The Pioneer Baseball League season is a little more than midway through the first half — or 27% complete for the overall season, to be exact.

Thanks to winning six of their last seven contests, the Ogden Raptors entered Friday alone in first place of the PBL’s South Division, totaling a record of 16-10 with 22 games left in the first half.

Holding a 2-0 series advantage, Ogden was vying for its first series sweep of the season Thursday in Colorado Springs when its game against the Rocky Mountain Vibes was suspended due to rain with the game tied 1-1 in the fourth inning. Either way, however, the Raptors have done no worse than split any season series to date.

The Raptors did not play Friday, traveling home from Colorado while the rest of the league played games. Ogden will host Boise and Idaho Falls for three games each starting Saturday and going through Thursday, June 29, at Lindquist Field.

The South Division’s first-half race is still wide open. Entering Friday, Ogden’s lead was only a half-game over Boise (16-11), three games ahead of Northern Colorado (13-13) and 3 1/2 games ahead of Grand Junction (13-14). Only Rocky Mountain (7-18), at 8 1/2 games back, seems to be out of the race.

Even with a new roster-building philosophy and after hiring former Raptors pitching coach Les Lancaster as manager, the Vibes are still trailing in competitiveness. RMV is now 76-147 (.341) since joining the Pioneer League two-plus seasons ago, all of which has come in the PBL’s independent era. That’s definitely an overall PBL low since 2021.

In the North, Missoula is once again running away with things. Entering Friday, the PaddleHeads were 21-6 and six games in first place ahead of the Glacier Range Riders. Missoula is now 156-64 (.709) since 2021, definitely the class of the league’s indy era.

The first half of the season ends July 15 with champions crowned and playoff berths secured. The second half begins July 18.

MLB SIGNINGS

Four PBL players have had their contracts sold to major league teams for the players to play in affiliated minor league baseball since the start of the 2023 season. They are Matt Gabbert (Boise/Twins), Kamron Willman (Missoula/Twins), Mark Timmins (Missoula/Angels), and Christopher De Guzman (Great Falls/White Sox).

LEAGUE LEADERS

Reese Alexiades (home runs) and Juan Teixeira (doubles) are among Ogden’s top hitters in leader categories, while Pablo Arevalo (ERA), Brock Gilliam (wins, strikeouts) and Dan Kubiuk (saves) appear on pitching leaderboards.

HITTING

Batting Average: Jackson Coutts (NOCO) .473, Christian De Guzman (GF) .462, Patrick Chung (MIS) .453, Kamron Willman (MIS) .427, Joe Johnson (GJ) .416

RBIs: Keaton Greenwalt (MIS) 37, Abdel Guadalupe (NOCO) 31, Dusty Stroup (RMV) 30, Jakob Guenther (MIS) 29, Jackson Coutts (NOCO) 29

Home Runs: Abdel Guadalupe (NOCO) 9, Ron Washington Jr. (GJ) 8, Reese Alexiades (OGD) 7, Jayson Newman-Dodd (MIS) 7, Dusty Stroup (RMV) 7

Triples: Three tied with 3 — Estevan De La Ojo (NOCO), Payton Robertson (NOCO), Casey Petersen (RMV)

Doubles: Joe Johnson (GJ) 14, Juan Teixeira (OGD) 12, Patrick Chung (MIS) 10, McClain O’Connor (MIS) 10

Runs: McClain O’Connor (MIS) 35, Kokko Figueiredo (GJ) 34, Reese Alexiades (OGD) 29, Patrick Chung (MIS) 29, Henry George (NOCO) 29

On-base percentage: Jackson Coutts (NOCO) .532, Patrick Chung (MIS) .508, Christian De Guzman (GF) .500, McClain O’Connor (MIS) .500, Casey Petersen (RMV) .496

PITCHING

ERA: Karan Patel (BIL) 2.17, Ryley Widell (BOI) 3.24, Tyler Naumann (GF) 3.26, Kevin Dickey (RMV) 3.28, Pablo Arevalo (OGD) 3.42

Wins: Kelvan Pilot (MIS) 5, Brock Gilliam (OGD) 4, Alfredo Villa (MIS) 4, Keon Taylor (NOCO) 4, Pablo Arevalo (OGD) 3

Strikeouts: Alfredo Villa (MIS) 38, Brock Gilliam (OGD) 37, Austin Schneider (NOCO) 35, Ryley Widell (BOI) 31, Zach Penrod (MIS) 31

Saves: Bryant Bagshaw (IF) 4, Tyler Statler (BIL) 4, Dan Kubiuk (OGD)3,  John Natoli (GLA) 3,  Alexis Cedano (RMV) 3

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