The Oakland Ballers were looking to build a winning streak, and the team is guaranteed at least one win in their first season. They’re also an extremely strong team, so with the postseason approaching, the stakes could be even higher.
Earlier last week, we said the next two series would play a big role in determining how the Oakland Ballers’ season would pan out. After losing the first three games to the Boise Hawks, Oakland came back and won the next three games, splitting the series with the top team in the second half of the season.
This week, the Ballers came to Northern Colorado and continued to outscore the Owlz. In two series against NoCo in the last month, the Ballers have won each 5-1, 10-2 overall. That’s especially impressive considering the Owlz have a 17-19 record in the second half, which puts them in seventh place in the half. Against teams other than Oakland, they are 15-9.
Oakland has two series left, one at home against Idaho Falls and another on the road against Yolo, to close out the regular season. The Ballers’ overall record is 50-34, the second-best record in the PL, and their 23-13 second-half record is the best. If the season ended today, the Ballers would lock in a postseason berth along with Boise, joining the Missoula Paddleheads and Glacier Range Riders from the first half.
The Ballers have not played Missoula this season and are the only team with the better overall record at 57-26, giving them a 7.5-game lead.
The way the postseason works is that the season is split into two halves. The top two teams from the first half get playoff spots and the top two teams from the second half also get a postseason spot. It can get a little tricky if one team dominates both halves and is a top team in each. In that case, a wildcard winner is crowned and that team would be the one with the best overall record.
This is where things could get interesting for the Ballers. While they are in first place for the second half of the last two weeks, the Yolo High Wheelers are nipping at their heels, 1.5 games behind. The two teams also play six games against each other at the end of the season, so a 2-4 week against Oakland would currently be enough to swing the pendulum toward a postseason spot for Yolo.
Boise is also only half a game back, and if Oakland falters just a little, the Hawks could step in and take over the top spot while the High Wheelers have a chance to take second place. All of that is a very realistic possibility right now. It’s also possible that the Ballers could miss the postseason entirely and still have the second-best overall record this season, with the club currently holding a 2.5-game lead over third-place Boise.
