Ballers Finish Regular Season with 73 Wins
Oakland Turns Eyes to the Postseason
By Nevada Cullen
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Strangely, a regular season that featured so many positive outcomes for the Ballers ended in a loss. The Great Falls Voyagers defeated Oakland 2-1 on Sunday, and their pitcher, Nick Marshall, nearly tossed a complete game.
The loss was an unfamiliar sight and feeling for Oakland fans, as the Ballers dropped just 12 games at Raimondi Park all year. Oakland settled for a 73-23 record, the best mark in the modern era of the Pioneer League, and an unprecedented 50 games over .500.
One familiar sight did appear Sunday, as Dillon Tatum served up yet another tater. Tatum finished the regular season second in franchise history with 23 home runs thanks to his ninth-inning solo bomb.
Christian Almanza completed the season with franchise records in homers (31) and runs batted in (105). He was one of only four players in the league to launch more than 30 long balls.
Closer Connor Sullivan led the league in saves with 19, tying the PBL all-time record. Four Oakland pitchers finished in the top 10 in ERA (Noah Millikan, Conner Richardson, Gabe Tanner and Luke Short), and three were top 10 in wins (Tanner, Reed Butz and Zach St. Pierre).
Now, the Ballers focus their attention on the PBL Postseason. As the No. 1 seed, Oakland hosts the No. 4 seed Ogden Raptors for a three-game series, beginning Thursday at Raimondi Park.
The Ballers and Raptors battled nine times in the regular season. They split their six-game season-opening series at Raimondi Park in May, and the Ballers went to Ogden and swept the Raptors in a three-game set in June.
Ogden boasts the No. 2 offense in the PBL by batting average and scoring, only behind the Idaho Falls Chukars. League-MVP hopeful Christopher Sargent Jr. left the team late in the year after having his contract purchased by the San Diego Padres, but Connor Bagnieski and Damian Stone provide plenty of pop in Sargent's absence.
First pitch for game one against the Raptors is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. PDT Thursday. As always, you can listen to the action on 860 AM The Answer and on the Oakland Ballers YouTube channel.
