Ballers Take 11th Straight, Sweep High Wheelers at Home
Oakland Improves to 56-16
By Nevada Cullen
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Ballers keep on winning, and they're having fun doing it. Before Sunday's 8-5 victory over the Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers, Tremayne Cobb Jr. took the field, flanked by a whole host of Little Leaguers.
Instead of joining Cobb on the field during the runouts, the rest of the Ballers stayed back in the dugout, laughing as their teammate stood with his new, much younger teammates behind second base. This sort of lighthearted tomfoolery is a sign of a team that is playing loose and likes being around each other, and the results speak for themselves.
With the win, Oakland improved to 56-16 on the year and 19-5 in the second half, on track to break the record for the most victories in a Pioneer League season (69). After dropping the first game of the season series against the High Wheelers on July 29, the Ballers have ripped off 11 consecutive wins against their rivals to the north.
Also, Oakland completed a six-game sweep of Yuba-Sutter at home on Sunday. It's the first series sweep earned by the Ballers at Raimondi Park in franchise history.
The Ballers battled to an 8-5 triumph in the series finale behind six strong innings from Noah Millikan. He allowed just three runs and struck out six in his seventh straight quality start.
Cam Bufford opened the scoring with a solo demolition in the first. He crushed one of the longest homers in Raimondi Park history, as the ball traveled 453 feet from home plate.
Yuba-Sutter snatched the lead in the second with a two-run double from Randy Flores. But, Oakland responded with a five-spot in the bottom of the frame.
Lou Helmig launched an opposite-field, three-run jack to left to put the Ballers back in front. Three of Helmig's six long balls have come against the High Wheelers over the past two weeks.
Later in the inning, Bufford served an RBI single into left and Daniel Harris IV looped a run-scoring, broken-bat single into right. Bufford finished the day with three RBI and a triple shy of the cycle thanks to his RBI double in the sixth.
Caleb Franzen tossed 1.2 scoreless innings in relief of Millikan. Then, Connor Sullivan locked down his league-best 14th save of the campaign.
Next week, the Ballers fly to Colorado Springs for the second time this season to take on the Rocky Mountain Vibes. First pitch for the series opener is slated 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.
