Tag: Pioneer League

Ballers continue to roll shutout Vibes 9-0

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The Pioneer League first half champions Oakland Ballers continue to roll with a win over the Rocky Mountain Vibes 9-0 on Fri Jul 11, 2025 (Oakland Ballers x photo)

Rocky Mountain Vibes (22-23) 000 000 000 0 5 1

Oakland Ballers (35-11) 015 020 10x 9 12 3

Time: 2:47

Attendance:2,872

Friday, July 11, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Who says a baseball game has to be close, or even significant, to be interesting? Certainly not the first half champion Oakland Ballers and the Rocky Mountain Vibes, the team they defeated on Thursday the 10th to clinch the championship and who fell to the champs this Friday the 11th by the overwhelming score of 9-0 in an anti-climactic game that featured, as the result indicates, excellent offense and defence by the home team and a series of of out of the ordinary events that kept the crowd of 2,872 entertained but by no means on edge of their seats.

Here’s a partial list of those happenings: Cam Bufford, usually a DH or third baseman, played first base for the entire nine innings. Six different players occupied the seventh slot in the batting order; five of them were pitchers, and three of them actually threw at least one pitch in anger.

The two more were pinch hitters, and one, Zach St. Pierre (who else?) was a pinch runner. Lou Helmig, whose sixth inning opposite field single drove in the tie breaking run in Thursday’s tense victory, drove in three runs in tonight’s laugher, two of them on a fifth inning round tripper.

The B’s scored their first run in the second frame. Their first hit came in the third, a two out homer by Bufford that ignited a five run outburst that sealed the Vibes’ doom The visitors showed some slight signs of life in their last turns at the plate.

Ryan Pierce, making a rare start at the hot corner for Oakland, committed three errors in the game. Two of them enabled Rocky Mountain’s first two ninth inning batters to reach base. This didn’t faze Adam Bogasian, one of the half dozen seventh slotters, who promptly fanned Will Butcher, and got Stephen Wilmer, the ex-Baller who had homered the night before, to hit into a 1-3 DP.

Bogasian seemed to pick the ball that had been shot to him right out of his hip pocket Noah Millikan earned the win with six innings of four hit shutout ball.

That’s the Pioneer League equivalent of a complete game. Calem Franzin, along with Bogasian one of the pair of seventh slotters who didn’t make a plate appearance, gave up one hit and struck out four in his two innings. Bogasian mopped up the mess in the top of the ninth.

Nick Leehey, giving Tremayne Cobb a day off from playing short, and Esai Santos, filling in for second sacker Danny Harris, were the only Baller starters to go hitless. Helmig led the team in hits, with three. Tyler Losano had gone one for one when what could have been a damaged hamstring pulled him out of action and precipitated the overcrowding of the seventh spot in the order.

The fun and games will resume Saturday, afternoon at 4:35, followed by the last game of the first half of the season on Sunday the 13th at 1:35.

Ballers 5 run eighth inning rally sinks Riders 10-6 at Raimondi Park

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Oakland Ballers James Colver started and picked up his second win of the season against the Glacier Range Riders at Raimondi Park on Sat Jun 21, 2025 (Oakland Ballers photo)

Glacier Range Riders (11-18) 000 213 000 6 17 3

Oakland Ballers (20-9) 101 030 05x 10 12 3

Time: 2:36

Attendance: 3,250

Saturday, June 21, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Exciting, but not always well-played, games are getting to be a habit at Ernie Raimondi Park. This sunny and, for the most part, warm Saturday afternoon, the home team rode a roller coaster in their match against their guests from Montana, over whom they prevailed by a score of 10-6 score for the straight time in as many days.

The competing teams managed to commit a half a dozen errors, and that includes only those that were officially scored as such; no mental mistakes, misplayed balls, incompleted double plays, or he should have gotten it among them.

