Ballers Finish Series with Fifth Win over Glacier
Oakland Dominates in Their First Road Trip
By Tyler Petersen
KALISPELL, Mont. –
An 8-4 decision on a getaway day Sunday secured five wins out of six for Oakland in their first road series of the year.
Oakland's first run came in the very first inning, when with two outs a ball hit back to Glacier starter Rayne Supple was thrown away, scoring Esai Santos who was on second base. In what started as an early season trend, the Ballers are now making it look like a rule: they win if they score first, now 10-0 on the year.
Luke Short breezed through the first two innings – six up, six down.
Then more scoring for Oakland.
In the third Darryl Buggs was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Two pitches later, Tremayne Cobb Jr. doubled down the right field line to score the quick Buggs. Then the next pitch was rocketed into center by Esai Santos, scoring Cobb with ease, 3-0 Ballers.
Later in the inning with runners on second and third, Lou Helmig slapped a ball into left field scoring Santos and Davis Drewek. It was 5-0 Oakland.
The Range Riders were able to put one up against Short in the third, then they struck for two more in the fourth. A throwing error by Santos to open the inning opened the door for a rally. The four singles that followed led to the pair of runs and it was a 5-3 game.
Short was lifted after four innings and Conner Richardson came in. Richardson, who entered the game with a sparkling 0.00 ERA, kept the zeros intact with two more scoreless innings.
The Oakland bats had one more rally in them on Sunday and it came in the sixth.
Darryl Buggs knocked in a run with an RBI single. Cobb brought another man in on an RBI sac fly. Santos finished the scoring with another RBI single.
From there the bullpen took the game to its conclusion. Between Richardson, Franzen, Lambert, and Sullivan, there were only four hits and one run for Glacier.
The bullpen on the series only allowed two total runs.
The first road series was an impressive display from Oakland, showing that they very much are in competition for a first-half playoff spot at a record of 12-6.
Starting on Tuesday is the most consequential six games of the first half. Three games against fellow top-team Missoula and three games against the Raptors will decide which teams have the head-to-head tiebreaker in deciding playoff teams. The Paddleheads sit just one game above the Ballers in the standings through 18 games, and the Raptors split the first series with the B's already.
Those games, as all Ballers game are, can be heard on 860 AM the Answer. First pitch for Tuesday's game is scheduled for 6:05 PM PDT
