a working day, i.e. nine to five. My mother told me there’d be days like this….

Oakland’s unconventional first inning began with Cobb’s reaching first after striking out swinging at a wild pitch, reaching second on Lou Helmig’s groundout, stealing third, and trotting home on Christian Almanza’s single.

The B’s tacked on another talley in the second, again on their own fleet feet and the the poor control of Brock Gillis, the Jackalopes’ starter. Esai Santos, who’s been coming into his own recently, opened the frame with a walk, pilferred second, took third on a wild pitch, and then scored on another one.

Meanwhile, Reed Butz, opening night’s winning hurler for the Oaklanders, was breezing along. That breeze died down in the third. Zeb Roos smacked a one out double to right, Alex Pimental wrangled a walk, and Kendal Foster moved him up to second with a single to right center that brought Roos home with Grand Junction’s first run.

The two baserunners pulled off a double steal, which set the scene for catcher Mason Minzey’s sacrifice fly to left that allowed Pimental to waltz home with the tying run. Sic transit gloria mundi.

The team’s matched runs in the fourth, one a piece. Ponce’s round tripper to left center gave the Jackalopes a brief advantage. When Butz issued a free pass to Roos, the next batter he faced, his work for the evening was finished, leaving the B’s starter with a line of three runs, all of them earned, on five hits, including Ponce’s dinger, four walks, and couple of Ks. His truncated outing of 3-2/3 cost him 98 pitches and left him with a no decision.

In the home half of the frame, Cobb once more scored without benefit of a hit. He walked, and that ended Gillis’s unhappy mound tenure. He’d thrown 87 pitches and, after Tai Atkins, his replacement had allowed the runners he’d inherited to score, was charged three runs, all earned, in 3-2/3 innings. He struck out three B’s, a feat that couldn’t quite offset his three wild pitches.

Once Gillis had retired to the showers, Zach deVito, Ayan Alger, and Reese Miller took the mound for an inning each. Alger was the only one to allow a hit, two of them, in fact, and one of them was enough to score the winning run, Davis Drewek’s seventh inning home run over the left field fence. That made Alger the losing pitcher, and his balance sheet now stands at 0-1

Following Butz’s departure , a trio of Oakland relievers shut out the Jackalopes on four hits, one against each of Carson Lambert (2-1/3 IP), Connor Richardson (1-1/3), the eventual winning pitcher, and two off of Connor Sullivan, who earned his second save of the season.

Roos and Isaac Núñez had multi-hit games for Grand Junction, each with two. No Baller got more than one hit.

The weekend phase of this six game series begins Saturday at 4:35 and will conclude on Sunday, June 2. It’s been an exciting series, and the next two days promise more excitement. After that, the Ballers will leave on a two week road trip, returning to Ernie Raimondi Field on June 17.

Ballers get an edge on Jackalopes for 4-3 win Friday

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Oakland Ballers celebrate a one run win over the Grand Junction Jackalopes on Fri May 30, 2025 at Raimondi Park in West Oakland in Pioneer League action (Oakland Ballers X image)

Grand Junction Jackalopes (2-8) 002 100 000 3 9 0

Oakland Ballers (6-4) 110 100 10x 4 5 0

Time: 2:53

Attendance: 1,628

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–It was an anomalous night this Friday at Ernie Raimondi Field. The thermometer read in the 70s, but a brisk wind led many of the 1,628 paying customers to layer up, only to take their extra layer off once the wind died down and then put it back on after sunset.

The sky was a brilliant blue that was smeared with the black smoke of a fire that burned behind the left side of the field, moving towards center, always, the PA announcer told us, at a safe distance from our West Oakland venue.

For the first half of the see-saw (or teeter totter if you’re a left coast native) contest, the scoreboard was a vast wasteland, devoid of information). The Ballers’ first run of their 4-3 squeaker victory over the tough luck Grand Junction Jackalopes crossed the plate in the person of a batter who had struck out.

