Oakland Ballers Continue Sizzling Streak

Jason Burke, Madison Montez | Aug 12, 2024

Josh Leslie of the Oakland Ballers points to the crowd / Oakland Ballers

The Oakland Ballers took on the Idaho Falls Chukars on the road this week in the first of two matchups between the two teams this season. They came into this series on a five-game win streak after wrapping up a 6-game series against the Northern Colorado Owlz, dropping the first game winning each game Wednesday through Sunday.

Their five-win game streak was snapped in the first game of this week's series after falling to the Chukars 11-6.  They went on to win the next five in the series, outscoring Idaho Falls 46-26 in the series. The Ballers are 10-2 over the past two weeks. Key contributors this week were Noah Martinez, Daunte Stuart, and Stephen Wilmer. 

In the first and only loss of this series, Noah Martinez went 3-for-5, scoring two runs. Dondrei Hubbard also contributed, going 2-for-4 with another two runs. Reed Butz recorded his first loss in 23 appearances after going 1 1/3 innings where he gave up two hits, three runs, a walk, and striking out two. The Chukars 11–6 in game one, but were held to 15 runs in the next five games.

In the second game of the series the Ballers started their next streak by winning 5-1. Zach St.Pierre was the winning pitcher going six innings, giving up four hits, one earned, walking two, and striking out three. This was his fourth win of the season, giving St. Pierre a record of 4-3. Noah Martinez contributed again, going 2-for-5 with an RBI. Brett Carson went 2-for-3 scoring a run and walking once. Jaylen Smith got the scoring going in the top of the 2nd where he doubled, bringing in Brett Carson and Tripp Clark.

To continue the streak, Luke Short started his second Ballers game since joining the club at the beginning of the month, going four innings while allowing seven hits, three earned runs, and recording three strikeouts. Stephen Wilmer was the best out of the lineup going 3-for-5 while scoring two runs and bringing in one. Daunte Stuart went 2-for-4 with a run, bringing in two, and walking once. Stuart gave the lead to the Ballers in the top of the 2nd hitting a two-run shot, bringing in Brett Carson and himself. The offense didn't let up, and the Ballers ultimately won 10-5. 

Justin Kleinsorge picked up his third win of the season to get the streak to three in a row and improve his record to 3-3 on the year. Kleinsorge’s went six innings, allowing five hits, one run, one walk, and striking out four.  Stephen Wilmer and Daunte Stuart continued their hot streak, both going 3-for-4. Wilmer recorded three runs and two RBI. Jaylen Smith continued his scoring streak in the top of the second, hitting a single and scoring Tripp Clark. It remained a close game until the top of the ninth where Stephen Wilmer knocked a two-run homerun scoring Brett Carson and himself helping the Ballers to a 5-2 win. 

Tyler Davis continued his undefeated record to help the Ballers improve to a four game win streak.  Davis went five innings giving up one hit, two runs, two walks, one homerun, and struck out 4. Drew Woodcox singled in the top of the 2nd scoring Daunte Stuart. The Chukars recorded 3 errors in the game, opening the door for the the Ballers, who took advantage. The Ballers scored in almost every inning except for the first and fourth, getting 17 hits as a team. Dondrei Hubbard went 3-for-6 and brought in three runs and scored twice. Because of the Ballers' non-stop hitting and scoring, they came out on top winning 14-4. 

Reed Butz got his redemption in the final game of the series where the Ballers won 6-3. Butz went five scoreless innings giving up four hits. Noah Martinez got the game going with two outs, hitting a ball out to right-center. Marinez went 2-for-3 on Sunday, being one of the more consistent hitters along with Daunte Stuart, who went 2-for-4. The Ballers called upon three different pitchers in the bottom of the sixth where the Chukars rallied to score 3 runs. Jake Dahle came into the game in the 8th and picked up his 2nd save of the season after completing the final two innings. Dondrei Hubbard capped off the Ballers win by hitting an RBI double bringing in Daunte Stuart.

The Ballers will head home to Oakland looking to continue their winning ways, and also gain some ground in the standings. They will start a new series against the Boise Hawks on Tuesday for the first and only series against them this season. The Hawks are one of only three teams having a better season than the Ballers in the Pioneer League, with the B's at 42-30 and Boise sitting in second with a 43-29 record. The team in between them is the club that Oakland took five of six from during the last homestand.

Boise is also atop the second half standings with an 18-6 record, three games ahead of the Ballers at 15-9. This will be Oakland's best chance to make up some ground this season, and it's coming at a great time with the Ballers ballin' out.