Tag: Pioneer League

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.

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.

Ballers keep playoff hopes alive in edging Wheelers 1-0 at Raimondi; Series tied at 1-1

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A sell out crowd of 3,277 took in the action at Raimondi Park in Oakland in game 2 of the Pioneer League Playoff between the Yolo High Wheelers and the Oakland Ballers on Thu Sep 12, 2024 (Oakland Ballers photo)

Yolo High Wheelers (1-1) 000 000 000 0 4 1

Oakland Ballers (1-1) 000 010 00x 1 5 0

Time: 2:13

Attendance: 3,277

Thursday, September 12, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–This Thursday evening, before an enthusiastic near sellout crowd of 3,277, the Oakland Ballers forced a third and final game to the opening round of the 2024 Pioneer Baseball League playoffs by defeating the Yolo High Wheelers in a thrilling, well played, and tight pitchers’ duel, fending off their rivals, 1-0, in a contest that featured consistently elegant fielding by Yolo’s second baseman, Bobby Lada; brilliant mound work by Yolo’s four and Oakland’s three hurlers; a leaping over the wall first inning catch of Brett Barrrera’s drive to left by Yolo’s David Glancy; Oakland’s Brett Carson’s powerful, game deciding homer over the left centerfield fence in the fifth; and some clutch pitching in the ninth by Braydon Nelson, who, after a leadoff single to the speedy Brayland Skinner, who took second on a passed ball, retired Yolo’s second, third, and fourth batters to preserve Oakland’s win and gain the save.

Carson was the only player on either team to have a multiple hit night; his leadoff single to center in the third preceded his game winning shot. Yolo’s Braylin Marine got the only other extra base hit of the evening, a double off the centerfield wall to open the visitors’ fourth. That should give you an idea of how good the pitching was.

Chandler David went six innings for the Ballers to earn the win, allowing but one hit. It was Marine’s two bagger. David showed good control; although he hit one batter, he didn’t walk any. He notched nine strikeouts, and his ratio of fly outs to ground outs was 3-6.

He threw 68 pitches to the 20 High Wheelers he faced. Conner Sullivan allowed two hits and struck out four in his two inning relief stint. It took Nelson 15 pitches to earn the save I described in the first paragraph of this dispatch.

Brandon Mitchell pitched 5-1/3 strong innings, during which he allowed five hits, including Carson’s decisive blow,and a walk. He was charged with the tough loss. Ethan Bates faced three batters in his inning on the mound.

He retired all of them, one on a called third strike, but threw a wild pitch with an inherited runner on base. Andrew LaCour walked one and struck out one in his 2/3 of an inning. And Connor Langrell fanned one batter in the eighth. His brief mound tenure would have been perfected if the third strike hadn’t been a wild pitch that allowed Barrera to reach first, where he was stranded.

The Ballers’ victory forced a third, elimination game between the two California entries in the Pioneer League, both of which have the same principal owners. That game will be played Friday the 13th, at Raimondi Park in West Oakland. The scheduled starting time is 6:35. A few tickets still are available and can be purchased at oaklandballers.com.

The league championship series that awaits the survivor of Friday’s all or nothing set-to will be against the winner of the Glacier Range Riders-Missoula PaddleHeads series. On Tuesday, the Range Riders won the first game between them, and Thursday’s match was rained out.

That contest has been rescheduled for Friday. A third game, if necessary, is set for Saturday. The championship round schedule depends on who does what to whom in the coming days.

For the Ballers right now, the day that matters is Friday the 13th.

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.

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.

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.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Oakland Ballers Pioneer League plays in front of sell out crowd Tonight

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Renderings of Raimondi Park after renovation work at the cost of $1.6 million in West Oakland. The Oakland Ballers played their first home game there on Tue Jun 4, 2024 (renderings from the Oakland Ballers)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, today is the home opener for the Oakland Ballers Pioneer League as they open up at Raimondi Park in West Oakland. The game has been announced as a sell out.

#2 Amaury, how surprised are you that the home opener was a sell out and is this a statement by Oakland fans that interest in baseball in the East Bay is still alive in well?

#3 How much do you see the Ballers being a replacement for the void the Oakland A’s will leave as this is their last season in Oakland?

#4 There has been talk that the Ballers wanted to bring back Jose Canseco as a promotional move and as this team is selling out could really raise interest. How clever of a marketing move would this be bringing Canseco back for a couple weeks to join the Ballers?

#5 The Ballers last month released rendering for their future ballpark at the cost of $41.6 million to renovate Raimondi Park. The Ballers are scheduled to play 48 home games and are carrying their games on KTRB 860. On the face of it they look like their very prepared in this inaugural season?

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com