Tag: Oakland Ballers

Ballers defeat Ogden 5-4 in first KO round at Raimondi Park

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Oakland Ballers Treymayne Cobb (3) runs around the field but not around the bases. In the Pioneer League a hitter doesn’t run the bases in a KO round if it’s a home run. Cobb hit one out in the first round of the KO at Raimondi Park in Oakland (photo by Oakland Ballers X)

Ogden Raptors (0-1) 000 010 300 0 4 6 2

Oakland Ballers (1-0) 001 000 003 1 5 11 2

Decided in 1st KO Round

Time: 2:59

Attendance: 4,100

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Tuesday night’s season opener, played between the Ogden Raptors and the Oakland Ballers before a festive sell-out crowd of 4,100, was a game of constantly revised expectations. Oakland’s Tremayne Cobb, Jr., playing in his first professional game, went five for five and won the game for the Ballers by smacking a home run in the first knockout round, an innovation that is the Pioneer League’s contribution to the theater of the absurd.

Ballers’ speedy third baseman, Cam Buffard made a costly error in the seventh frame in a situation that was set up by an infield single on which he easily might have been charged with an error, after which his high throw to second on what had started out as an around the horn double play ended up as a rare 5-4-3 ground out.

His ground out to second with runners on second and third in the bottom of the ninth stalled the Ballers’ rally that ended up tying the regulation portion of the game and forcing the knockout round. Luke Short, Oakland’s starting pitcher, pitched four beautiful innings, striking out seven Raptors without granting a base on balls and allowing only one hit before running out of steam and failing to retire even one opponent in the top of the fifth.

Ogden seemed to have wrapped up the contest with its three run outburst in the seventh only to be forced into a tie when Oakland’s bats finally came alive in the bottom of the ninth.

That set the stage of Ballers’ anticlimactic knockout victory. Under the K.0 rule, each team designates different hitters until a winner is a hitter who is allowed five swings against a pitcher provided by his own team or five minutes at the plate, whichever comes first.

The winner is determined by which team hits the most homers. If the round ends in a tie, each team selects a new batter, and the process is repeated until one of the teams mercifully breaks it.

Tuesday night, Ogden chose their catcher, Chris Sargent, who led them in home runs last season and had gone one for four in the game. He took five swings, none of them successful. Cobb’s first was.

None of Ogden’s batters hit for extra bases, although two of them had multi-hit night’s, Edwin de la Cruz (three for three with a couple of RBI) and Damian Stone (two for four). Bufford legged out a double for Oakland.

There was no winning or losing pitcher.

The Pioneer League follows a schedule of six consecutive games, Tuesday through Sunday, between the same two teams, so Wednesday will see another 6:30pm PDT contest between Tuesday night’s opponents. The starting pitchers haven’t yet been announced.

Minor League action: SJ Giants best Ballers 5-2 at Municipal Stadium Wednesday

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Battle of the Bay promotional image hangs on the fence at Municipal Park in San Jose before Wed Apr 2, 2025 game between the Oakland Ballers and San Jose Giants (San Jose Giants X photo)

Oakland Ballers—2 San José Giants—5

Time: 2:22

Attendance 2,843

April 2, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

SAN JOSE’–Baseball has a long tradition of in-season exhibition games, complimenting the pre-season variety. In the days before teams travelled by plane, the two major leagues would travel by overnight train between games in their informal eastern and western divisions, based respectively in the Eastern and Central Time zones.

These big league teams would stop off in the afternoon and play, often against their local farm clubs. Even after those whistle stop exhibitions, for which the players weren’t paid, ended, midseason contests between local major league teams remained popular.

New York had its Mayor’s Cup Series, in which the Dodgers and Giants vied alternatively against the Yankees and in which bonus babies like Sandy Koufax, who otherwise would have languished on the bench, got a chance to see some big league action.

(In the early 1950s, a player who received a signing bonus north of $4,000 had to remain on his team’s 25 man roster for two full seasons or be placed on waivers). The bonus baby rule was dropped after the 1957 season, just before the Dodgers and Giants moved west.

Locally, after the A’s moved into The Town in 1968, we had our Battle of the Bay, in which fans of the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants took mid-season time off from the pennant races to give often literal meaning to that moniker. Those days seemed to be gone forever.

But in a stroke of marketing genius, the Giants’ low single A California League farm team in San José and Oakland’s unaffiliated Ballers of the MLB’s partner Pioneer League, faced each other this evening in an exhibition match in which the Giants easily crushed the visitor’s from the east bay, 5-2, The score belies the game’s one sidedness.