The Ballers won, 10-6, the same score by which they had won last night, but today they needed a five run rally in the eighth to pull it off. Each team made 12 hits, connected for two doubles and two home runs, and was charged with three errors. Talk about evenly matched!

The B’s used five pitchers. The first of them, Noah Miliken, was the beneficiary of that recent rarity, an early Ballers lead. After Miliken had set the Range Riders down in order in the opening frame, Oakland’s lead off hitter, Esai Santos, smacked Jared Engman’s 0-1 offering over the right field fence for the first of the two runs his team would register against the Riders’ right handed starter in his three innings of work. The second tally came in the third on Nick Leehey’s single to center, a wild pitch, and a single to right by Davis Drewek.

Glacier pulled even in the fourth on Kingston Levari’s leadoff double to left center, Jack Lynch’s RBI single, and an error by second sacker Daniel Harris IV. They went ahead, 3-2. in their next turn at bat on TJ Clarkson’s solo round tripper to center.

The Range Rider’s right fielder had homered twice in last night’s thriller. When Logan Beard followed tonight’s shot with a double, Adam Bogosian followed Millikan to the mound and finished the frame by getting Xavier Casserill to ground into a 6-4-3 twin killing.

The pendulum swung in Oakland’s favor in the bottom of the fifth. Christian Almanza’s 417′ blast to straightaway center field with Buggs, who had walked, and Drewek, who had singled, on base, obliterated the Riders’ brief advantage.

But leads are made to be lost, especially in the Pioneer League, and Oakland’s newfound 5-3 advantage was transformed into a 6-5 deficit. Kenneth Levari opened the top of the sixth with a bunt single to third and trotted home in front of Kingston Liniak, whose drive to left was caught … in the netting above the fence.. Jack Lynch doubled to right, and that brought Conner Richardson in to relieve Bogosian.

Gabe Howell singled to left, Lynch advanced to third and held on. He came home on Efraín Manzo’s grounder to short that forced Howell out a second. Clarkson’s single to left moved Manzo up 90 feet. An error by Leehay at the hot corner loaded the bases, but Xavier Casserill popped out to right to staunch the bleeding.

Glacier was riding high, hanging on to their slim margin when Oakland came to bat in the bottom of the eighth. Nick Zegna replaced Luke Cooper, the only one of the four pitchers theRange Riders used to try to contain Oakland’s potent offence not to have given up a run, holding them to a couple of hits and a base on balls in the sixth and seventh.

An error by Beard at second put Tyler Lozano on first. Ryan Pierce, making his professional debut, pinch hit for James Colyor, who had been pitching for the B’s and was scheduled to bat because of some fancy manipulation of the Pioneer League’s substitution rules by manager Aaron Miles.

He smacked a double to left that tied the score. Two walks, intentional, another pair of RBI on a single by the irrepressible Almanza plus an error by Liniak in center and another on Manzo at third equal five runs on two hits and three errors with one runner left on base for the inning and 10-6 lead for the Ballers.

Connor Sullivan pitched the top of the ninth and struck out all three Range Runners he faced.

Four Ballers had multi hit games: Drewek, Harris, Almanza, and Lozano, with two each. Lozano and Pierce doubled. Santos and Almanza, who drove in five runs, homered. The other B’s with RBI were Santos, Drewek, and Pierce at one each. Levari logged three hits in five at bats for Glacier. Four of his teammates two hits a piece: Clarkson, Liniak, Lynch, and Howell.

The two teams will end their six game series, starting at 1:05 Sunday morning. Glacier (11-18) will send Ty Bothwell (0-1). to the mound. Oakland (20-9) will counter with Luke Short (2-1).

The Ballers then will leave town for an extended road trip and won’t play at home until 6:35 in the evening of Tuesday, July 8th, when they’ll face the Rocky Mountain Vibes on Bruce Lee night.

