Game 67 Recap: For the Fenceman
Ballers tally 22 hits, plate 18 runs in explosive win over Mobiles
by Michael Thompson
WEST OAKLAND—On a cool $2 Tuesday night at Raimondi Park, the Oakland Ballers and RedPocket Mobiles provided the fireworks.
Not moments after the singing of the national anthem, the Mobiles jumped on Oakland starter Reed Butz with a pair of singles on his first two pitches of the game. RedPocket’s home run leader Jordan Harrison-Dudley followed with a walk, setting the 13-54 Mobiles up for a rare chance at an early lead. The Mobiles capitalized, with an Efrain Manzo sacrifice fly and RBI single from former Baller T.J. McKenzie giving them the early lead. With the Mobiles already in control, Kishon Frett and Gianni Horvat went back-to-back out of the park to expand the lead to a substantial 6-0 margin.
But no margin is safe in the Pioneer League, and the Ballers chipped away. A Brendan O’Sullivan double and a Jeter Ybarra single off RedPocket starter Kade Walker put runners on the corners with two outs for Jake Allgeyer, who was moved down to fifth in the order after hitting third on Sunday. Allgeyer sliced the second pitch he saw to right field, where it rolled inexplicably under right fielder Braylen Bishop’s glove and all the way to the wall, scoring two Oakland runs.
This electric two-run, two-on, two-out, second-pitch play brought the appropriately-sized Oakland crowd of 2,222 to their feet, shaking the third base bleachers as they watched Allgeyer glide into second on the error.
Ballers players certainly felt the effects of the home crowd, with recently acquired outfielder Mitchell Sanford telling Dispatches that the fans are a big part of the Ballers’ recent comebacks:
“I didn’t know what to expect when I came to Oakland, but it’s been phenomenal, I think, having the crowd on your side and having your back the whole game. I think this game is probably three and a half, four hours. Crowd stayed here the whole night. So it’s really special.”
With the crowd thoroughly behind him, Butz sent down the Mobiles in order in the third inning via two strikeouts and a flyout. The offense picked up right where they left off, scoring three and picking up five hits to make it a one-run game. Butz surrendered a two-run homer in the next frame, but the Ballers would answer back with a huge inning of their own. More on that in a moment.
The main story of the third inning was “Fenceman.” So coined by the Oakland 68s drummers was a man who sat on the top of the right-center wall during Oakland’s turn at bat, necessitating an official stoppage. (He may have identified himself later online as @sungkimhareandarrow.) Umpires called for his removal, and the arrival of bench coach James Harris and head groundskeeper Anthony Alejandrez into the outfield caused him to eventually jump down. The situation was interesting to say the least for new Baller Sanford (4-for-6, four RBI), who finished a triple shy of a cycle and was on second base at the time: “Yeah, it was very unusual. Everyone kept asking me if that’s a common thing, but I’ve only been here for a week, so I don’t know, I’ll have to ask some of my teammates. But I’ve never seen that before. It was pretty funny.”
Said Harris about his goals and mindset on his run out to face the Fenceman: “I was about to take him and flip him off the fence and try not to get hit by Anthony's rake because I didn't know what he was going to do with it…It's one of those things where you're so surprised by what's going on that it's funny. Raimondi Park festivities.” And on his smile the whole run out there? “I was smiling, but when I got out there to him, I was no longer smiling.” Harris laughed. “Once he got off, I was smiling again.”
RedPocket started the 4th by rearranging their outfield, likely in response to Bishop’s costly mistake. Jordan Hamberg entered for Bishop to play left, shifting center fielder McKenzie to right and left fielder Royce Clayton Jr to center. All three outfielders would quickly be of use in their new positions in a hectic inning that saw Oakland pepper their territory with hits and homers.
Noah Blythe and Allgeyer opened the inning with singles, setting up DH Cam Bufford for a rocket of a home run that tied the game 8-8. Shortstop T.J. Rogers followed with a single of his own, knocking Walker out of the game for good. New pitcher Philip Sanders promptly surrendered a homer of his own to Sanford, giving the Ballers their first lead of the game at 10-8.
Still the Ballers weren’t done. Catcher Conner Smith lined Sanders’ next pitch for a single, which O’Sullivan followed with a single of his own. A wild pitch moved the runners up, and a Nick Leehey sacrifice and Ybarra single scored them both. Allgeyer, not to be outdone, punctuated the frame with yet another solo home run. The final tally: nine runs and ten hits in the inning, with the B’s holding a 14-8 semi-safe PBL lead.
Both teams appeared content to coast through the fifth and sixth innings, which finished scoreless. Frett homered for the Mobiles’ in the seventh to drive in a pair of runs, and Smith responded with one of his own in the home half of the inning.
One of the game’s most impressive performances among many belonged to Ballers pitcher Julio Rosario, who struck out the side in the 8th. The former Kansas City Royals farmhand, making just his fourth appearance for the Ballers, showcased a fastball that touched 96mph.
Oakland scored another three runs off Mobiles’ pitcher Angel Lopez, who struggled with control, walking four and hitting Jake Allgeyer in an uncomfortable outing. The 18-10 score would remain that way as Rosario closed the game without much drama.
The win improved Oakland’s record to 9-10 in the second half of the season, placing them within shouting distance of the playoffs. Dispatches asked Noah Blythe (3-for-5, three runs scored) for his thoughts on the playoff race: “I think we all just want to play pitch by pitch, inning by inning, game by game. We don’t really want to think about too far ahead. We just want to focus on the present.”
The Mobiles would like very much not to focus on the present. They fell to 1-19 in the half, easily the worst in the Pioneer League.
Odds & Ends
Starting Mobiles’ left fielder Royce Clayton, Jr is the son of 17-year Major League veteran Royce Clayton. Four years after the elder Clayton’s retirement in 2007, he was chosen to play Oakland legend Miguel Tejada in the award-winning baseball film Moneyball.
It must be noted that in each of the three Ballers games that I have now covered, Oakland has come back from a significant deficit and gone on to win. I will allow today’s win, however, to be mostly attributed to the Fenceman.
Head Groundskeeper Anthony Alejandrez on Fenceman: “I always knew I'd bring the rake if something like that happened. And so as soon as I saw him up there, fortunately, we were three outs away from doing the drag [of the infield] anyway, so I was right in my spot next to my rake. And so I didn't really even have to think about it much. I just picked it up and ran across the field.” And what did he think about being joined by Coach Harris? “Is it any coincidence that the two people who were on the scene to get shit done are the two people who work with Laura Geist? It's the Oakland Ballers A-team, and we get shit done here.”
Video recap from Ben Verhoek.
Animations from Chris Drue.
Michael Thompson is a Bay Area student entering his senior year of high school. He writes about MLB and other baseball leagues on his Substack, as well as for Dispatches. After high school, he plans to attend college and work in the sports industry.