The home team’s play was crisp; the visitors’ wan’t. No Baller hurler lasted more than an inning; the team was behind once Walker Martin blasted a solo home run to right in the bottom of the first. . Tyler Lozano’s solo shot to left knotted the score briefly in the top of the second, but the Giants forged ahead in the home fourth, and the closest Oakland came to scoring after that came when they left the bases loaded in the top of the ninth. The image that perhaps best represents the Ballers’ unreadiness for prime time is the two runners who fell gratuitously to the basepaths, one early, the other late in the game.

It was a lively crowd for what was publicized as an historic occasion. That might have been an exaggeration. But this first meeting between an affiliated minor league baseball club and a member of what’s called a partner league may prove to be a turning point in the relationship between the MLB, MiLB combine—what used to be called Organized Baseball—and its grass roots.

The game was played under California League rules, eliminating the confusion caused by those of the Pioneer circuit, which include a complex system of ball and strike calls and allowing re-entry to players temporarily removed from action.

A true amalgam, this was both a pre- and an in-season set to. For the teams on the field, it occurred at the end of spring training for one and at its very start for the otherl San José opens its regular season this coming Friday in Modesto, Oakland’s spring training starts in about a month. Its regular season opener won’t take place May 20. That probably explains the qualitative difference in their performances.MLB began official play on March 18 in Tokyo and on the 27th state side.

As of this writing, no official box score has been released. By my reckoning, the Ballers used nine pitchers, with Mac Lardner taking the loss. Since Charlie McDaniel, San José’s starter, was on the pitcher of record when the Giants went ahead for the last time, but didn’t pitch after that, the winner would have to be the scorer’s decision. To the best of my knowledge, that decision is TBA.

Wheelers deal Ballers season ending loss 6-4 in game 3 of Pioneer Playoffs

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The Oakland Ballers make their way back to the clubhouse following their game 3 playoff game against the Yolo High Wheelers at Raimondi Field in West Oakland on Fri Sep13, 2024 (Oakland Ballers X photo)

Yolo (2-1) 201 100 200 6 10 2

Oakland (1-2) 001 020 100 4 5 2

Time: 2:47

Attendance: 2,662

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The Oakland Ballers’ successful inaugural season came to a depressing close this Friday the 13th when the Yolo High Wheelers, who have the same principal owners as the Oakland nine and also are newcomers to the Pioneer Baseball League, played Cain to the the Ballers’ Able.

The raucous crowd of 2,662, about 65% of Raimondi Park’s capacity, made enough noise that you’d have thought their favorites had fared better than they did. The decibel level of the West Oakland revelers exceeded that made in the East Oakland venue where the other (for now) Oakland ball club used to drive George Steinbrenner crazy. Nonetheless, Oakland fell to what on this occasion was clearly a superior team.

The game was closer than the score indicated, although the final outcome wasn’t seriously in doubt after Yolo jumped off to 2-0 lead in the top of the first.The High Wheelers’ starting pitcher, Ben Ferrer, struck out the three Ballers he faced in the bottom of the frame, and that set the tone for the rest of the contest.

Oakland rallied a few times but never caught up with their opponents, who won through a combination of their own good performance, some Oakland shortcomings, and a few sequences in which everything seemed to happen to the Ballers at just the wrong time..

The visitors outhit their hosts, 10-5. A pair of High Wheelers, José González and David Glancy, hit the ball out of the park, and three more, Brayland Skinner, Braylin Marine, and Angel Mendoza logged doubles. A trio of Ballers, Brett Carson, Daunté Stuart, and Tyler Lozano, homered, but those were the team’s only extra base hits. Brett Carson, Thursday’s hero, was the only Oaklander to turn in a multi-hit performance, a two out single in the fifth and a two out solo home run in the seventh, the home team’s swan song.

Ferrer went six innings to earn the win. For all his dominance in the opening frames (he struck out eight of the first 12 Ballers he faced), he allowed four hits and three runs, all earned, in six innings of work. That might be a quality start, but would you call someone with an ERA of 4.50 a quality pitcher?

Only if you were his agent. Jack Zatasky gave up a run on Carson’s four bagger. Connor Langrell and Ty Buckner followed him and held Oakland hitless and runless in the inning that each of them pitched, which earned Buckner the save.

The best pitching performance the Ballers got was from Zach St. Pierre, who relieved starter Luke Short (four runs, all earned, on six hits in 3-1/3 innings). St. Pierre allowed two runs in his three innings on the mound, but neither of them was earned. He allowed two hits and struck out two.

The crowd cheered and chanted “ZSP” as he left the field to make way for Christian Cosby in the top of the seventh. (“Oh, Tyler Lozano” was another chant that echoed across Raimondi Park several times over the course of the game).

