Oakland Ballers win first Pioneer League Championship, reviving city’s love for baseball

By Amanda Hari

The Oakland Ballers have won their first Pioneer League Championship. They beat the Idaho Falls Chukar 8-1 in Game 5 Sunday night. 

It’s the first baseball championship since the Oakland Athletics left the city, and fans are feeling the magic of baseball again. 

“It’s a blessing, because there’s that void, that gap, and they filled it beautifully,” said Ballers fan and Oakland native Danny Gomez. 

The Baller have only existed for two seasons, and Gomez has supported the team since the beginning.

“My son and I, we came to the first game of the first season last year and we’ve been coming ever since,” Gomez explained. 

He was at the game Sunday with his son to see the team secure its first championship. 

It’s even more special for Gomez because he has loved baseball for a long time. He started attending Oakland A’s games when he was just 10 years old.

“Actually, my brother and I went to the first season in 1968 and then I went with my son last season,” Gomez remembered. 

He stopped supporting the A’s when they left Oakland, but he says he’s found something even better with the Ballers.

“Intimacy,” Gomez stated, about what’s so special about independent baseball. “Intimacy. In the major leagues, you don’t have the Major League Baseball players walking in front of you and signing autographs. They’re too pompous for that.”

And that difference makes the experience even more special for the youngest fans.

Jensen Tollner is still in middle school, but he has dreams of being a baseball player one day.

Getting to interact with the Ballers is something special. He got his glove signed before the final game of the 2025 season.

“It’s a lot cooler than MLB because they actually come over every single time and sign your stuff,” Jensen explained about the experience with the players. “It’s super cool.”

When the Ballers secured Game 5, his father, Mike Tollner, knew they needed to come see it.

“This is a memory he’ll probably never forget,” Mike Tollner stated. “So be able share the first time these guys are out here for a championship, that’s pretty cool.”

It’s a memory he thought he would never share with his son when the A’s announced they were leaving, but the Ballers stepped up and brought a championship to Oakland. 

Even Mayor Barbara Lee attended the game and spoke directly to the fans. 

“Thank you all for believing in the Ballers,” Lee said to the full stadium. 

Most fans agreed, win or lose, it’s the community that has been built around the Ballers that makes it so special.

“Same thing,” said Gomez about what he would do if the team won or lost. “Just enjoy the night. Enjoy the day, have some good company with good people either way. Either way, we’ll greet them and say good season. And we’ll be ready for next year.”