Oakland Drops Championship Opener to Idaho Falls, 5-3
Ballers will Look to Rebound in Game Two
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | X | 5 | 8 | 0 |
By Nevada Cullen
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho -- The Idaho Falls Chukars defeated the Ballers in game one of the 2025 Pioneer League Championship Series on Tuesday night. Despite an early 3-0 edge, the Ballers could not hold off the resilient and powerful Chukars' offense, which came alive in a three-run sixth inning.
Oakland's offense started slowly this postseason, managing six hits or fewer in each of its three games in the first round against the Ogden Raptors. The Ballers eclipsed that mark with seven knocks in the contest's first four frames.
Tremayne Cobb Jr. kickstarted the hitting, leading off the ballgame with a double to left-center field. Cam Bufford opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly to shallow right to bring home Cobb.
The Ballers extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the second with three singles. Daniel Harris IV began the inning with a base hit, while Esai Santos and TJ McKenzie each delivered an RBI knock.
Oakland starting pitcher Reed Butz fired five excellent frames, allowing only three hits. The southpaw yielded two runs, and things went south for the Ballers once Butz left the game in the sixth.
Johnny Pappas tied the game with a huge, two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth. Then, Spencer Rich doubled home the go-ahead run to give the Chukars a 4-3 lead, their first of the evening.
Idaho Falls tacked on insurance with two outs in the home eighth. Rich doubled and Simon Baumgardt stroked a run-scoring hit into left to increase the advantage to 5-3 for the Chukars.
Nicolo Pinazzi baffled the Ballers in relief, as the Idaho Falls lefty faced nine hitters and fanned five of them. He tossed a season-best 2.2 scoreless and hitless innings to claim the save in game one.
The offense cooled off considerably for Oakland as the temperatures dropped on a cool night in Eastern Idaho. The Ballers struck out 15 times and did not record a hit in the seventh, eighth or ninth.
Oakland looks to tie up the series Wednesday, with first pitch set for 6:05 p.m. PDT from Melaleuca Field. As always, you can listen to the action on 860 AM The Answer and on the Oakland Ballers YouTube channel.
