Oakland Ballers One Win Away From Championship Appearance

Jason Burke | Sep 13, 2024

Oakland Ballers teammates high five in celebration / Oakland Ballers

The Oakland Ballers entered last night with their backs against the wall after losing the first game of their three game series with the Yolo High Wheelers, needing to win on Thursday and Friday in order to make it to the Pioneer League championship final. Step one: complete.

The Ballers sent Chandler David to the mound with their season on the line, and boy did he deliver. The 23-year-old right-hander fired six scoreless innings, allowing a total of one hit, a fourth inning leadoff double to Braylin Marine. David proceeded to strike out the next two batters, then got second baseman Bobby Lada to ground out to second to end the inning. David finished with nine strikeouts and also hit a batter.

Oakland took the lead in the fifth when centerfielder Brett Carson led off the inning with a home run, putting the Ballers up 1-0. That was the only run that either team would score on Thursday night.

Connor Sullivan came on in the seventh and worked two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four, then Braydon Nelson worked the ninth to earn the save. Yolo recorded a leadoff single in the top of the ninth, and the runner advanced to second on a passed ball with nobody out, but Nelson buckled in and got his three outs to seal the win.

As of right now, the Ballers have not announced their starter for game three tonight, but the High Wheelers will be sending out righty Ben Ferrer, who went 10-4 during the regular season with a 4.35 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP across 99 1/3 innings. In his final outing of the regular season, Ferrer went six innings and gave up nine hits and four runs against the Ballers, walking one and striking out five. In a start against the B's in late July he went 6 2/3 innings, didn't allow a run, and gave up just four hits while striking out eight, so he could be a difficult foe for the home team.

The winner of this game will go on to face the winner of the Missoula PaddleHeads and Glacier Range Riders series. Missoula dropped the first game earlier this week, but like the Ballers, they're headed back home for game two on Friday night. The PaddleHeads were the best team in the regular season, while Oakland placed second overall.