Relief Pitcher Dahle Ends Ballers KO Blues
The Ballers were tired of losing knockout rounds against the Yolo High Wheelers.
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
By Nevada Cullen
DAVIS, Calif. -- The Ballers were tired of losing knockout rounds against the Yolo High Wheelers. They lost the home run contest on consecutive days, Wednesday and Thursday, and failed to hit a single long ball.
So, after a 1-1 pitcher's duel in nine innings in Davis on Saturday, what did the Ballers do? They sent relief pitcher Jake Dahle to the dish in the knockout round to try his luck.
On his first swing, Dahle smashed a long, deep drive to left for Oakland's first dinger in the third knockout round of the series. Then Jose Gonzalez, who won the previous two knockout rounds for the High Wheelers, couldn't clear the wall. Dahle's teammates mobbed him, and Dondrei Hubbard doused him with a Gatorade cooler full of water.
It won't go down as Dahle's fourth win of the year, but it should.
The game itself didn't appear to be a pitcher's duel at first glance. Payton Harden and Noah Martinez singled to start the game for the Ballers, and Austin Davis walked to load the bases with none out. But Yolo starter Brendan Knoll got a lineout, strikeout and fielder's choice to escape the first inning unscathed.
The High Wheelers got on the board in the bottom of the first. A pair of walks put runners on the corners, and Yolo pulled off a double steal as Brayland Skinner swiped home to grab the game's first run.
Knoll protected that 1-0 edge for six innings. He relied on his sinker and induced 10 ground ball outs, including two double plays in his High Wheelers debut.
Oakland starter Zach St. Pierre shut down Yolo with an even more impressive outing. He yielded just three hits over a season-high seven innings. St. Pierre still has yet to allow an earned run in the month of July in 16.2 innings.
Down by a run in the eighth, the Ballers needed something. Brad Burckel began the frame by drawing a walk, and Harden perfectly executed a hit-and-run to get him to third. At last, Austin Davis bounced a fielder's choice to third that brought Burckel home and tied the contest at one.
Braydon Nelson came on in the eighth for the Ballers. He made light work of Bobby Lada, Skinner, and Braylin Marine, striking them out in order.
With two outs in the ninth and the winning run at third for the High Wheelers, Davis tracked down a line drive in left center to send the game to the knockout round. Dahle (with some fine pitches from Burckel) bested Gonzalez in the first round, 1-0, to hand Oakland an improbable victory.
Following three straight losses to the High Wheelers to start the second half, the Ballers can extend their win streak to three on Sunday, with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. PDT. As always, you can listen on 860 AM The Answer.
