Game 47 Recap: Trusting Yourself
Ballers Shred Freebirds 11-2 on Metal Tribute Night
by Joe Horton
WEST OAKLAND—Starting pitching? Check. Relief pitching? Check. Bunches of runs? Check. Another Ybarra homer? Check. Saturday’s 11-2 win over the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds didn’t make Ballers fans sweat. They could listen to Immortalica, try to catch that long-overdue hot dog from the fresh arms in the bullpen toss, or watch Ice Cold Kenny keep his undefeated knockerball reign in tact during a contest that was luxuriously in hand from the start.
Oakland (21-26) jumped out to an 8-1 lead by the end of the second. Two of Jeter Ybarra’s four RBI came from his league-leading 20th homer, which capped an early-innings run of four Ballers’ scoring doubles from Esai Santos, Ybarra, Paul Winland, and Jaden Collura. Last night’s hero Winland had three RBI. Tremayne Cobb added two stolen bases, and he’s third overall in the league with 25.
Ballers pitching was outstanding. In a season that’s so far run the risks of fatigue by using lots of arms in lots of nights, this one only had two: starter Aidan Risse went 6.1 with six hits, two runs, two walks, and five strikeouts, and his relief Jacob Petersheim didn’t allow a run over 2.2 by issuing only one walk and letting his defense work behind him. The privilege of calling just two names was not lost on pitching coach Jim Dedrick. “Getting out of the day using only two pitchers is outstanding because then, with the bullpen day tomorrow, we’ve got five or six really fresh arms down there, so it'll benefit us,” Dedrick told Dispatches.
Dispatches also caught up with Risse after the game. What was he throwing today that was so successful?
“I was throwing my sweeper a lot. Guys didn't like it. They weren't swinging at it very well. So I threw that a lot,” Risse said. “Threw a lot of sinkers. The changeup was good; threw it to both righties and lefties, and that, you know, is a huge pitch to have. And then the defense made plays.”
And what about seeing these three other California teams more regularly (in July, they will only play four games against foes from outside the Golden State)? Is there any competitive advantage for you knowing their lineups better?
“Yeah, but I mean, every day's different, right? So sometimes the pitch you threw to that guy last week, he hits it, and today he doesn't. You can get it caught between making adjustments or just keep doing what you trust and keeping you. And I think that works more often than trying to make those adjustments guy-to-guy or game-to-game. But there's definitely a few pitches you circle and you say, okay, you know, when I get that guy again in a week, let's tack this way. Let's go here. So, there's a little bit of that, but then also just trusting yourself.”
What are Risse’s goals for himself with this page-turn to the second half of the season?
“I just want to win. I love this team. I love playing here, and obviously it'd be great to keep pitching at the next level, but right now it’s focusing on the day-to-day success and winning for this team and winning for the Town.”
Dispatches also talked with pitching coach Dedrick about the recently happy marriage between starting and relief pitching after a rocky start to the season. Does he see this upturn as something substantial beyond the usual ups and downs of baseball?
“Yeah, definitely,” said Dedrick. “We have such a short spring training here, so we’re about at the point in the season where a major league guy would be when he left spring training, about six weeks. So the guys are definitely in shape now. We’re obviously executing our pitches much better, and that comes from one, being in shape, and two, understanding the hitters. We’ve played these teams a lot, too. So we’re taking advantage of our scouting reports.”
And how does getting a good start today change your decisions within the game and going forward in the series?
“It definitely changes. There's always guys we pitch in different parts of the game with different scores, but like tomorrow we have a bullpen day, so we really needed a lot out of our starter. We probably pushed him an extra inning just for that reason.”
Tomorrow the Ballers close out the series with the Freebirds, going for only their second three-game sweep at home (the first was the RedPocket Mobiles in May). The B’ are 5-5 in their last ten.
Sunday’s game starts at 1:05 for Oakland Zoo Day. After previously announcing that the game would only be seven innings long, it’s back on at the regular nine.
Video recap from Ben Verhoek. Photos from Darrell Lavin Photography.
Joe Horton is the editor of Dispatches from Raimondi.