Cosby promptly served up a sacrifice fly for a run that was charged to St. Pierre. The reason that neither that run nor the one that preceded it was earned is that Mendoza had reached third on an error by Oakland shortstop Brad Burkel that would have been the third out.

(That’s an example of what I meant by bad sequencing for the Ballers. An earlier one came on Skinner’s down the left field line RBI double in the third that Dandrei Hubbard could have handled if he hadn’t been playing in to defend against a bunt). Neither Cosby in his 2/3 of an inning nor Carson Lambert in his two full innings allowed a run, although each of them was touched for a hit .

The Glacier Range Riders whalloped the heavily favored Missoula Paddleheads, 17-3, Friday evening to take a commanding lead in the other first round playoff series. It looks like a Glacier-Yolo championship is in the offing while the Ballers wait ’til next year.

Oakland B’s player abuse claims could it lead to demise of team?

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The Oakland Ballers have won five of their last eight games in spite of all the off field problems they are having. The Ballers are seen here battling the Yolo High Wheelers on Sat Jul 27, 2024 at Raimondi Field in West Oakland (photo Oakland Ballers X)

By Sports Radio Staff

Last week an agent Lonnie Murray who represents injured Oakland Ballers player Myles Jefferson said that Jefferson’s injury was mishandled by the team and said that Myles was not set up with a doctor’s appointment.

Murray also said that the housing conditions of the players is unacceptable as the team has roomed four players as opposed to be two players per room. There also was a player who was robbed by gun point during the season.

“I’ve been a player agent for 22 years,” Murray said on the social platform X formerly known as Twitter “I don’t stand for bad behavior by anyone and I carry receipts for what I state publicly.”

The Ballers recently fired their manager Micah Franklin last week Sunday even though the club had the fourth best record in the Pioneer league after playing 54 games. The firing could have been because Franklin was speaking out against the mistreatment by the team of his players. The Ballers are in their first year as a expansion club and the question was raised could the reason of Jefferson’s not seeing a doctor be related cost savings? The firing of Franklin and the call by Murray for the trade and release of all the players she represents might trigger the downfall of the organization?

“all my players on the Ballers following months of poor management & highly unprofessional antics to which Micah Franklin spoke out against.” Murray wrote on X that Ballers players “Trevor Halsema, Austin Davis & Myles Jefferson (who got injured) are GONE!”

Also Kelsie Whitmore was told by Murray do not return to the Ballers who is away playing for the national baseball team “When I say I was advising Kelsie not to come back to the Ballers after she’s finished with the national team, I absolutely was,” Murray told the Bay Area News Group.

Former Oakland A’s pitcher Dave Stewart who is a business partner of Murray’s wrote on X that these young players under Murray’s watch will not be mistreated. Murray will support them every step of the way,  “These kids deserve better. The whole damn industry knows you don’t mess with kids when Lonnie’s on watch. What were THEY thinking?”

The Ballers co-founder Paul Freedman said that the Ballers take injury and safety extremely seriously and that if an issue comes up that the Ballers will immediately investigate and rectify a solution. With Murray asking Freedman to release or trade all the players she represents and the firing of Franklin there could be nothing left of the Ballers if Freedman doesn’t come in and do some quick damage control fast.

In spite of all the off field problems the Ballers are having the Ballers have won their last two games on Friday and Saturday and won five of their last eight games. Yet and still the Ballers future as an organization could hang in the balance unless there is a happy medium between Murray and Freedman soon.

Six run forth gives Ballers 14-9 win over Wheelers at Raimondi Park

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There were plenty of Oakland Ballers at Raimondi Park in West Oakland who picked up a five run win over the Yolo High Wheelers on Sun Jul 7, 2024 (photo by the Oakland Ballers)

Yolo High Wheelers ((18-21) 040 050 000 9 9 2

Oakland Ballers (24-18) 004 611 20x 14 15 2

Time: 3:40

Attendance: 1,103

Sunday, July 7, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

WEST OAKLAND–Turnabout is fair play. What goes around comes around. History repeats itself, the first time as tragedy; the second as farce. Choose your cliché, this weekend’s battles royal between the Pioneer League’s two most recent entries had it.

Saturday afternoon, the Oakland Ballers fell behind their rivals from Davis 4-0 in the second inning. Yolo added two runs in each of the following three frames to amass a seemingly insurmountable 10-0 lead when the Ballers came to bat in the bottom of the fifth. They put a four spot on the board then and tacked on six more in the seventh to even the score only to run out of steam and fall 13-10.

That was a tough loss and a tough act to follow.

But the Ballers bounced back this Sunday afternoon, winning going away, 14-9, in ways that frequently harked back to Saturday’s debacle.

