Ballers Beat Hawks 9-7, Win Fifth Straight
Oakland Tied for First with 12 Games Remaining in Half
By Nevada Cullen
BOISE, Idaho -- For the third time in June, the Ballers are winners of five in a row. They took the last five in Boise, including a 9-7 victory in Sunday's finale, and are tied for first in the Pioneer League with two weeks left in the first half.
Despite being held hitless through three, the Ballers entered the fourth with the score tied at two. Oakland scored two runs in the first via three walks, an error and a wild pitch.
Daniel Harris IV led off the fourth, and like Tremayne Cobb Jr. the day prior, he untied a 2-2 score with a solo shot. Harris' seventh homer inspired a five-run outburst for Oakland in the inning.
Ryan Pierce and Nick Leehey roasted back-to-back singles at more than 105 mph, with Leehey driving in the second run of the inning. Leehey's RBI base hit knocked Boise starter Tony Roca out of the game.
Two batters later, Cobb came through with a bases-loaded, two-run single into center. Esai Santos followed him with a sacrifice fly to grow Oakland's advantage to 7-2.
In the fifth, Cam Bufford sliced a one-out double to right center. With Bufford stealing third, Dillon Tatum lined a ball right where the third baseman would have been, bringing Bufford home with a single and pushing his RBI total to 21 on the series.
Luke Short pitched into the sixth for the Ballers. He fanned six Hawks, walked just one and picked up his fourth win of the season.
James Colyer entered for Short in the sixth and ended the frame with a strikeout. Colyer did not allow a hit, punched out a pair and faced the minimum in 2.1 impressive innings of relief.
Cobb tripled to begin the ninth and scored on a Santos RBI single. This run proved important when the Hawks rallied in the ninth, as former Baller Coleton Horner brought his new team within two with a three-run blast.
With Carson Lambert and Connor Sullivan having pitched on back-to-back days and unavailable out of the bullpen Sunday, the Ballers rolled with Conner Richardson to close it out. And with a little help from a diving catch in center by Darryl Buggs II, Richardson got the final two outs to earn his first professional save.
The Ballers finish the first half with 12 games against the Rocky Mountain Vibes: six in Colorado Springs and six in Oakland. First pitch for the opener in Colorado Springs is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. PDT Tuesday. As always, you can listen to the action on 860 AM The Answer and on the Oakland Ballers YouTube channel.
