High Wheelers Win Boise Series

Davis, CA—When you have a seven-game winning streak snapped, the man you want on the mound to start a new stretch is someone among the league leaders in many pitching categories. The Yolo High Wheelers (45-37; 22-14) had that man in Ben Ferrer (9-3) in a 10-1 win over the Boise Hawks (47-37; 22-14) on Sunday afternoon at Dobbins Stadium as they took five of six in the series. It's back-to-back series in which Yolo has won five of six, also achieving the feat last week in Grand Junction.

The High Wheelers are tied with the Hawks, with the teams one game back in second place behind the Oakland Ballers with 12 games left for all.

Ferrer worked five innings, allowed five hits, one run (earned), walked three, and struck out four. His nine wins are tied for first in the Pioneer League with Boise's Mike Peterson. Ferrer has won his last four starts, and his ERA is now at 4.48, the second-best in the PBL.

"He's been outstanding, incredible," said Yolo manager Billy Horton about Ferrer over the last month. "He's an absolute bulldog, the kind of player you want—he wants the baseball."

Yolo led the entire way, getting on the board with two runs in the second inning, adding one in the fourth, two in the fifth, another in the seventh, and four in the eighth. Eight of the nine High Wheelers reached base safely, with the biggest contributors being center fielder Brayland Skinner, who had two hits, two steals, and a run scored. His 37 steals are the third-highest in the league. Second baseman Bobby Lada had a single, double, a run scored, plus an RBI. Third baseman Braedon Blackford cleared the bases with a three-run double in the eighth as part of a three-hit game with two runs scored. First baseman Alejandro Figueredo was 2-for-3 with a walk, single, double, and a pair of RBIs. Left fielder Jose Gonzalez was 2-for-3 with two singles, two walks, and three runs scored.

Andrew LaCour, Connor Langrell, and Ty Buckner worked the final four frames, all with shutout efforts. Langrell, in his last 15 games, has totaled as many shutout innings with 20 strikeouts in that span. In this series, the bullpen didn't allow an earned run in 17 innings and had 15 strikeouts.

Langrell said about the bullpen against Boise, "I think the bullpen is great. We brought in some new guys, but everyone is doing their job out there. We are one of the better staffs in the league (bullpen), and once the starting pitcher hands it over to us, we can almost just end the game. We are really into the game down there, and everyone knows what they need to do when they get in."

LaCour worked three shutout innings with four strikeouts in his three appearances in the series.

Luke Malone (6-5) lost for the second time this series. He gave up three runs (all earned) in three-plus frames while allowing five hits, one walk, and recording two strikeouts.

These teams will see each other again in Boise starting on Tuesday night at Memorial Stadium. Right-hander Brendan Knoll (1-2) will start for Yolo against Boise righty Isaac Mendez (5-1). All six games will have a first pitch at 6:05 p.m. PST. It'll be the final regular-season road trip for Yolo.

HIGH TALES

• Shortstop Braylin Marine had his eight-game hitting streak (14-for-30, .467) snapped. He was 0-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. His average is .389, which is third in the league. In the series, he was 11-for-25, hitting .440.
• Blackford has reached base safely in his last 12 games. It was his ninth game with at least three hits.
• Langrell worked two innings for the first time since July 30th at Rocky Mountain.
• Gonzalez had eight RBIs in the series, despite not having an RBI on Sunday. He had at least one RBI in the first five games against Boise.
• Yolo outscored Boise 44-20 over the six games (three double-digit outings) and outhit the visitors 63-48 (with four games having double digits in hits).