Cobb Jr. Lifts Ballers to Opening Day Win
Tremayne Cobb Jr. could not be stopped on Opening Day.
By Nevada Cullen
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Tremayne Cobb Jr. could not be stopped on Opening Day. He collected hit after hit, racking up five on the night, and scored the game-tying run in the ninth inning. So, it came as no surprise when the Ballers turned to him in a winner-take-all knockout round after the game finished in a 4-4 tie.
Chris Sargent, who led the Ogden Raptors with 19 homers last season, amazingly failed to launch a long ball in the game-deciding home run contest. As a result, Cobb needed to clear the wall just once to win it.
He took a pitch from assistant coach James Harris. Then, Cobb's red-hot bat blistered the baseball down the left-field line and over the fence for a home run, sending a sold-out Raimondi Park crowd home in high spirits.
The Oakland Ballers needed to come from behind to beat the Ogden Raptors on Tuesday. They trailed 4-1 in the ninth and furiously rallied to force the knockout round and win it, 1-0.
Lou Helmig opened the scoring in the third. The Oakland designated hitter lined a single into left to score Cobb for a 1-0 edge.
Ogden eventually knotted the score in the fifth with a Kenny Oyama sacrifice fly to center. The Raptors grabbed the lead in the seventh, but not without controversy.
With two on and one out, Cole Jordan rolled a grounder to third, and the Ballers appeared to turn an inning-ending double play. However, it was ruled that the second baseman did not touch the bag on the turn, and a run scored as only one out was recorded.
The controversial call allowed the Raptors to post a crooked number in the seventh. The next batter, Connor Bagnieski, provided a two-out, two-run single to extend Ogden's lead to 4-1.
Down to their final three outs, the Ballers came out swinging in the ninth. Michael O'Hara doubled to left and Esai Santos poked a pinch-hit single to right center to start the frame.
Next, Cobb came through with his fifth and final hit of the night, an RBI single through the right side of the infield. One run in, two more to tie.
Helmig nearly provided three runs with one swing. The powerful lefty launched a ball to right field that looked like it would end the game, but it clanged off the fence for a run-scoring double. One more run in, one more to tie.
With one out, Daniel Harris IV stepped up to the dish bearing the burden of an 0-4 night. He pounced on a pitch and rocked it to center field for a sac fly. Tie game.
On that same sac fly, Ogden threw out a runner at third to advance the contest to the knockout round. With one swing, Cobb became a hero, one that the 4,100 fans in attendance won't soon forget.
Good luck following up that home opener, Ballers. First pitch for game two of the six-game series against the Raptors is slated for 6;35 p.m. PDT on Wednesday. If you can't make it to Raimondi Park, you can listen to the action on 860 AM The Answer.