It started with another fearsome fourth run top of the second, which was particularly unsettling because the Wheelers also had posted a quartet of second inning tallies not just on Saturday, but on Friday as well. Sunday night’s featured a solo home run by Yolo’s DH, Justin Kirby, two singles—one of them on a bunt—, a double, and a misplay Myles Jefferson, usually a shortstop but playing second today.

It originally had been scored a hit but after much discussion was reclassified as an error. It was fitting that the game would end with Jefferson, who was moved back to his normal position in the top of the eighth, would pull off a beautiful play at short, for the game’s final out.

But the worm turned Sunday. Oakland answered Yolo’s attack with a counter offensive that evened the score in the third. A Payton Harden single, followed by an Austin Davis double off the left field wall and Trevor Halsema’s sac fly to left kick started the Oakland comeback. It continued with two way player JP Gates, in his designated hitter mode singled to left and trotted home on Dondrei Hubbard’s tying home run. That blast would be voted the play of the game.

It certainly changed the nature of the contest, but there was more to come. Instead of petering out, Oakland’s offense picked up in the fourth where it had left off in the third, sending ten men to the plate . The B’s began by clogging the base paths with one out, chasing Yolo starter JC Ariza from the mound, replaced by Jacob Stobart.

He walked Davis, putting the Ballers up by a run. With the count 2-1, Gates swung and connected for a two run single to right. Stobart plunked Hubbard. Noah Martínez smacked a two bagger to right, plating Gates and Hubbard. Now it was Oakland who had two digits in the R column.

Nightmare visions of Saturday’s squandered comeback briefly appeared in the visitors’ fifth, when five High Wheelers crossed the plate. Brayland Skinner walked, stole second, and took third on a wild pitch by Oakland’s starting pitcher, Christian Cosby, arguably the ace of the staff, having started the day with a record of 4-1, 4.79, which in the Pioneer League are Cy Young numbers.

Brylin Marine, Yolo’s batting leader, ground out to short but drove in Skinner, for Yolo’s fifth run. Bobby Lada’s double and a free passes to Brandon Blackford and Kirby loaded the bases and set the scene for Yolo’s last hurrah, a grand slam by Kirkland Banks. It came on the last of Cosby’s 118 pitches. Cosby was charged with nine runs, six earned, on seven hits, three walks, and a wild pitch. He struck out 10.

The Ballers added a superfluous but reassuring run in each of the fifth and sixth innings, and two final tallies in the seventh.

After Cosby’s departure, one out short of earning (by the skin of his teeth the win), the Ballers used three relievers. None of them permitted any Yolo runs. The eventual winner, Zach St. Pierre, threw 26 pitches in two hitless innings to gain his first win against two losses. Conner Richardson gave up a hit in 1-1/3 frames, in which he threw 33 pitches. Carson Lambert’s 17 pitch one hit ninth closed the book on the High Wheelers.

The crew from Davis also sent four hurlers to the mound. Following Ariza (3-1/3 IP, seven runs, all earned; seven hits (one out of the park); three walks, and a hit batter, all on 70 pitches) were Stobart (1-1/3 innings, four runs, earned, three hits, two walks, and a strikeout on 26 pitches); Kris Anglin (a hit in two thirds of an inning, 17 pitches; and Noah Estrella, who allowed Oakland its last three runs, all earned, in 2-2/3 innings, in which he gave up four hits and walk on 41 pitches).

Three Ballers had multi-hit games. Two way Gates led the way, going five for five. Move over, Ohtani! Noah Martínez went three for four; Davis, two for five. Davis, Gates and Martínez doubled. Hubbard, Martínez, and Jaylen Smith hit four baggers for the home team.

Kirkland Banks and Kyle Guerra, with two apiece, had multi-hit games for the High Wheelers. Each of them also homered. Bobby Lada and Banks banged two baggers. Marine, who went one for five, extended his streak of consecutive games reaching base safely to 25.

After their usual Monday day off, the Ballers will open a new six game home series, beginning Tuesday the ninth at 6:35 against the last place Great Falls Voyagers

Northern Colorado hitting knocks Ballers out of the park in 15-7 crushing at Raimondi

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Northern Colorado Owlz (21-14) 005 321 14 15 21 1

Oakland Ballers (19-16) 000 010 114 7 11 1

Time: 3:19

Attendance: 2,337

Saturday, June 29, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

WEST OAKLAND–There are three consolations for the 15-7 drubbing the Oakland Ballers suffered this warm and sunny Saturday afternoon at the hands of the Northern Colorado Owlz. The first is that it wasn’t as bad as the 15-1 demolition they had endured the previous night.

The second was that the Ballers’ bats finally came alive, too little and too late, but still alive in the B’s four run bottom of the ninth, in which they mixed a hit batter (Austin Davis), a single by Myles Jefferson, a Trevor Halsema double, and Dondrei Hubbard’s eighth home run in 35 games, to give what was a rout the appearance of just a lopsided loss.