It came on the feet of Tremayne Cobb, Jr., who was held hitless for only the second time this season. (The first occurred Wednesday). Grand Junction’s Johnnuelle Ponce, put the interlopers ahead 3-2 in the top of the fourth with a blast over the left center field fence that brought his BA up to .100.

He was his team’s designated hitter. The visitors outhit their hosts by a working day, i.e. nine to five. My mother told me there’d be days like this….

Oakland’s unconventional first inning began with Cobb’s reaching first after striking out swinging at a wild pitch, reaching second on Lou Helmig’s groundout, stealing third, and trotting home on Christian Almanza’s single.

The B’s tacked on another tally in the second, again on their own fleet feet and the the poor control of Brock Gillis, the Jackalopes’ starter. Esai Santos, who’s been coming into his own recently, opened the frame with a walk, pilfered second, took third on a wild pitch, and then scored on another one.

Meanwhile, Reed Butz, opening night’s winning hurler for the Oaklanders, was breezing along. That breeze died down in the third. Zeb Roos smacked a one out double to right, Alex Pimental wrangled a walk, and Kendal Foster moved him up to second with a single to right center that brought Roos home with Grand Junction’s first run.

The two baserunners pulled off a double steal, which set the scene for catcher Mason Minzey’s sacrifice fly to left that allowed Pimental to waltz home with the tying run. Sic transit gloria mundi.

The team’s matched runs in the fourth, one a piece. Ponce’s round tripper to left center gave the Jackalopes a brief advantage,. When Butz issued a free pass to Roos, the next batter he faced, his work for the evening was finished, leaving the B’s starter with a line of three runs, all of them earned, on five hits, including Ponce’s dinger, four walks, and couple of Ks. His truncated outing of 3-2/3 cost him 98 pitches and left him with a no decision.

In the home half of the frame, Cobb once more scored without benefit of a hit. He walked, and that ended Gillis’s unhappy mound tenure. He’d thrown 87 pitches and, after Tai Atkins, his replacement had allowed the runners he’d inherited to score, was charged three runs, all earned, in 3-2/3 innings. He struck out three B’s, a feat that couldn’t quite offset his three wild pitches.

Once Gillis had retired to the showers, Zach deVito, Ayan Alger, and Reese Miller took the mound for an inning each. Alger was the only one to allow a hit, two of them, in fact, and one of them was enough to score the winning run, Davis Drewek’s seventh inning home run over the left field fence. That made Alger the losing pitcher, and his balance sheet now stands at 0-1

Following Butz’s departure , a trio of Oakland relievers shut out the Jackalopes on four hits, one against each of Carson Lambert (2-1/3 IP), Connor Richardson (1-1/3), the eventual winning pitcher, and two off of Connor Sullivan, who earned his second save of the season.

Roos and Isaac Núñez had multi-hit games for Grand Junction, each with two. No Baller got more than one hit.

The weekend phase of this six game series begins Saturday at 4:35 and will conclude on Sunday, June 2. It’s been an exciting series, and the next two days promise more excitement. After that, the Ballers will leave on a two week road trip, returning to Ernie Raimondi Field on June 17.

Ballers get quality start from Matsuoka in 9-1 win over Grand Junction

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Oakland Ballers pitcher Dylan Matsuoka was dealing pitching five innings of three hit, one run baseball against the Grand Junction Jackalopes at Raimondi Park in West Oakland on Thu May 29, 2025 (Oakland Ballers photo)

Grand Junction Jackalopes (2-7) 001 000 000 1 6 1

Oakland Ballers (5-4) 300 014 10x 9 14 0

Time: 2:44

Attendance:1,229

Thursday, May 29, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The Ballers’ romp through the 8-1/2 innings of this Thursday evening’s 9-1 resounding victory over the Grand Junction Jackalopes began as if the visitors were picking up where they had left off on Wednesday, when they dominated their hosts, 5-0.

