Ballers Reach Top of Pioneer League with Win

By Nevada Cullen

WINDSOR, Colo. -- On a night in which the Ballers struck out 18 times, they also scored 10 runs on 13 hits, and beat the Northern Colorado Owlz 10-4 on Friday. The win moves Oakland into a tie for first place in the second-half standings with the Boise Hawks and Yolo High Wheelers.

Justin Kleinsorge recorded his fifth straight quality start for the Ballers. He gave up just five hits and two runs over six innings and struck out eight Owlz in his fifth consecutive winning decision.

Northern Colorado starter Chase Jessee struck out the side in each of the first two innings, but the Ballers got to him in the third. Noah Martinez flared a two-out, broken-bat single into left to open the scoring. Next, Dondrei Hubbard swatted an opposite-field, two-run shot to right center to give the Ballers a 3-0 lead.

The Ballers and Owlz each scored twice in the sixth. Stephen Wilmer hit a sacrifice fly and Payton Harden reached on an RBI infield hit to increase Oakland's advantage to 5-0. Then, Jackson Coutts roped an RBI double into right and Danny Perez brought the Owlz back within three with an RBI groundout.

Dave Matthews drew a crucial two-out walk for the Owlz in the bottom of the seventh, passing the bat to Dario Gomez. He deposited a two-run bomb over the wall in left to make the score 5-4 Oakland, as Gomez broke Northern Colorado's single-season home run record with his 24th of the year.

Oakland answered in the eighth. Brett Carson came up with a pinch-hit, RBI double to right center to create a 6-4 edge for the Ballers.

Jaylen Smith, Martinez and Hubbard all singled to start the ninth, as Hubbard chopped a 3-2 slider through the right side to score Smith. Tripp Clark brought in Martinez with a pop-up single behind second, his third hit of the night. Brad Burckel broke the game open with a two-run single past second in his first plate appearance of the evening, extending Oakland's lead to 10-4.

Carson Lambert pitched a spotless ninth for the Ballers. He fanned the first two he faced and got Matthews to pop out into foul territory to seal the victory.

The Ballers, Hawks and High Wheelers all have identical, league-leading 21-13 records in the second half, which should make for a dramatic end to the regular season with 14 games remaining. Oakland and Northern Colorado play a doubleheader on Saturday, so the Ballers can take sole possession of first place in the second-half standings with a sweep of the twin bill.

First pitch for the first game of the doubleheader is at 12:05 p.m. PDT, and the second seven-inning contest starts 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. As always, you can listen on 860 AM The Answer.