This isn’t to say that the team’s offense had been completely moribund until the final frame. Three Ballers had multi hit games. Halsema went three for five; Halsema and Jaylen Smith, two for five. The third consolation, and perhaps the most helpful, was the two mediocre innings, the eighth and ninth, that Kelsie Whitmore pitched to preserve the tattered remnants of the Oakland bullpen to survive and fight another day, Sunday’s contest, in which the Ballers hope to even their six game series against the powerful Owlz.

The four runs, all earned, that she allowed in at the game’s end were more than those surrendered by any of Oakland’s two other relievers, Abraham De León and Jake Dahle. Only starter Aaron Eden, who allowed eight runs on a dozen hits, four of them for four bases, in 3-1/3 frames surrendered more tallies than Whitmore. Needless to say, Eden, now 2-3, 8.40, was charged with the loss.

Northern Colorado used three pitchers. Chase Jesse, their starter, was quite effective, gaining the win that put his record at 4-0, 3.48. He was on the mound for six innings and allowed only one run, which was earned, on five hits and three walks.

He threw 105 pitches, 62 of which fit the definition of strikes. Jason McCassey hurled a dodgy seventh frame and allowed a run, earned, on two hits, a hit batter, a walk, and a wild pitch. Halesma greeted Tyler Curtis with a homer over the left field fence in the eighth, but didn’t allow anything more that inning.

But the Owlz relifer fell apart in the ninth and ended up being charged with five runs, all earned, on as many hits, two of them long balls, and two walks in his two innings of work.

NoCo’s five runs in the third pretty much sealed Oakland’s doom. Dario Gómez’s three run homer was the big blow. He ended up going one for four. Dave Matthews and Jackson Coutts, who were on base at the time, finished the day at three for five and three for three, respectively. Evan Scavotto, who went five for six, was on second with a double when Euro Díaz (four for six) doubled him home. Díaz, in turn, scored on Garrett Kuebers single. You get the picture.

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.

1:05 is the game time for Sunday’s, chance for the B’s to even the series and remain serious contenders for a guaranteed place in the postseason.

Oakland A’s Relocation podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Was raid designed to expedite Mayor Thao out of office before a recall election?

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Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao addresses the news media at Oakland City Hall on Mon Jun 24, 2024 regarding the raid on her Oakland home last week (photo from yahoo.com news)

On the Oakland A’s Relocation podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 Jerry, the last thought on Mayor Sheng Thao’s mind right now are the departure of the Oakland A’s who leave for Sacramento after this season. Thao whose home was raided last week has given two press conferences since the raid.

#2 Jerry, Mayor Thao who faces a recall, how much of the reasons for the recall fall on her for losing the Oakland A’s besides the high crime, retail and businesses moving out of Oakland, and firing police chief LeRonne Armstrong at the beginning of her term.

#3 The Mayor through media reports has been accused of accepting illegal campaign donations from California Waste Solutions. The FBI confiscated ice chest size cases of documents from Thao’s home there’s always a chance they could find a document that ties her to accepting illegal campaign contributions but on the other hand it could amount to nothing. The Mayor has insisted that this is a waste of time and she said she did nothing wrong.

#4 On the surface of it with the recall and the state of the City of Oakland is this raid a further push to make the Mayor look bad and it would actually help push her out of office?

#5 Jerry, the Oakland Ballers the Pioneer Minor League team who before their season started wanted to play just one game at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Jun 29th for a special game. The Ballers sent out a press release on Thursday saying the A’s shot down that idea of using the Coliseum because there is a clause in the contract that the A’s have say so who they share the Coliseum with. The Ballers will not be permitted to play that one game there. Some say it might be an embarrassment to the A’s if the Ballers were to get over 25,000 fans to show up which is a lot more the A’s have drawn for a single game all season.

Jerry Feitelberg filled in for Daniel Dullum for the Oakland A’s Relocation podcasts heard each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Ballers Hubbard takes Wheelers deep in 8-6 win in Davis

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Oakland Ballers defeated the Davis High Wheelers on Sun Jun 23, 2024 in Davis. Here the Ballers pitching coach Jim Dedrick talks to the players in the dugout before their game on Tue Jun 4, 2024 at Raimondi Field in Oakland. (AP file photo)

Oakland Ballers (17-13)         1 3 1 0 0 0 3 0 0     8 10 0
Yolo High Wheelers(14-13)   0 1 1 0 0 4 0 0 0    6 12 2

Time: 3:15

Attendance: Not announced, but probably short of 100

By Lewis Rubman

DAVIS–This Sunday–and I do mean SUNday–in Davis, with the temperature in the 90s from the opening pitch at 1:05 to the final out at 4:20, the Ballers, who had been scuffling at the plate most of last week,  Ballers built up a 5-2 lead over the host Yolo High Wheelers in the first 5-1/2 innings of play,  blew it in the bottom of the sixth but escaped by breaking the rules, and battled back to win going away, 8-6.

