Game 85 Recap, Aug. 25: The Game Goes On
Ballers fall just short of PaddleHeads 7-6 in crunch series
by Nick Clementi
The term “game of inches” is an over-used cliche in sports, but tonight’s game came down to just that. In what’s become a nightly theme lately, the Oakland Ballers trailed early to their powerful opponent at home and came roaring back in the later innings. The comeback was cut short against Missoula when a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch in the 8th inning was missed by the umpires. Love it or hate it, the human element in baseball remains.
The Missoula PaddleHeads (49-34, 25-11) arrived at Raimondi Park yesterday for the start of a three game series, clinging to a 6-game second half lead over the Ballers with 12 games left. After sitting down the PaddleHeads in order in the first, Ballers’ starting pitcher Christian Diaz ran into trouble the following inning. Nate Vargas homered to left, Ty Yukumoto singled to center, Will Bermudez and Michael Koszewski both walked, setting up Elliot Good’s grand slam over the left field wall to make it 5-0 PaddleHeads. After a solo home run by Xavier Casserilla to start the 3rd, Oakland answered back against Missoula’s starter Jaren Jackson, with Noah Blythe doubling home Esai Santos to make it 6-1 PaddleHeads.
Christian Diaz’s long-ball issues continued at the start of the 5th, allowing a solo home run to Bryce Cermenelli. His final line on the night was 5.1 innings, 7 earned runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, and 4 home runs allowed.
The Ballers’ comeback would start in the bottom half against Jackson. Newly-signed Ethan Crawford singled, and two batters later Nick Leehey drove him in with a two-run home run to left center. Noah Blythe would also homer this inning, cutting Missoula’s lead to 7-4.
With Diaz out of the game, in came Oakland RHP Brady Chavez, making his 17th appearance as a Baller. Groundout, groundout, lineout, groundout, groundout. Five outs and no baserunners later, Chavez kept Oakland in the game and passed the baton to LHP Tyler Bates for the start of the 8th inning. Bates allowed a hit-by-pitch and retired the other three batters he faced.
Despite a rocky start to the year and plenty of turnover, Oakland’s bullpen has become a saving grace to starting pitching woes as of late. “We take pride in the fact that we can pick up our starters with length [from anyone] in the bullpen,” Chavez told me. “We can [pick each other up] on any given day.”
Heading to the bottom of the 8th, leading 7-4 over the Ballers, Missoula brought in Ritter Steinmann in place of Brock Lambert. After Blythe flew out, Mitchell Sanford hit a screaming liner over the left field wall, closing the gap to two runs. Brendan O’Sullivan then singled, and newly-signed Joey Winters reached on an error by PaddleHeads shortstop Good. Missoula manager Michael Schlact went back to the bullpen and brought in closer Matthew Taubensee to put out the fire.
With the score 7-5 and runners on the corners with one out, Tristan Moore came to the plate. Moore went down swinging on three fastballs from Taubensee, bringing Conner Smith to the plate after a pinch-hit swap from Ballers manager Aaron Miles. A broken-bat doink into right field off the bat of Smith would be enough to score O’Sullivan, and suddenly the Ballers only trailed by a run. Esai Santos would walk, loading the bases for Nick Leehey. With the season on the line for Oakland, likely needing a sweep to remain in the hunt, Missoula would catch the break of the season. On an 0-2 pitch, Taubensee yanked a fastball inside toward Leehey’s feet. Leehey was certain it clipped his back foot, which would have resulted in a tied game. Despite an unhappy Aaron Miles and an ejection of assistant coach James Harris, the umpiring crew gathered together and decided to not rule a hit-by-pitch. Leehey instead flew out and the inning was over.
Nathan Darden pitched a scoreless 9th for the Ballers, giving Oakland another chance to rally. Ybarra led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. That was it for the B’s momentum, however, as Blythe, Sanford, and O’Sullivan could not bring home Ybarra.
Oakland fell to Missoula by a final of 7-6, a bitter pill to swallow after a spirited comeback attempt.
I spoke with Ballers infielder Nick Leehey after the game who gave us his thoughts on the HBP that never was. “Yeah it was a big moment in the game. He [threw] a heater and pulled it and hit me in the back foot. It’s very frustrating but the game goes on and you have to do your best to flush it and move on.”
Brady Chavez also told me “Yes the ball definitely hit Leehey in the toe area, the whole team saw it. It’s crazy the whole crew missed such a crucial call. I think James [Harris] has a lot of passion for the team winning obviously and was rightly pissed at that game altering blown call.”
Such is life.
The Oakland Ballers are now 19-18 in the second half, 41-44 overall. They’re seven games back of Missoula for second place and a postseason berth. With eleven games remaining, the B’s have their backs against the wall for any hope at returning to the PBL postseason.
The PaddleHeads and Ballers face off again tonight at 6:35 PM PST, one of just five games left at Raimondi Park this regular season.
Video recap from Ben Verhoek.
Nick Clementi is an Oakland native and lifelong Oakland baseball fan. He enjoys long walks on the beach and summer nights at Raimondi Park. He’s a Scrappy enthusiast who doesn't believe in sacrifice bunts. Sports content moderator by day, Ballers beat writer by night. Find him on Instagram and Twitter.
