Ballers Take Game One with 4-2 Victory Over Raptors

Oakland, CA - The Oakland Ballers (73-23) struck first and defeated the Ogden Raptors (52-43), taking a 4-2 win in the Semifinal Game One of the Pioneer Baseball League Playoffs Presented by RedPocket.

Noah Millikan battled through a high-stress first inning after 34 pitches to hold off the Raptors. After walking two and loading the bases in the opening frame, Millikan worked out of the jam with a groundout to keep the game scoreless. The right-hander settled in from there, retiring eight straight Raptors at one point and finishing with a line of 7.0 innings, four hits, two runs (one earned), three walks, and seven strikeouts.

Oakland's offense capitalized early. Tremayne Cobb Jr. led off the bottom of the first with a single, stole second, and eventually scored on a throwing error to give the Ballers a 1-0 lead. After Raptor Christian Hall tied the game with a solo home run in the top of the second, Oakland's Dillon Tatum doubled to start the bottom half of the second, and Esai Santos drove him in with a single down the left-field line to put Oakland back in front.The Ballers added insurance in the fourth inning. After Tatum was hit by a pitch and Santos drew a walk, Cobb Jr. came through again, ripping a two-run double just shy of the wall in left to make it 4-1. Cobb finished the night 2-for-5 with two RBI and a stolen base.

Chase Chatman kept the Raptors within striking distance through four innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits while striking out five. Despite facing several deep counts and working around multiple wild pitches, he managed to strand runners and prevent Oakland from blowing the game open before handing the ball to the bullpen.

Ogden trimmed the deficit to 4-2 in the sixth on a Damian Stone RBI double, but Millikan struck out True Fontenot to end the inning. After a clean seventh from Millikan, the Oakland bullpen took over. Conner Richardson worked a scoreless eighth, stranding a runner at second, and Connor Sullivan slammed the door with two strikeouts in a perfect ninth for his first postseason save. 

The win gives Oakland a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Game Two is set for Friday night at Raimondi Park, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. PDT. Fans can follow the action on 860 AM The Answer and on FloBaseball.tv.