The Ballers scored first, on a 351 foot solo home run by Dondrei Hubbard  to left in the  spacious Dobbins Stadium. It came off the Wheelers’ starter, Ben Ferrer, Hubbard  who had earned his second win of the season on June 20 by holding the Ballers scoreless in one inning of relief work.

He’s become quite familiar with the Ballers lineup; this was the fourth time he’d faced them in the teams’ inaugural season. He got a no decision today, leaving his won-lost record of 2-1  and his ERA of 5.16 intact. Austin Davis also smacked a solo round tripper to the same general area leading off the visitors’ seventh.

  Davis’s four bagger retied the score after Oakland had fallen behind in the sixth frame. His victim was Jacob Stobart, who took the loss, his first of the season against four wins. Many people think of him as Yolo’s best pitcher.

The Ballers blew their lead when Yolo batted around in the sixth. It came about as the result of walks to Justin Kirby and designated pinch hitter Alejandro Figueredo and singles by José González, Tanner Smith,  Kirkland Banks, and Braylin Marine.

Oakland’s starter, Aaron Eden gave up the walk to Kirby and the singles to Smith and Banks. The remainder was surrendered by Jake Dahle, who relieved Eden. Yolo was leading  6-5 when the dust settled.

Oakland drew even on the Davis dinger and tacked on a couple of runs more and was ahead 8-6 after the few fans in attendance sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”Next came what was the most fascinating sequence of the contest.

One of the Ballers’ versions of Shohei Ohtani, second baseman-pitcher JP Gates, who had been the designated hitter, moved to the mound. He gave up a single to center to González and a bunt single to Blackford before being relieved by JC Ariza.

This violated themust face three batters or finish the frame rule, but no one called this to the attention of home plate umpire Bill Shortridge, and so Ariza arose to the occasion by retiring 

the three batters he faced to finish up a scoreless seventh and, in spite of a hit batter and a wild pitch, a scoreless eighth. Tyler Davis, another two way player earned his second save of the season, setting the Wheelers down 1,2,3 in the ninth.

Monday is a day of rest in the Pioneer League. The Ballers will play the the Northern Colorado Owlz on Tuesday evening, the first of a six game series. The probable pitchers haven’t been announced.

Ballers come up short in 9th get edged by Rocky Mountain 5-4

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Oakland Ballers just couldn’t come up with one or two runs to get back in it in the bottom of the ninth on Sat Jun 15, 2024 at Raimondi in West Oakland (photo from Oakland Ballers X account)

Saturday, June 15, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

Rocky Mountain (9-11) 200 110 010 5 12 2

Oakland (13-10) 002 001 001 4 6 0

Time: 2:56

Attendance: 1,622

By Lewis Rubman

WEST OAKLAND–The combination of a hot, dry day in Oakland and the power hitting heavy Pioneer League would lead you expect that the ball would be flying out of the park with a certain regularity this Saturday afternoon at Raimondi Park in West Oakland. The balls weren’t leaving the park on a regular basis today, but they did exit the premises five times in the Oakland Ballers 5-4 loss to the visiting Rocky Mountain Vibes. The Vibes hit three of them and the Ballers, 2, which pretty much accounts for the difference in their final scores.

Rocky Mountain set the tone from the very start of the contest with back to back leadoff dingers to left by center fielder Brett Carson and left fielder Stephen Wilmer, their fourth and third, respectively, of the young season in this short season league. Wilmer’s shot apppeared to have gone foul to a vocal caucus of the 1,622 attendees, and they let third base umpire Allen Walker know it. They reminded him of their judgement on and off throughout the afternoon. They also were frequent critics of the ball and strike calls of home plate ump Grant Meyers (even when video reviews of the challanged calls often confirmed them). The Vibes’ last run would also come on round tripper by an outfielder. Right fielder Stephen Rivas’ two out blast over the right centerfield fence in the fifth was his seventh of the year. It came off Reed Butz, who had relieved St. Pierre in the fourth.

Before that, the Ballers had clawed their way back to a tie in their half of the third on a one out single by shortstop Myles Jefferson, who moved on to second when third baseman Dondrei on an error by Josh Day, his Rocky Mountain counterpart at the hot corner. Both runners advanced another 90 feet on a balk called on by the Vibes’ starting and winning pitcher, Carlos Lomelí. They scored on left fielder Trevor Halesma’s down the line single to left.