While the air still was warm and the sun brilliant,, the ‘lopes loaded the bases with one out, only to return to the dugout two batters later with nothing more than a goose egg in the run column to show for it. The B’s came up in their half of the first and returned with a two spot on the board, and they were off and running over the .500 line, leaving Grand Junction in the dust behind them and ending the day at 5-4 .

Tremayne Cobb, Jr., who had seen his eight game hitting streak end on Wednesday, re-established himself as a two threat by going three for four, which brought his batting average up to .439, and showing off some pretty flashy glove work along with getting off a few strong and accurate throws.

Cobb’s partner on the left side of the infield, Davis Drewek, also had a multi-hit evening, going two for four. Those two hits were a fifth inning homer to right center and a sixth inning, two RBI double. All told, the B’s third baseman drove in three tallies. Christian Almanza and Daniel Harris IV also cleared the fences. Lou Helmig and Cam Buffard joined Drewek, Almanza, and Harris as run producers.

The win went to the Ballers’ starter, Dylan Matsuoka, who now is 2-0, 1.80. He allowed the only Jackalope run, which was earned, surrendering three hits and a walk against seven strikeouts and a wild pitch. His pitch count was 89, and he faced 28 batters.

Caleb Franzen relieved him for the sixth and allowed nothing more than a lead off single. Alec Rodríguez gave up a hit another else over the seventh and eighth episodes, and James Colyer closed out the rout with two strikeouts, a couple of walks, and then a a backward K that sent the dwindling crowd (if that noun can be used to describe what was left of the 1,229 paying customers) happy.

The loss was charged to Grand Canyon’s starter, Riley Egloff, whose record dropped from 0-0, 3,00 to 0-1, 5.23, The four runs he allowed in his 4-1/3 inning long stint were earned and came on nine hits, two of the yard, two walks and a wild pitch.

Ethan Brown also gave up four runs, all of them earned. He managed to do this on 34 pitches over 1-1/3 frames. This was after Tai Atkins, Egloff’s replacement had retired the two B’s he faced. Ethan Brown (four runs, all earned, on three hits in 2-1/3 innings) and Cade Flaherty, who gave up Harris’s round tripper in the bottom of the eighth, completed the list of sacrificial lambs that Grand Junction sacrificed on the altar of the pitching rubber).

Which way will the pendulum swing Friday the 30th? We’ll know after the game, scheduled for a 6:35 start, is over.

Jackalopes Zaborowski allows one hit in 5-0 shutout of Ballers Wednesday

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Oakland Ballers catcher Tyler Lazano (left) and pitcher Luke Short (right) exchange pleasantries at Raimondi Field as they took on the Grand Junction Jackalopes on Wed May 28, 2025 (Oakland Ballers photo)

Grand Junction Jackalopes (2-6) 200 0200 100 5 8 0]

Oakland Ballers (4-4) 000 000 000 0 3 3

Time: 2:21

Attendance: 1,358

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–What a difference a week makes! After his first start of 2025, the Jackalope’s 22 year old righthander Zach Zaborowski’s numbers were 0-1, 4.76 with a WHIP of 1.41. After he got through frustrating the Ballers in Wednesday night’s contest at Ernie Raimondi Park in a 5-0 shutout, those figures stood at 1-1, 2.13 and 0.87.

Ah, well, Wednesday’s child is full of woe, and the 23 year old from Westfield, IN gave his hosts seven innings of one hit woe before yielding the mound to Aydan Alger, allowed them two hits in the remaining two frames but preserved the shutout, the first the Oakanders have suffered so far this season.

The Jackalopes jumped to an early lead and never looked back. Luke Short, Oakland’s southpaw starter, walked Jeb Roos, the first batter he faced. Center fielder Alex Pimentel followed him in the batting order and cleared the basepaths as both trotted around the diamond on Pimentel’s fence clearing blast to right.

Short held the Jackalopes in check for a while but weakened in the top of the fifth. With the bases loaded and two away, manager Aaron Miles decided that Short had hung around long enough; the bases were loaded with two down.

