Oakland Ballers End First Half on High Note

Jason Burke, Madison Montez | Jul 15, 2024

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

The Oakland Ballers just finished up facing the Great Fall Voyagers in a six-game series to wrap up the first half of the season. With the win on Sunday, the Ballers split the series with the Voyagers 3-3 and finished the half with a 27-21 record, good for fourth in the 12-team Pioneer League, and just two games out of a postseason berth.

Since joining the roster, Josh Leslie is batting .333 recording two doubles, three home runs, and four RBI. He added to the Ballers' historic day by hitting his first AND second home run in a Ballers uniform on Saturday, and ended with being the player of the game.

One thing that Leslie has been focusing on is getting comfortable with the team and settling in. “I want to bring a positive vibe to the clubhouse and help them out as best as I can; making plays at short and scoring runs,” Leslie said.

After having a 3-for-4 day, Leslie got moved up to the leadoff position in the game on Sunday where he clobbered a lead-off home run. Previous to signing with the Ballers on Tuesday, he's also played for another team in the Pioneer-League; the Yolo High Wheelers.

Another key contributor throughout this series was been first baseman Noah Martinez. Martinez is in his first year of eligibility within the Pioneer League after finishing his collegiate career at Pitt University. In just this series against the Voyagers, he has had two RBI, two home runs, and scored a run.

It was announced on Saturday that Martinez was the player of the week for the Pioneer League from July 1-8 after hitting .542 with 11 RBI and five doubles. He also was the player of the game Sunday, hitting a two-run homer that gave the Ballers the go-ahead run in their 9-7 win.

Being one of the more consistent batters getting on base in any way in the series, a key factor is having a good support group around him. “Thankfully we have a coaching staff that helps us stay confident in what we do. They’ve had a lot of confidence in me to produce for the team."

The Pioneer League plays a total of 96 games from mid-May until mid-September meaning it is quite a long and tough season. Something that Martinez does to stay in the best shape throughout the whole season is sticking to a specific routine. This routine consists of not focusing on baseball too much off the field, fishing with friends, or just limiting screen time.

The Ballers signed pitcher Kelsie Whitmore during team tryouts this spring, and it was announced on Saturday that she was invited to an exclusive tryout for the USA Baseball Women’s team--a team that she has been apart of since she was 16 years old. With the news, this means that Sunday, July 14th was her last start with the Ballers for a few weeks. Before leaving for a few weeks to play for the USA team, Whitmore recorded a season high pitching 3 2/3 innings and was also in the lineup, batting eighth.