The Oakland Ballers made history twice on Thursday night
On Thursday night at Raimondi Park, right-hander Kelsie Whitmore became the first woman to start a game in Pioneer League history. She ended up striking out the first batter of the game, Brayland Skinner, en route to a solid three innings, giving up six hits, three runs , walking one and striking out one.The damage was done in the third inning. With one out, Bobby Lada homered for Yolo.
Zach St. Pierre came on in relief, facing the minimum through his first two innings in the fourth and fifth, but in the sixth, the Wheelers went off, scoring five in an inning that included two walks, two singles, and a hit by pitch from St. Pierre, then a fielder's choice, another single, and a sac-fly off Conner Richardson.
The second bit of history came when the game was tied after nine innings. In the Pioneer League, that means that the two clubs go to a Knockout Round, which is essentially a head-to-head Home Run Derby. Each team designates one player to receive five pitches, and then the team with the most home runs at the end wins the game. If the teams are tied after a round, then a new slugger is chosen from each side, and the teams just keep going until a winner is determined.
With the game tied at eight, the Ballers selected their franchise player, Dondrei Hubbard. Before Tuesday's game, former San Francisco Giants first baseman J.T. Snow said that he was looking forward to pitching in the Knockout Round, and on Thursday he grooved a couple for Hubbard, that the righty slugged over the fence in left. The Ballers won the Knockout Round 2-1, giving them a 9-8 victory on the night.
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