PBL Insider: Ballers won't be stopped; Sargent a Padre
Hottest team: The Oakland Ballers have won eight of 10 and are 65-19 overall in PBL games this season (a league-best 28-8 this half). They went 5-1 last week, with the loss coming 22-9 to Boise last Wednesday. The Ballers got back at the Hawks with a 15-1 win on Friday, rapping out 19 hits. Three came from Davis Drewek, two of them home runs. Their hottest bat is Christian Almanza, who is hitting .329 with 28 HRs and 94 driven in. In his last six games Almanza has gone 10 of 21 with 12 RBIs. He hit three of his home runs in that 22-9 loss to Boise.
Coldest team: Colorado Springs, which has lost seven of 10, though none if it is TJ McKenzie’s fault. Last Wednesday McKenzie went 6-for-6 with two homers, 11 RBIs and four runs scored in a 32-13 win over Grand Junction (teammate Evan Sleight had two homers and seven RBIs in the game). McKenzie had another two-homer game on Saturday, in a 13-12 win; for the week he drove in 22 runs, going 15 of 29 at the plate.
More power: Boise hit six home runs in that aforementioned 22-9 win over Oakland, two each from Jeremiah Begora and Max Jung-Goldberg. Jung-Goldberg drove in nine runs: He hit a grand slam, then a two-run triple, then a three-run homer.
There’s that man again: Missoula’s Roberta Pena hit five home runs last week, bringing his record single-season total to 46 (with 124 RBIs). On Saturday he hit three home runs in a 15-7 win over Idaho Falls.
Padre Sargent: Ogden catcher Christopher Sargent, Jr., has been hitting the ball so well this season — .384, with 35 home runs and a league-record 130 RBIs, in 80 games — that someone was bound to notice. The San Diego Padres purchased his contract last week. The 25-year-old was in his second season in Ogden. He hit 19 home runs in 91 games a year ago. “Sarge is one of the most talented players I’ve seen, a real dual-threat catcher,” Ogden manager Evan Parker said. “I love this kid and couldn’t be happier for him.”
Range Riders homestand: Glacier plays its final home games this week at Glacier Bank Park against Great Falls on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They still boast three of the top four strikeout pitchers in the PBL: Ty Bothwell (111), Grant Taylor (99, third) and Luke Schafer (95, fourth), though all three are lined up to pitch in Great Falls Tuesday through Thursday.
— Fritz Neighbor