The skipper called on portsider Brody Eglite to put out the fire. It didn’t work out as he had planned. Evan Scavoto singled to right and continued on to second on Lou Helmig’s error. Kendall Foster, one of the two men on board advanced to third, and the other two, crossed the plate, doubling Grand Junction’s lead to 4-0. One of those runs was unearned, coming on an error by B’s backstop, Tyler Lozano. Both of the runs were charged to Short.

It was all over but the shouting. One of the casualties of defeat, which dropped the Baller’s back down to the .500 mark, Tremayne Cobb’s seven game hitting streak. For all the disappointment the Baller backers suffered, it was the best pitched game played in Raimondi Park in recent memory.

The six game series will continue Thursday, and Friday at 6:35, followed by a 4:35 start on Saturday and the final encounter on Sunday at 1:05.

Ballers edge Jackalopes in 4-3 win; St Pierre pitching enough for Oakland win

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Oakland Ballers pitcher Zach St Pierre got a quality start over the Grand Junction Jackalopes at Raimondi Park in West Oakland on Tue May 27, 2025

Grand Junction Jackalopes (1-6) 020 010 000 3 4 1

Oakland Ballers (4-3) 100 000 21x 4 8 1

Time: 2:17

Attendance: 1,311

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–In a tense battle, the Ballers crossed the .500 line this chilly Tuesday night by sneaking past the visiting Grand Junction Jackalopes by a score of 4-3 in a game filled with reversals of expectations and which hinged on the Pioneer League’s idiosyncratic and confusing challenge rule.

The Ballers drew first blood, when the ‘lopes’ starting pitcher, Joe Cuomo, walked Tremayne Cobb, Jr., who proceeded to pilfer second, advance to third on Davis Drewek’s single to left, and come home when Daniel Harris IV grounded out to short.

That was the last run the B’s managed to plate against Cuomo, who went on to post a line from his first to his 75th and final offering of one, earned, run on four hits and one walk, balanced by one strike out over 5-2/3 innings. He wound up with a no decision.

Oakland’s starter, Zach St Pierre, looked sharp in the first, but surrendered back to back homer to the first two batters he faced in the second, Mason Minzey and Robin Fernández. But St. Pierre recovered quickly and ended his six inning stint with a respectable three runs, all earned, on four hits, and one walk.

He, too, left the park with a no decision. Grand Junction’s third and final tally put them ahead, 3-2, in the top of the fifth, after Isaac Núñez led off with a double, moved on to third when Alex Pimentel sacrifice him and Zeb Roos, who’d been hit by a pitch, up a base, and then scored on Matt Piotrowski’s ground out to the hot corner.

It looked as if things might stay that way until the Ballers pulled even in home seventh. Tal Atkins had taken over for Cuomo to strike Drewek out to close down the hosts’ sixth. He got Harris to ground out to short and then surrendered a home run to designated pinch hitter Pat Monteith. (The DPH rule is another Pioneer League quirkinesss; it allows—under certain circumstances— the original batter to return to the game after the DPH has competed his plate appearance.

In this case that original batter was Christian Almaza). That brought Mark Schommer to the hill. He loaded the bases by allowing a single to Cam Buffard, walking Marques Titialii, and plunking Tyler Lozano. A single to short by Darryl Buggs brought the speedy Buffard home with the tying tally. Cobb almost broke the tie by unloading a smash a smash to third, but Fernández managed to field it and unleashed a throw that cut down Titialii at the plate.

Drewek led off the home eighth and with a full count was called out on strikes. He challenged the call, and it was reversed. Harris followed with an RBI double, and Oakland had a 4-3 lead. Schommer set the next three Ballers down in order, but Drewek’s decision to challenge home plate umpire Mike Blanchard’s call was the pivot that irremediably changed the course of events.

Connor Sullivan set the Jackalopes down in order in the ninth to earn the save, his first of the season. The win went to the newly acquired Caleb Franzen, whose one two three top of the eighth had made him the pitcher of record when the B’s pulled victory from the jaws of defeat.

