Opening Day-ja Vu: Oakland Walks-Off Glacier
A Wild Finish Nets Ballers the Win
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
By Nevada Cullen
OAKLAND, Calif. -- From a four-run deficit that felt much larger to a ninth-inning rally that happened in a hurry, it was impossible to ignore the parallels between Tuesday's matchup with the Glacier Range Riders and Oakland's Opening Day triumph over the Ogden Raptors. In the end, a walk-off wild pitch gave the Ballers a series-opening victory, 6-5.
The Range Riders punched the Ballers in the mouth with four early runs, including an Angel Mendoza two-run homer. Nick Leehey provided a spark in the bottom of the third with his first professional big fly, launching a solo shot to left to cut the deficit to 4-1 for the Ballers.
Oakland turned to its rock-solid bullpen in the sixth, hoping Brody Eglite could give the Ballers a couple scoreless frames. But, Glacier greeted him with a single and a TJ Clarkson run-scoring double, and Eglite exited almost as soon as he had entered with an apparent injury.
Then, James Colyer came in and walked two Range Riders to load the bases. Colyer bore down and induced two flyouts and a strikeout to escape the near-catastrophe unscathed.
Down 5-1 in the bottom of the sixth, Darryl Buggs II kickstarted the inning with a triple to right field. Davis Drewek brought Buggs home, and Daniel Harris IV smacked an RBI double to right to plate Drewek.
Next, Christian Almanza slapped a ground ball up the middle to score Harris and complete Oakland's three-run frame. Almanza's RBI single knocked Glacier starter Ty Bothwell out of the game, but after six Glacier still led 5-4.
Caleb Franzen and Carson Lambert combined to keep the Range Riders scoreless through the final three innings. They combined to allow just one hit and punched out five.
Glacier called upon Cam Cowan to convert the save in the ninth. However, Cowan gifted the Ballers three free passes to begin the inning, walking two and hitting Tremayne Cobb Jr. in the back.
With the bases juiced and none out, Buggs skied a pop fly into shallow center that hung in the air forever before falling onto the grass. The Range Riders could only throw out the runner going to third, and Esai Santos scampered home to tie the game.
Two batters later, Cam Bufford reloaded the bags via an infield hit. With Harris at the plate, Cowan yanked a fastball past his catcher, prompting Cobb to race home from third to win the game on a wild pitch.
The series continues Wednesday, with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m. PDT against the Glacier Range Riders. As always, you can listen to the action on 860 AM The Answer and on the Oakland Ballers YouTube channel.
