Chukars second baseman Kirkland Banks celebrates after arriving at second for a two-run double, driving in the fifth and sixth of the inning in the first inning. | Kalama Hines, EastIdahoSports.com IDAHO FALLS — Chukar third baseman Kirkland Banks was like Costco Wednesday night, dishing out total bases in bulk. He finished the night going 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs out of the nine-hole, but was just one large spoke in a wheel of revolving hits for the Chukars, who punished the Oakland Ballers and ace Noah Millikan en route to a 15-10 victory and 2-0 championship series advantage. Banks’ first big swing came in the first inning, when he crushed a two-run double to the wall in right-center, delivering the knockout blow to Millikan, who led all Pioneer Baseball League starters in ERA this season, posting a 2.12. Standing at second, Banks pounded his hands together then looked toward the the Chukar dugout and let out a huge roar. That emotion, he explained after the game, comes from his roots and his background as a former collegiate wide receiver at Lamar University, in Beaumont, Tex. “I’m from Louisiana, so I play with my heart on my sleeve, always have,” he said. “And I played football in college, so I would say that’s the football in me that brings out that emotion.” The double was Idaho Falls’ fourth hit of the first, to go with four walks, and forced Millikan from the game having recorded just two outs while serving up six runs. “That guy has been their guy all year, but he hadn’t faced us yet and we have a good, good group of hitters one through nine,” Banks added. Oakland starter Noah Millikan leaves the mound with two outs in the first inning. | Kalama Hines, EastIdahoSports.com Chukar manager Troy Percival spoke highly of Banks, who went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in Idaho Falls’ 5-3 win Tuesday night. “He’s a competitor. He just competes,” Percival said. “He had a rough night last night — there’s no quit in that kid, he’s going to get up there and he’s going to fight for every inch. … Just a great baseball player.” One of the things Banks said he loves about the game of baseball is that it is played every day. That means that no matter how poorly he plays, another game and with it an opportunity to bounce back, is always just a few hours away. For that reason, he works on his mental fortitude during the offseason, so he is able to quickly “flush” any mistake or poor performance away. “The thing that separates the greats from the average (players) is, they have one bad day and they don’t bring it into the next game,” he said. Kirkland Banks lines a two-run double to right-center in the first inning of the Chukars’ 15-10 win, Wednesday. | Kalama Hines, EastIdahoSports.com Kirkland knocked another B’s pitcher from the game in the fifth when he slammed an RBI double into the right-field corner. But the game was far from in-hand at that point. The Oakland bullpen, upon entry in the first inning, stabilized things, allowing its offense to battle back. And battle back it did. Behind a four-hit, two-homer night from first baseman Christian Almanza, the Ballers made it a 6-5 game in the third, knocking Chukar starter Connor Harrison from the game. When the Chukars finally did catch up to the Oakland bullpen, they began to pile on, scoring three runs in the fourth and two runs in the fifth. A four-run seventh made it a 15-9 game, but things still weren’t secure for the home nine. After a 1-2-3 first, the Ballers went down in order just once, in a Steven Ordorica-pitched seventh. Before the start of the series, Percival said that the goal was to win a game at home — understanding that his squad was set to face two of the league’s top starters, and knowing that Idaho Falls’ top three arms are set to start in games three, four and five. The Chukars had already done that job Tuesday, but after knocking out Millikan in the first, Wednesday’s game became a must-win. The skipper added that he knew going in, if the Chukars were going to win Wednesday, they would need to do so in a high-scoring affair. “It was. And it worked out,” he said, adding that Millikan’s command issues gave the Chukars a bit of a push. “We were fortunate, no doubt about it.” Part of that expectation fell on a Chukar bullpen that was without closer Nicolo Pinazzi, who recorded the final eight outs in Game 1. “We knew we’d probably bend, we just couldn’t break,” Percival said of his bullpen. “That’s about what happened. I had to play it out the way it played out.” Five Chukar relievers combined to go the final 6-2/3 innings, allowing five runs. They were supported by Kirkland and three other Idaho Falls hitters to finish with three hits — Eddie Pelc, Johnny Pappas and Thomas McCaffrey — and the entire Chukar order, including Trevor Rogers, who hit his third homer of the playoffs. Trevor Rogers scores the game’s first run on an RBI single from Benjamin Rosengard. | Kalama Hines, EastIdahoSports.com Now ahead 2-0 in the best-of-five championship series, the Chukars need to win just one in Oakland, and will have three chances at it. “I’m not counting my chickens because they’re really tough at home,” Percival said of the Ballers. “We’ve got our work cut out for us. I’ll go against anybody at any time with (Gary) Grosjean, (Shane) Spencer and (Nathan) Hemmerling, but they’ve got three guys who are no joke coming at us. I’m sure they’ve won three games in a row many time this year.” The series will resume at Oakland’s Raimondi Park Friday night, after a travel-day Thursday. Idaho Falls will send its ace, Grosjean, to the mound Friday night looking for a sweep and the organization’s first PBL championship since 2019. The post Banks, Chukars bash B’s ace for 2-0 series lead, now just 1 win from a title appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com