It was, perhaps, the most exciting game of the Ballers’ young season. And it could not have happened in any in any other league.

What new surprises await us at 6:35 Wednesday, evening? Come on down to 1690 20th Street in West Oakland for the second of this six game series and find out.

Ballers use six pitchers can’t hold Raptors in 8-2 loss at Raimondi

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The scores says it all a tough day for Oakland Baller pitchers six pitchers used in a six run loss to the Ogden Raptors at Raimondi Park in West Oakland on Sun May 25, 2025 in Pioneer League action (Oakland Ballers X photo)

Ogden Raptors (3-3) 300 301 001 8 11 1

Oakland Baller (3-3) 001 000 001 2 10 1

Time: 2:52

Attendance: 1,954

Sunday, May 25, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The high flying Oakland Ballers came tumbling down to earth in this Memorial Weekend’s Sunday afternoon encounter with the Ogden Raptors in a bright, chilly, and sparsely attended Ernie Raimondi Park.

The final score was 8-2 in favor of the visitors. For all the one-sidedness of all but the first of this six game series, the teams are fairly evenly matched. Like the statistician who drowned fording a river with an average depth of six inches, they illustrate that the devil really is in the details.

The first pitch was thrown at 1:05, and the Ballers quickly fell behind, 2-0, with one out in the top of the first. That was the closest they came to a tie before the final out was recorded at 3:57, two slowly passing hours and 52 minutes in which the Oaklanders had a chance to experience the same tortures they had inflicted on their opponents only a day earlier, in their 9-2 triumph over these same Raptors.

Oakland sent five pitchers to the mound. The starter, Dylan Porter, gave up six in his 3-1/3 inning stint, although half of them were unearned. Only James Colyer, who took over for him and allowed an inherited runner to score, and Conner Richardson, who set Ogden down in order in the eighth, escaped without having a run charged to their accounts. Alec Rodríguez and Conner Sullivan respectively allowed a run—earned—in his two and one inning appearance.

What Ballers lacked in pitching, they made up in hitting … and frustration. They made ten hits in 35 at bats, a respectable .286 team BA. They also stranded 11 runners. Tremayne Cobb once more had a multihit game, going two for four. He was the only Baller to break the one hit barrier. Marquez Titialii’s ninth inning lead off double was the team’s only extra base hit.

Every Raptor in the starting lineup except Kenny Oyama got at least one hit, and he managed to walk and score two times. Elliot Good and Cole Jordan had multihit afternoons, with three and two respectively. Miguel Hernández turned in a good performance in his 5-1/3 inning start for the visitors, yielding one run, which was earned, on seven hits and two walks and throwing 95 pitches in the process.

Shawn Tripplett and Cameron Edmonson blanked the B’s through the eighth frame, Tripplett on no hits and a walk in 1-1/3 innings; Edmonson, on a hit and a walk in one. Nik Cardinal mopped up in the ninth. Oakland got to him for a run—earned— on two hits and a base on balls, but it was too little, too late.

After a day off Monday to recuperate, the Ballers will start another six day series on Tuesday, the 30th. They’ll face the Grand Junction Jackalopes (1-5 and 11th in the Pioneer League’s overall standings). The Ballers now are 3-3, tied with the Raptors for sixth place). Game time will be 6:35p.

Ballers get the offense with seven run win over Raptors 9-2

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Oakland Ballers pitcher Reed Butz delivers to the Ogden Raptors line up at Raimondi Park West Oakland on Sat May 24, 2025 (Oakland Ballers photo)

Ogden Raptors (2-3) 000 000 002 2 7 1

Oakland Ballers (3-2) 030 200 22x 9 13 1

Time: 2:08

Saturday, May 24, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Last Thursday’s self-inflicted 13-9 walloping of Oaktown’s B’s by the visiting Ogden Raptors turned out to be the kick in the pants the locals needed to get their individual and collective butts in gear. They reacted by humiliating their guests, 16-1 on Friday night, Saturday the 24th the Ballers disposed of the Raptors neatly in the late afternoon contest, 9-2.

