Pitcher of the Week: Luke Schafer, Glacier Range Riders. Schafer threw six shutout innings on July 18, allowing six hits and no walks while striking out nine. He sits second in the PBL with 62 strikeouts (teammate Ty Bothwell leads with 75). Week 9 marked the third time a Range Rider has won this honor: Grant Taylor got it in Week 6; Bothwell earned it in Week 4. 

Hitter of the Week: Gio Bruso, Yuba-Sutter High Rollers. Brusa went 12-for-26 for the week, with six home runs, 18 RBIs and 11 runs scored. For the season he’s hitting .332 with 16 homers and 62 RBIs. 

Hottest team: The Oakland Ballers have won 8 of 10, with Glacier handing them those two losses. On Tuesday Christian Almanza hit three home runs and drove in six in the Ballers’ 12-8 win over Colorado Springs. On the season Almanza has 19 home runs, 63 RBIs and is one of seven Oakland hitters with over 131 at bats and a batting average above .300. 

Coldest team: The Ogden Raptors have lost 7 of 10. They’re middle of the pack in team earned-run average; as a team that hit .340, third in the PBL. But playoff-bound Missoula came into Lindquist Field and won three straight before the Raptors lost four of six at Idaho Falls. The good news: Christopher Sargent, Jr. (20) and Connor Bagnieski (9) are hitting home runs in bunches. Speaking of which.... 

Under the Radar, Out of the Yard: On June 25, Ogden designated hitter Connor Bagnieski set a Pioneer League record with four home runs in the Raptors’ 14-2 win over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. He hit a 3-run homer in the first, a two-run shot in the third and solo homers in the fifth and eight innings. He also grounded out to the pitcher in the second and struck out in the sixth, going 4-for-6 with seven RBIs. Up through 2019, 16 short-season PBL players had hit three home runs in one game, the last being C.J. Cron of Orem (now the Colorado Springs Sky Sox) against Ogden in 2011. Several have hit three out since the league became an MLB Partner League in 2021; Almanza is reportedly the third Baller to do so.  

Notable: Last Friday Yuba-Sutter center fielder Landon Wallace went 4-for-5 with eight RBIs in the High Wheelers’ 27-7 win over Grand Junction. He hit a 2-run single, a 2-run homer, an RBI single and a 3-run homer. ... Xavier Casserilla has been the Range Riders’ go-to guy in Knockout Rounds, going 2-0 in the PBL tiebreaker, but hasn’t homered in a game since hitting two out against Great Falls on June 25. ... Bagnieski and Sargent homered in Ogden’s 16-12 win at Idaho Falls on July 17, but it was teammate True Fontenot that hit a fifth-inning grand slam, giving the Raptors a 14-5 lead. ... Missoula’s Alec Sanchez homered twice, including a grand slam, and had 6 RBIs in a 20-5 win over Great Falls on July 16.