Oakland Ballers game wrap: Ballers five run fifth puts away Riders in 10-6 win

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Oakland Ballers pitcher Brody Eglite picked up his second win of the season against the Glacier Range Riders at Rickey Henderson Field in Oakland on Fri June 20, 2025 (Oakland Ballers photo)

Glacier (11-17) 200 003 100 6 7 4

Oakland (19-9) 104 050 00x 10 8 0

Time: 2:43

Attendance: 2,005

Friday, June 20, 2925

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–In spite of their Mid-Summer Night cum Juneteenth’s 5-2 loss on Thursday to the visitors from the Glacier National Park, your Oakland Ballers entered Friday evening’s version of the Friday Night Fights at 18-9, with only one game standing between them and the league leading Missoula Paddle Heads.

Appropriately enough, public transit was the theme for the meeting, and the visitors’ moniker is Range Riders. When the post game dust had settled, the Ballers had ridden over the Riders, 10-6, in a game that featured abrupt and extreme changes of fortune and an act of exemplary stoicism. After all the Pioneer Baseball League action had ended, the Ballers, at 19-9, were the sole occupants of first place in the entire circuit.

As is their wont, the B’s quickly found themselves looking up at their adversaries; Brody Eglite went to a full count to Glacier’s leadoff hitter, TJ Clarkson, who entered the fray batting .409 before driving the ball over the right center field fence.

The Oakland righty then went to a full count on Logan Beard (BA .452) before walking him. Before you could say “line out to third” and “bunt single,” Kingston Liniak smacked the pitch to deep right center, where center fielder Darryl Bugs II caught it for the inning’s second out, and Beard scored on the sac fly to put the Range Riders up, 2-0.

The Ballers cut Glacier’s advantage in half with Davis Drewek’s two out four bagger in the bottom of the inning and went ahead in the fifth by the seemingly insurmountable margin of 10-2. Darryl Buggs II opened hostilities with a leadoff single to right.

Tremayne Cobb, Jr., who did some nifty defensive work at short, sent him to third with a single to left. DH Esai Santos fanned. Drewek’s single and an error by Glacier’s first sacker brought in Buggs and gave the B’s two runners in scoring position with one down.

It also took the Range Riders starter. Rayne Supple out of the game. He would be charged with the loss after having thrown 92 pitches in his 4-1/3 inning stint. Nine runs would be charged to him, but only (!) four would be earned.

His successor, Jacob Hasty, would close out the frame on ten pitches and be charged with one, unearned run before giving way to Noah Cole (1-1/3 perfect innings), and Cam Cowan (1-2/3 shutout innings of one hit, two walk baseball).

Christian Almanza’s single to right plated Cobb and Drewek. Harris was next to cross the plate, on a ground out by Lou Hemig, and Almanza came in on a wild pitch by Hasty.

You’d think that the Ballers had nothing to worry about after this outburst, but you’d be forgetting one of the Pioneer League’s primary precepts, no lead is safe, and not just at high altitudes. Yogi Berra is said to have said it best, “It ain’t over ….” You know the rest of it.

In the bottom of the sixth, a foul ball off Almanza’s bat bounced up into Glacier catcher Angel Mendoza’s crotch, causing him extreme pain that kept him on his hands and knees, fighting for breath for several minutes. When he finally was able to stand upright, he received loud applause from the crowd, which immediately afterwards was stunned by the backstop’s decision to remain in the game.

To make a long story somewhat shorter, the visitors answered their hosts’ five run fifth with a three run seventh, ending speculation that Eglite might go 100 pitches. He ended up throwing 91 of them and getting the win, his second in two decisions.

Four of the five runs he allowed were earned. He gave up five hits, including Clarkson’s homer in the first,and the one Jack Lynch hit in Glacier’s comeback rally in the sixth. Eglite also struck out five of the 22 batters he faced and walked two of them.

Saturday, Rickey Henderson Field will replace Ernie Raimondi Park. It will be Rickey Henderson Day. Starting at 4:35, we’ll see if Rickey can give the Range Riders a run for their money.

