OAKLAND — Players rushed the field, white jerseys and full grins collided on the infield and bounced until they became a pile of glee on the mound. The crowd of 4,000, decked out in green and gold, was on its feet, waving yellow towels and shaking cowbells. The smell of Hennessy and Modelo rode the Sunday evening breeze around Raimondi Park.
And, in keeping with baseball tradition in this city, the sounds of Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration” thumped loud enough to make the neighbors dance in nearby condos. It was a celebration, the kind of good times the Ballers intended to bring to Oakland when they arrived a year and a half ago.
The party started long before closer Connor Sullivan struck out the final two batters in the top of the ninth. A three-run first inning gave Oakland the lead and it never looked back. The Game 5 for all the marbles turned out to be an 8-1 rout of the Idaho Falls Chukars. The Ballers, who were down 2-0 in the Pioneer League’s championship series, pulled off the comeback to capture the Pioneer Baseball Cup.
Most importantly, in the same year the Athletics moved to Sacramento on their way to Las Vegas, the Ballers delivered a much-needed moment for the aggrieved fans of Oakland.
They delivered the city’s first baseball title since 1989. Not since 2018 at Oracle Arena has a pro team delivered a crown to The Town. Yes, it’s independent league baseball rather than major pro sports. But for a fan base gutted three times by a departure of its beloved team, this felt major.
“It means everything to these fans,” manager Aaron Miles said. “These fans are faithful fans. They’re coming out 4,000 strong. It’s amazing. It means everything to this tight-knit community, all these fans that shake hands with these players, it means everything.”
This is just the second year of play for the Ballers, who were founded in 2023. Last year, their inaugural season, they posted a 58-38 record and finished in second place. They lost in the semis to the Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers in three games.
This season, they added 15 games to their regular-season win total. They then beat the Ogden Raptors in the first round to advance to the title series.
How Oakland clinched its first championship fit their story of a franchise born out of desperation. They lost the first two games of the championship series – both in Idaho – by a combined score of 20-13. The Ballers came home on the brink of elimination, needing their best ball and the vibes of Oakland to get back in the series.
They took Game 3 easily Friday, 10-2, with an offensive explosion led by catcher Tyler Lozano going 3-for-4 with a home run and a double. Then, on Saturday, they pulled out an 8-3 win in Game 4 on the strength of a four-RBI performance from designated hitter Cam Bufford and a bullpen that allowed just one hit in 3.1 innings.
That set the stage for Sunday’s decisive Game 5.
“I just told the guys, ‘If any team could do it, it’s you guys,’” Miles said. “Seventy-three wins during the season. We’ve won three in a row. Four in a row. Five in a row. Six in a row. We can do it.”
The Ballers seemed to sense the moment, almost from the outset. Noah Millikan allowed a walk and a double in the top of the first. But he got a big two-out strikeout with runners on second and third to end the threat.
In the bottom of the first, third baseman Jake Allgeyer stepped to the plate with two on and two out. He took the first pitch Chukars starter Shane Spencer threw and crushed it over the right field wall into the Ballers’ bullpen.
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“I’m not gonna lie, when I hit that, it was an out-of-body experience,” Allgeyer said. “But it wasn’t just me, the pitching staff threw a gem. Everybody played good defense. Team at-bats all around, nobody had a bad at-bat today. It was really a team effort.”
Millikan got into another jam in the second. But with the bases loaded and two out, he coaxed a harmless grounder to end the inning. Milikan’s night was cut short by shoulder soreness in the third inning.
Their committee of relief pitchers — Adam Bogosian, the eventual winner, Dylan Delveccchio and James Colver — didn’t allow another hit for the next six innings. They struck out nine batters, shutting down the Chukars’ offense that had looked potent at times this series.
The Ballers added a run in the fourth and led 4-0 before putting the game away in the seventh inning. They loaded the bases with one out. First baseman Christian Almanza drove in a run with a fielder’s choice. Then Bufford followed with a three-run bomb to put the Ballers up 8-0.
It was time to celebrate.
