A day after becoming the Pioneer League second-half champions, the Oakland Ballers ended their first regular season Sunday with an otherwise pointless 5-1 loss to the Yolo High Rollers in Davis on Sunday.
The Ballers, whose 31-17 second-half overall record was tops in the 12-team Pioneer League, will be back in Davis on Tuesday to face the High Rollers again in Game 1 of the best-of-3 playoff first-round series.
After Tripp Clark’s first-inning grand slam set the tone Saturday for the Ballers’ 9-5 second-half victory, Oakland was held to just three hits in the loss Sunday. Former University of San Francisco right-hander Jonah Jenkins (1-0) held Oakland to one run in 5 2/3 innings in just his second outing this year.
The top two teams in the standings in the first half and the top two squads in the second half each received one of the league’s four postseason berths.
In the second half of the season, Yolo finished one game behind the resurgent Ballers, who gained home-field advantage by winning five more games this season than the High Rollers. Thus, Oakland will host Game 2 on Thursday and, if necessary, Game 3 on Friday at Oakland’s venerable Raimondi Field.
The winner of the Oakland vs. Yolo will play for the league title against the winner of the second series — a showdown in Montana — between the Missoula PaddleHeads and Glacier Range Riders, the top two coming into the first half.