Oakland Ballers report: Ballers Butz and Sullivan keep Riders off balance in 6-5 win

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Oakland Ballers pitching held off the Glacier Range Riders on Wed June 18, 2025 at Raimondi Park in Oakland in Pioneer League action (Oakland Ballers photo)

Glacier Range Riders (10-16) 100 001 300 5 8 0

Oakland Ballers (18-8) 303 000 00x 6 12 3

Time:2:35

Attendance: 1,872

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–In a marked contrast to Wednesday night’s thrilling come from behind win over the Glacier Range Riders, the Ballers put up a half dozen runs in the first three frames and then held on to their 3-1 lead as it dwindled to 6-5 in the seventh to hang on and record their fifth straight victory.

It was Baseball for All Night, with an emphasis on women in baseball, and the umpire for the right side of the diamond was Kate Hart, who did such a good job that she passed virtually unnoticed. This evening’s contest began, like its predecessor on Tuesday, with the Riders taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, only now the Ballers roared back with three on back to back singles by Tramayne Cobb, Jr., and Esai Santos, followed by double by Davis Drewek that drove in both of them.

Cam Bufford’s fly to right allowed Drewek to advance to third, and he scored on Christian Almanza’s ground out to second. The B’s added another three tallies in their half of the third. Bufford opened it with a single to center and motored on to third on Almanza’s safety to right.

Danny Harris IV’s single to left plated Drewek and allowed Almanza to move up another 90 feet. With Lou Helmig at bat, a wild pitch enabled both runners to advance another base, and the Baller’s now led, 4-1. Helmig’s two bagger to right that made it 6-1.

Reed Butz, Oakland’s starting southpaw began to waver in the top of the sixth, just about the time the temperature began to drop. Gabe Howell, the second batter he faced, went yard on him to left, and that was it for Butz.

The eventual winning pitcher had needed 107 pitches to complete his 5-1/3 innings of work, during which he had surrendered two runs, one earned, on five hits, including Howell’s homer that drove him from the box. He struck out seven and walked two. Connor Richardson replaced him and hurled another 1-2 /3 innings.

The Range Riders’ resurgence in the top of the seventh suggested the possibility of a repetition in reverse of Oakland’s Tuesday comeback. Kyle Ashworth, leading off, set the stage by reaching first on an error by Harris. One out later, TJ Clarkson doubled to right.

Now it was 6-3. Another out later and another double, this one by Xavier Casserilla, and it was 6-4. Next up was Kingston Liniak. He managed a single to short, allowing Casserilla to make it to third. Seconds later, Cobb’s errant throw resulted in Liniak hugging third and Casserilla crossing the plate with Glacier’s fifth run.

Carson Lambert was on the bump for the B’s to pitch the eighth, and he provided a sigh of relief by escaping unscathed after throwing 17 pitches, one of which hit Angel Mendoza ,which brought forth cries of “He didn’t get out of the way” and so on from the crowd. Lambert also fanned a couple of Riders in the frame.

Connor Sullivan wrapped it up for the Ballers, needing only 12 pitches to strike out a pair of opponents on his way to earning his seventh save of the season. That’s the most in the league.

The visitors used four pitchers.. All of the runs the B’s were scored against Glacier’s starter, starboard hurler Grant Taylor, who took the loss, which dropped his record to 1-4. Eldridge Armstrong II (two innings), Jacob Hasty, and Luke Cooper (an inning each) followed him.

Drewek and Helmig got the hosts’ only two extra bases hits, with a double apiece. Helmig, with three, and Almanza and Buggs, with two each, were the only B’s to have multi-hit games. The Range Riders accomplished a rarity for a Pioneer League team; they didn’t make any errors.

The Ballers made three, but it was their defense that sent the fans home satisfied. Casserilla seemed assured of a Texas League single or more when his pop up to short center, almost invisible in the poorly illuminated Bermuda Triangle in the area behind second base, befuddled almost the entire concurrence at Raimondi Field. But Baller left fielder Davis Drewek was on the ball. And then he was under it, making a sliding catch to put an end to another night of anxiety and excitement.