Oakland went into the home ninth trailing, 5-3. They shaved a run off that lead Once more the agent was a solo home run. Rocky Mountain’s fifth pitcher,Max Pattey, was on the mound in relief of Troy Morrill.It was second sacker Brad Burckel’s fourth four bagger of ’24 and went over right centerfield fence with one out. For a while, it looked like they might just pull off a comeback. Jaylin Smith pinch hit for center fielder Payton Harden, and grounded to short, where Devyn López had trouble fielding the ball. Smith beat the throw, arriving safely at first on the error. Then, taking advantage of the Pioneer League’s complex designated pinch hitter and designated pinch runner rules, Harden pinch ran for the man who had pinch hit for him. The game of musical chairs continued as Bryson Spagnuolo relieved Pattey and got Austin Davis to fly out to right center, Jefferson walked, putting Harden with the potential tying run in scoring position at second while Jefferson represented the potential winning run on at first. Hubbard, who had into the game batting .352 and had gone 0 for 4 so far in the game, popped out to second for the final out, earning Spagnueolo his third save

Lomelí’s win, his third against one defeat, left him with an ERA of 5.55, not particularly bad for the Pioneer League, especially on a team that plays half its games in the Colorado Springs, a stone’s throw from Pike’s Peak. Kelsey Ward pitched to three batters in the sixth, walking one, striking out another, and hitting a third. Kyle Pijaszek retired the side in the seventh. Morrill struck out the three Ballers he faced in the eighth, and the home run that Pattey surrendered in the ninth was the only hit he allowed in his 2/3 of an inning. Spagnuelo needed only eight pitchers to wrap thing up.

Oakland’s right handed starter, Zach St. Pierre, took the tough loss, which left him at 0-2, 7.36. He pitched decently through his 3-2/3 inning stint, allowing no one to cross the plate after the second batter, and even that run was tainted by questionable fair call on Wilmer’s home run. The Pioneer allow a computerized review of ball and strike calls, but challenges to plays on the field are decided by an umpires’ conference. Butz, the victim of what proved to be the game deciding home run went 3-1/3 innings without giving up another hit, walking two and notching three Ks in the process. Connor Richardson and Jake Dahle pitched a scoreless inning apiece.

The Ballers had promoted the game as the reveal party for their mascot. The fans took an immediate liking to the revelation that it was Scrappy, The RallyPossum, an unsubtle dig at that other Oakland team, the one that’s going to pack its bags and slink out of town at the end of the season.

At 13-5, the Ballers now are in fifth place in the overall standings of the 12 team Pioneer League.

Sunday’s Fathers’ Day game against the Vibes will start at 1:05. Pioneer League teams don’t announce their probable starters until the last minute. In any case, don’t expect a pitchers’ duel.

Wheelers roll over Ballers 9-3 in inaugural home opener at Raimondi Park

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The Yolo High Wheelers and Oakland Ballers played in the inaugural home opener at Raimondi Park in West Oakland on Tue Jun 4 2024 (photo by Gail Rubman Sports Radio Service)

Yolo High Wheelers (6-4) 010 002 222 9 10 0

Oakland Ballers (7-6) 200 000 001 3 5 1

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

WEST OAKLAND–4,100 fans filled Raimondi Park this evening to see the Oakland Ballers fall, 9-3, the Yolo High Wheelers, the other new entry in the Pioneer Baseball League, in the Ballers’ home, and I mean home opener. The A’s barely outdrew the B’s with 5624 at the Coliseum on the same night.

The game was crisp and close, with the Ballers leading 2-1 in the early innings 2-1, but baserunning mistakes prevented them from adding to their advantage, and the High Wheelers tacked on two runs in each of the four final frames to roll over their hosts in what had become somewhat of a farce.

Dondrei Hubbard’s two run homer to left center with Payton Harden on base put Oakland on top in the first. Yolo countered that in their half of the second when B’s starter Derrick Cherry granted back to back walks to Sam Kuchinski and Braedon Blackford, both of whom were singled home by Kirkland Banks.

Things started to go haywire for the home team in their half of the third. High Wheeler starter Cameron Repetti surrendered a one out walk to Austin Davis. Repetti then threw to first in a pick off attempt. Davis was caught in a run down from which it seemed impossible to escape, especially when first base umpire Ron Adams called him out for running out of the baseline.

Manager Micah Franklin contested the call, which came before the play had been completed. The umpires conferred and ruled that there was no play and that Davis could return to first safely.

The pickoff attempt had been Repetti’s second in the at bat, a fact he must have forgotten, because he made one more attempt to catch Davis napping. That third interruption constituted a balk, which sent the runner to second. The Ballers couldn’t capitalize on the no play, but its weirdness seemed to change the tone of the game.

