IDAHO GOES DOWN In ten games, the Idaho Falls Chukars may make up four points and move up two slots to secure a postseason berth.
July 13 marks the conclusion of the Pioneer Baseball League season’s first half. With identical 29-10 records as of the conclusion of play on July 2, the Oakland Ballers and Missoula PaddleHeads are tied for first place in the league standings table. The Chukars are currently in fourth place in the league with a 24-14 record, riding a two-game losing streak and having a 1-4 record over their past five games.
With a 26-12 record, the Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers are tied for first place with the Chukars.
Therefore, if Idaho Falls wants to secure a first-half playoff position, it has a lot of ground to make up in just over a week.
So how are the PBL playoff spots distributed?
Each of the 12 teams in the league will play 96 games throughout the regular season.
The season is divided into two halves, with the two teams with the best records in each half competing for two playoff positions. Accordingly, the two first-half playoff places are now held by the PaddleHeads and Ballers.
The team with the best overall record among those without a playoff spot will be given an extra spot if they finish in the top two in both half of the season.
What does this all mean for the Chukars?
The Chukars will need to leap two clubs over the course of the next week or so in order to secure one of the first-half playoff positions and escape the pressure of the late-season competition for one of the two remaining spots.
However, there are some advantages.
First, after a series finale at Melaleuca Field on Thursday night, Idaho Falls will say goodbye to an Ogden Raptors club that has had enough.
In their last eight meetings with the Chukars, Ogden (22-16) has a 6-2 record, all of which have taken place in Idaho Falls. As a team, the Chukars are 22-8 against everyone else. On Thursday night, they will be thrilled to see the Raptors busses leave the Melaleuca Field parking lot.
The Chuks’ next opponent is another advantage.
Head-to-head games against opponents you have to jump are the best way to catch up in a postseason run. The Chukars will host Yuba-Sutter in Idaho Falls for a three-game weekend set that starts with a day game on Friday.
The Chukars will be hosting both Thursday’s and Friday’s games, so they won’t be traveling, so the fact that Friday’s July 4th game is set to begin at 4 p.m. has an influence.
To prepare for the rapid turnaround of a day game after a night game, the High Wheelers, on the other hand, will play a night game in Kalispell, Mont., before boarding a bus and traveling for seven hours through the night.
After that, Idaho Falls will play the Voyagers (7-31) in Great Falls, Mont., for six games to round off the first half.
The High Wheelers will play six games against the Grand Junction Jacakalopes (15–23) to wrap off their first half schedule.
Ten games versus the Rocky Mountain Vibes (21-16) will round up Oakland’s first half schedule. The next four games will be in Colorado Springs, Colorado, while the next six will be in Oakland. In that 12-game home-and-home series, the Ballers have won the opening two games.
The PaddleHeads will play the Voyagers in Missoula, Mont., on Friday to finish a three-game set in which they have won the first two. After hosting the Glacier Range Riders (13-25) for three games, they will travel to Ogden to play the Raptors for six games.
Projecting
The Chukars would have a 33-15 record at the end of the first half if they were able to rescue one game against the Raptors, then defeat the High Wheelers two out of three and sweep the Voyagers.
In that scenario, Yuba-Sutter would need to win no more than 6-4 in their next ten games, including the three in Idaho Falls, in order to pass the High Wheelers.
To move up to second place, the Chukars would also need either Oakland or Missoula to lose at least six of their last ten games.
Yes, the stars would have to line up, but with the Chukars’ remaining schedule, that process has already started.
Oakland might be the more desirable of the two targets for the Chukars and their supporters because the Vibes were among the top two teams in the league before their recent 1-6 run.
However, as athletes at all levels have stated, the Chukars should concentrate on the team across the field rather than the ones on the scoreboard outside of town. No matter the competition, an 11-1 finish is a formidable accomplishment in and of itself.
The fun part: weekly home run derbies?
Already, both home run by hikers have gone deep: @PBL1939pic.twitter.com/RbueFlQChV
Chukars of Idaho Falls (@ifchukars) June 22, 2025
The PBL has a connection with Major League Baseball, although its teams are not affiliated. Additionally, MLB granted the PBL permission to use the copyrighted term “home run derby” as part of that arrangement.
The PBL has also been ordered by MLB to hold weekly derbies.
Teams from all throughout the league will engage in home run derbies every Saturday from June to August.
Players get two minutes to hit as many home runs as they can in those derbies, which follow similar regulations to those recently adopted by MLB.
There’s a small catch, though: it’s a team tournament. The winning team will be determined by the total number of home runs hit after each team selects two hitters and each player receives two minutes during two rounds of head-to-head swing-offs.
Trevor Rogers and Gabe Vasquez have been the Chukars’ derby hitters so far this season.
There will be a blast-off round if, after eight minutes of mashing, there is a tie, much as in recent MLB derbies. For the blast off, each side will select one of their two hitters, who will each receive three swings. The winner will be the one who hits the most bombs during those three hacks.
Additionally, there is more motivation for the players and teams.
The side with the most derby victories at the end of the season will get cash rewards. A separate monetary award will also be given to the player who finishes the season with the most derby home runs.
Chris Hall, general manager of the Chukars, stated that some of the derbies will be pre-game and others will be post-game. The Chukars will play the High Wheelers in a pre-game derby this week, so arrive early for the game on Saturday at 7 p.m.