The next encounter of this seven game series will be a celebration of Juneteenth and scheduled to start at 6:35 Thursday evening.

Ballers run out of innings to catch Jakcalopes in 12-10 loss

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The Grand Junction Jackalopes and the Oakland Ballers did battle Sat May 31, 2025 at Raimondi Field in West Oakland (photo by the Oakland Ballers)

Grand Junction Jackalopes( 3-8) 100 215 201 12 14 5

Oakland Ballers (6-5) 011 010 070 10 11 5

Saturday, May 31, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The Ballers almost pulled off a comeback for the ages this pleasant evening in West Oakland scoring seven runs in the bottom of the eighth and fell two runs short losing to the Grand Junction Jackalopes 12-10.

Trailing the visiting woebegone Jackalopes 11-3 in the bottom of the eighth, the B’s staged a seven run rally, capped by Cam Bufford’s one out two run homer to right center field, to bring them with a single tally of a tie.

That blast, ironically, proved to be a rally killer. After Bufford sent the spheroid over the fence, Reese Miller relieved Cade Flaherty, stopped the home team in its tracks, and set them down in order in the ninth to earn his second save of the season.

The game was exciting but not well played; each team committed five errors. They went through a dozen pitchers; the Jacks used seven and the B’s five. Junction’s hurlers threw 177; Oakland’s, 163.

A quick glance at an abbreviated version of the visitors’ pitching numbers table might give a better sense of what happened than any narrative could. The Ballers’ numbers were similar, but there’s nothing to be gained by fatiguing you with evidence of how ineffectively the hurlers plyed their trade

Pitcher IP R ER H SO BB WP HP BLK HR Pitches

Tyler Curtis 4-1/3 3 2 6 3 0 0 2 1 0 86

Tai Atkins (W) 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5

Zach DeVito 1 0 0 o 1 0 0 0 0 0 20

Aydan Alger 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 17

Mark Schommer 1/3 4 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 21

Cade Flaherty, et al

The game began, like so many others, with the teams jockeying for position. The Jacks jumped out to an early one run lead, the B’s came back to lead 2-1 after three. Junction responded with a pair of runs in the fourth, and the two teams traded one run fifth. The breakout occured in the top of the sixth, on RBI singles by Zeb Roos and Kendall Foster and what looked like the coup de grace, a three run four bagger by Robin Fernández that gave the Jackalopes a seemingly definitive 9-3 lead. The Ballers scored seven runs in the

But, as the Cubans say, all we know about baseball is that it’s round and comes in a square box. The B’s went quietly in their half of the sixth, and the Coloradans tacked on another two tallies, neither of them earned, in an inning marked by two Oakand errors. The outlook sure wasn’t brilliant for the Oaktown Nine that day. The score stood 11-3 with but 2-1/2 innings left to play.

But the B’s bounced back. Esai Santos singled, driving in Pat Monteith and Danny Harris. It now was 11-5. There was a tiny bit of hope left among the Baller faithful. Davis Drewek doubled, sending Tremayne Cobb, i Santos, and Dillon Tatum across the plate to narrow the gap to 11-8. That little ray of hope grew larger. Cam Buffard was up next. His round tripper made it an 11-10 game.

And then the wind went out of Oakland’s sails. Buffard was the last Baller to reach base. Zeb Roos’s double, which plated Luis Hernández with Junction’s twelth run, felt like a mere formality.

Roos led the Jackalopes with four hits, followed by Foster with three, and a trio of batters—Fernández, Matt Piotrowski, and Evan Scavotto—each with two. Scavotto didn’t enter the fray until the sixth.

This six game series will conclude Sunday afternoon, with fireworks or duds or a combination of both commencing at 1:05. It sounds like a fine way to welcome in June.

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 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.