Ballers KO Range Riders Wedneday

Cam Bufford had a boffo knockout round, and the Oakland Ballers took a 4-3 win from the Glacier Range Riders in Pioneer League baseball Wednesday night.

With the score tied at 3-3 after nine innings, the PBL’s Knockout Round decided the game and Bufford - who has one home run in 12 games this season – drove five pitches out of Glacier Bank Park. The Range Riders’ Kingston Liniak didn’t get any over the fence, and the hosts suffered their third straight loss. 

The Range Riders led 2-0 early, on TJ Clarkson’s two-run double in the third inning off Dylan Matsuoka. In the fifth, Efrain Manzo singled and came around on an errant pickoff throw, a wild pitch and Logan Beard’s sacrifice fly for a 3-1 Glacier lead. 

The Ballers (9-5) drew to 2-1 on Bufford’s sacrifice fly in the fourth inning and drew even at 3-3 on Harris IV’s RBI triple in the eighth. 

Ty Bothwell had an excellent start on the mound for Glacier (7-7), going six innings with two hits and two walks allowed. He fanned nine and lowered his earned-run average to 4.86. 

The teams play four more times, ending with a Sunday matinee game at Glacier Bank Park. Then the Range Riders head to Marysville, California to play the Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers in a rematch of last season’s PBL Championship Series.