It almost was the Ballers first shutout of the nascent season. Their starting pitcher, southpaw Reed Butz, needed only 67 pitches to hurl seven scoreless innings in which he allowed only three hits and a walk to 23 batters, just two over the minimum.

Carson Lambert relieved him to open the eighth and just managed to preserve the shutout. Adam Bogosian took over in the ninth and didn’t. There was action in the Oakland bullpen when he finally got the final out after yielding the Raptors their two runs.

Runner were on second and third when he did. Rookie Tremayne Cobb, Jr. extended his eye popping work at the plate. His three for four performance, including a run producing two bagger, upped his batting average to .462.

Michael O’Hara also went three for four, a satisfying afternoon’s work for the center fielder who had spent the previous season on the Raptors’ roster. Two other B’s had multi-hit games, both Daniel Harris and Marques Titialii got two hits in four at bats. One of the latter’s was a two run homer in the second frame.

Leadoff batter was the only Raptor to log more than one hit, going three for four. None of their three hurlers emerged unscathed. Samuel Bass suffered the loss, yielding five runs, four earned, requiring 84 pitches to get through five innings.

Nico Saltaformaggio (two innings pitched, two runs, both earned and coming on Dave Drewek’s seventh inning round tripper) and Kyler Stancato (four hits and two runs—both earned — in an inning) completed Ogden’s unimpressive mound record.

An Asian-Pacific Island Heritage Day celebration preceded the action, adding to the festivities.

Sunday, the series will conclude with the Ballers’ first true afternoon game, with a 1:05 start against the Raptors, following a pregame “Salute to Our Soldiers.” Right hander Dylan Porter is expected to start the game for the B’s.

Ogden gets a jump on Ballers in 13-9 win Thursday

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The Oakland Ballers lost a tough contest against the Ogden Raptors on Thu May 22, 2025 at Raimondi Park in Oakland (Oakland Ballers photo)

Ogden Raptors (2-1) 250 240 000 13 11 2

Oakland Ballers (1-2) 103 004 001 9 14 3

Time: 3:14

Attendance: 3,118

Thursday, May 22, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–On this chilly Thursday evening in May, more suitable to football than to baseball, the Ogden Raptors thrashed the Oakland Ballers by the football score of 13-9. It would have been a close game had they been playing that other sport. But they weren’t, and it wasn’t.

Ironically, the drubbing came as a moral victory for the Oaklanders. They had endured two innings of self-inflicted misery that would have caused a lesser outfit to abandon all hope, but the flawed hometown heroes kept a slim but real hope alive until the penultimate put out.

Carter Mize’s two run shot over the right field fence off starting pitcher Mac Lardner put the Raptors up 2-0 in the first. The Ballers responded by scraping up a run in the bottom of the frame on Tramayne Cobb’s leadoff double, two walks and a throwing error by shortstop Elliot Good on Cam Buffard’s grounder We now had the makings of a tight ball game.

They ended in the top of the second, in which the Raptors made 11 plate appearances, but they didn’t bat around the order; they walked around it. The visitors scored five runs on two hits, both singles, and five bases on balls.

Ogden tagged on two more tallies in the fourth and another four in the fifth, in which the B’s found new ways to self-destruct. Good led off with a single to right. In the next two plays, the Ballers made errors on sacrifice bunts. Edwin de la Cruz reached first on a throwing error by pitcher Brady Eglite, who had mercifully relieved Lardner after he had faced six batters in the second without retiring any of them. Kenny Oyama then reached first on a throwing error and took second on the ensuing action, in which de la Cruz advanced to third and Good scored. De la Cruz then crossed the plate on a passed ball, Oyama taking third. The Raptors picked up two more runs by more conventional methods (a single and a sac fly) before they were done.

From the depths of this despair, with fans deserting Ernie Raimondi Park in droves, the Ballers battled back. Cobb smacked a one out double to right off of Braydon Bonner, who had relieved Matthew Colucci, who in turn had relieved starter Eli Ellliott in the bottom the fifth.