By the bottom of the sixth, the B’s were trailing, 3-2, thanks to Sam Kochinsky’s two run four bagger to left center, but Oakland was fighting back. There were runners on first and second. The runner on second was Davis. He took his lead. Repetti turned around and fired the ball to second baseman Bobby Lada.

There was no rundown this time. Davis was well and truly picked off. Myles Jefferson’s single and a base on balls to Noah Martínez were to no avail. The damage couldn’t be undone, and Oakland never came close again.

Things got uglier for the Ballers in Yolo’s half of the eighth. Oakland, already down, 5-2, was on their third pitcher, Jake Dahle, who had followed Abraham de León, who had relieved Cherry. Dahle walked Braedon Blackford and, after fanning Tanner Smith, allowed a single to center. Manager Franklin yanked Dahle and replaced him with Connor Richardson. A wild pitch and a single by Angel Mendoza later, and the High Wheelers were up, 7-2,

Eric Walichuk took the mound as Oakland’s fifth and final pitcher of the night to start off the ninth. He struck out Lada, the first batter he faced. He fanned him on a wild pitch, and the Wheelers second sacker made it to first safely. He didn’t need to steal second; he had a five run lead, but he did. Another reason he didn’t need to pilfer the base was that José Gonzalez sent the ball over the left field fence to make the score 9-2

It hardly mattered that the B’s loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth against Noah Estrella, who came in to mop things up in the last scene of the final act of tonight’s farce. Indeed, he issued three walks and an RBI single to pinch hitter Jaylen Smith. Yolo won handily, 9-3.

The winners had four batters with multi-hit games, González, Kuchinski, Kirkland Banks, and Mendoza, each of which got two hits. Five Ballers got hits, one each for Harden, Jefferson, Hubbard, Trevor Halsema, and Smith.

Repetti was the winning pitcher; he’s now 1-0. De León, who faced four batters in 2/3 of an inning, took the loss and now is 0-1.

There are a few things about the Pioneer Baseball League that may be confusing to those of us who haven’t been following the events in the lower minor leagues. First, there is the league’s name.

If you search for “Pioneer League” or “Pioneer League baseball” on your computer, you’ll find a wealth of information on the Pioneer Baseball League, a youth organization in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, as well as about the PBL, a descendant of the original Pioneer League, founded in 1939.

When minor league baseball suspended operation in 2020 as a response to the Covid pandemic, it was a short season rookie league, which means that it followed the rules of MLB and its subsidiary MiLB. With the reorganization of MiLB in 2021, the PBL became a partner league, affiliated with MLB but not with any of its member teams.

The new circuit describes itself as “a true development league, with players having less than 3 years of professional experience … focused on innovation and experimental rules.” These two terms— three years experience as a pro and experimental rules — invite further clarification.

Appearance in 30 games constitutes a year for position players. For pitchers, it’s seven starts or 18 games played. All professional leagues, no matter where located except the MLB Draft League, the United Shore Professional Baseball League, the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, leagues in the Caribbean Federation (including the Dominican Summer League and Venezuelan Summer League), the Australian Baseball League or any other winter league.

The PBL also allows each member team to name one “Franchise Player.” The requirements for this designation are a minimum of two years’ experience in the PBL the most recent of which was with the team that names him as an FP. There is a one year term limit for franchise players.

Like their teammates, franchise players can be player-coaches. If the franchise player leaves the team through injury or transfer to the majors, the PBL team can request that the league president allow a replacement, a decision to be made at the sole discretion of the president.

The league doesn’t have a zombie runner rule for games tied at the end of nine innings. It has something new and completely different unless you’re a hockey or soccer fan, the knockout inning. It’s a home run derby between designated HR hitters from the two teams. Each HRH has two minutes to hit as many homers as possible.

The reconfigured PBL experimental rules allow designated pinch hitters and designated pinch runners, who can enter a game as a PH or PR and either stay in the lineup or return to the bench for the rest of the game, allowing the player he’s substituted for to remain in the game.

PBL batters, unlike those in other leagues, can appeal the home plate umpire’s call on checked swings. Even the appearance of the playing field in the Pioneer Baseball League may seem strange to newcomers.

The area around second base in which no fielder is allowed to stand before the ball is pitched is marked in chalk on the infield dirt. This area is called the “pie slice.” Interesting enough, the pie slice wasn’t marked off on Raimondi Park’s diamond tonight.

Time clock limits in the PBL can be found at https://www.pioneerleague.com/sports/bsb/2023/releases/20230216krjfqr.

Wednesday, the second of this six game series will start at 6:35. A six game series between the same teams … it sounds like the old PCL.