Oakland Ballers Eliminated From the Postseason

Jason Burke | Sep 14, 2024

Oakland Ballers

Listening to Friday night's Oakland Ballers game on the radio, it sounded like playoff baseball in Oakland. The fans were chanting "let's go oak-land" throughout the game, and were invested in the outcome, despite this being the team's inaugural season in the Pioneer League.

Friday night's game also felt like playoff baseball in Oakland, as the Ballers were eliminated in the first round of the postseason, falling 6-4 to the Yolo High Wheelers in the third and final game. Advancing in the playoffs just isn't something that happens a lot in Oakland. Yet, this team is more important than any championship that could be won. The Ballers helped keep that love of baseball alive for so many lapsed A's fans simply by existing. Having build one of the best teams in the Pioneer League was just a bonus.

As for the game itself, the High Wheelers jumped out to an early lead after Braylin Marine doubled, and Jose Gonzalez drove him home with a two-run homer with two away in the first. The Ballers would trail the rest of the way.

Yolo added runs in the third and fourth, on back-to-back doubles in the third, and a solo homer from David Glancy in the fourth. The Ballers would score a run of their own in the bottom of the third on a Tyler Lozano homer.

With two down in the bottom of the fifth, Brett Carson singled, and Daunte Stewart went yard to bring Oakland within a run, but Yolo added on in the top of the seventh, scoring twice, and taking a 6-3 lead. The Ballers answered back with a home run from Carson, cutting the deficit to 6-4, but they would go down quietly in the eighth and ninth facing Connor Langrell, who got three groundouts, and closer Ty Buckner, who struck out the first two batters on six pitches.

Both Langrell and Buckner ended the season with streaks of ten straight games against the Ballers without allowing a run. The High Wheelers will now face the Glacier Range Riders with games beginning on September 17. With Yolo holding the better overall record in the regular season, they will have home field advantage in the series, though the first two games of the series will be played on the road, with the final three at home.

The schedule for that series hasn't been officially announced, but it will likely be Tuesday and Wednesday on the road for the High Wheelers, followed by a travel day on Thursday, and then up to three games in Davis beginning on Friday and rolling through the weekend until there is a winner of the five-game set.

Heading into the Ballers' first offseason, it will be interesting to see what kinds of moves they make, if there are any changes to their on-field philosophy or in their scouting.

Championships are great, but for the many fans that grew up rooting for the A's, while the trophy is still definitely an end goal, it's more about the journey that the team on the field takes them on each year. It's about the memories the fans create sitting and watching a game with their friends. It's about more than the results on the field. It's about the community that comes together for those games.

The Ballers came in and allowed thousands upon thousands of fans to continue making baseball memories in Oakland, and that is what will be remembered most.