Lou Helmig drove Cobb home with a single, also to right and then reached third on when Davis Drewek got yet another single. He, too, advanced 180 feet on a single to right, this one off the bat of Christian Almanza, driving in Helmig. Bufford’s double to left plated Drewek.

Michael O’Hara followed up with as ground out to first, which brought in Oakland’s fourth and final run of the frame. The B’s still trailed, 13-8, but the worm had turned. They still had a shot at a comeback. They managed to score an unearned run in the ninth, but that was all they could muster.

But the team’s self respect had been restored. They even outhit their guests, 14-11, but with so many gifts of walks and errors, the Raptors really didn’t need many hits. They used five pitchers to subdue the B’s, the win going to Colucci. Manager Aaron Miles and pitching coach Jim Dedrick also sent a quintet to the mound. A trio—Carson Lambert, Conner Sullivan, and Cameron Edmonson—kept Ogeden off the board over the final four frames, two of which were handled by Lambert. The loss went to Lardner, now 0-1 with a gaudy ERA of 63.00.

Colucci was the winning pitcher. There was no save.

The season’s still young; 93 games still remain in it. There’s room for plenty for surprises. Let’s wait until Friday, evening at 6:35pm to see what new ones await us in the fourth game of this six game series.

Ogden rolls over Ballers 12-5; Oakland’s Drewek gets 1st homer of the season

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Oakland Ballers Davis Drewek connects in the bottom of the second inning against the Ogden Raptors in Pioneer League action at Raimondi Park in West Oakland on Wed May 21, 2025 (Oakland Ballers photo)

Ogden Raptors (1-1) 620 020 200 12 14 2

Oakland Ballers (1-1) 020 021 000 5 7 4

Time: 2:55

Attendance: 2,257

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The ball rolled downhill at Ernie Raimondi Park Wednesday night after Tuesday’s heady success against the Ogden Raptors (1-1) as the Oakland Ballers (1-1) took a 12-5 loss to the Raptors. The attendance dropped from a full house of 4,100 fans to a disappointing 2,257.

The Ballers management wasn’t expecting a repeat of opening Tuesday night’s crowd, but they had been predicting a near sell-out. The Ballers used five pitchers, and only Alec Rodríguez and Esai Santos, who tossed the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, emerged unscored upon.

The most egregious hurler was the starter, Zach St. Pierre, who began the 2024 season as a denizen of the bullpen, but was chosen as the Ballers’ second starter of their second season. He lasted two innings and yielded eight runs.

It should be noted in his defence that only one was earned, but that didn’t keep him from being charged with the loss Oakland’s defense was nothing if not porous. Seven of Ogden’s tallies were unearned.

The Raptors took a commanding 6-0 lead in the initial frame and never looked back. They tacked on a pair of runs in each of the second, fifth, and seventh episodes. Left fielder Cole Jordan was their only hitless starter, while right fielder Damian Stone and second baseman True Fontenot had three hit innings.

Leadoff batter Kenneth Oyama enjoyed a two hit performance, as did first baseman Carter Mize, slammed a four bagger to right in the devastating first. The only Baller to clear the fence was third sacker Davis Drewek, who drove in both of Oakland’s runs in their meek attempt at a comeback in the second with a round trip drive to left.

Raptors southpaw starter, Chase Chapman, lasted only four innings on the bump and so was denied credit for the win, which was no injustice. It took him 86 pitches to get through so few innings, and he surrendered four runs, all of them earned in them.

Shane Gustafon, who allowed the Ballers their fifth and final tally, an unearned run that came on a two out infield single to Cliff Bufford, whose misadventures at the hot corner on Tuesday had earned him the role of DH tonight. Nick Cardinal earned the save with three innings of work in which he shut the Ballers down with but a single walk.

We’ll see what Thursday’s, third of this six game series has to offer. Game time again is 6:35, and the starters have yet to be announced.