Pioneer League Insider: News and notes from the PBL

Pitcher of the week: Ty Bothwell, Glacier. The lefthander earned the honor after throwing 7 2-3 shutout innings on June 11, allowing four hits and striking out 11. Bothwell currently leads the Pioneer League with 41 strikeouts and 29.2 innings pitched. He is also at the top of the league in games started with five, but still searching for his first win of the season.  

Hitter of the week: Evan Scavotto, Grand Junction.  The utility player went 10-for-23 with three doubles, four home runs and 10 RBIs in a six-game series against Northern Colorado. Scavotto had a slugging percentage of 1.087 and reached base safely 19 times, scoring 13 runs. 

Here they come: After finishing 2024 atop the Pioneer League standings with a 62-34 overall record, including clinching a playoff berth in the first half of the season with a 37-11 record, the Missoula PaddleHeads are currently riding a three-game winning streak. They find themselves in a familiar spot, leading the league at 18-7 after going 4-2 last week.  

Fight for last: The Great Falls Voyagers have found themselves at the bottom of the standings, much as they have all season with three-straight losses. They are 1-9 in their last 10 games with an overall record of 3-22. Northern Colorado is not far behind, also riding a three-game skid and a 1-9 stretch, but with one more win at 4-22. The teams do not face each other in the first half of the season. 

Mark your calendars: Announced last week, this year’s PBL Midseason Tryout Camp is scheduled for July 19-20 at Lindquist Field in Ogden, Utah, home of the Raptors. This tryout gives players a chance to join one of the 12 Pioneer League teams for the second half of the season or a 2026 spring training invite. Two similar events in Florida and Arizona this year saw 37 players sign PBL contracts. 

Lockdown: Both Boise’s Chaney Trout and Grand Junction’s Reese Miller have yet to surrender an earned run this season out of the bullpen. Trout has not allowed a run in 15 innings, striking out seven; Miller has not allowed a run in 13 1-3 innings, with 21 strikeouts and four saves. 

Notable: After breaking the Pioneer League single-season home run record last year with 35, Missoula’s Adam Fogel is currently tied with Boise’s Max Jung-Goldberg for second this season with 11 home runs, trailing only PaddleHead Roberto Pena with 15. ... Pena should eclipse his 2024 total of 24, which was tied for the fifth. ... Idaho Falls’ Benjamin Rosengard has been scorching the ball this season with a league-leading batting average of .500 across 19 games. He is second in the league with 44 hits and his OBP leads all hitters at .581. ... For the second-straight week Glacier’s Bothwell and Luke Schafer are 1-2 in punchouts with Bothwell at 41 and Schafer with 31.  Schafer has a chance to make up some ground with his next scheduled start Thursday.