Pioneer Baseball League: Sargent surging at the plate for Ogden Raptors
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- Ogden Raptors catcher Chris Sargent, right, high-fives manager Evan Parker after hitting a home run on June 26, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Ogden Raptors catcher Chris Sargent, left, reaches to tag out Yuba-Sutter’s Parker Caddou (5) in a play at the plate Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
Kevin Johnson, Ogden Raptors
Ogden Raptors catcher Chris Sargent, right, high-fives manager Evan Parker after hitting a home run on June 26, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
It’s nearly automatic these days, whether on the road or at Lindquist Field.
If you’re in the ballpark, it’s one big crack of the bat. If you’re scrolling below the main table of Ogden Raptors hitters in the box score, it looks like this:
HR: Christopher Sargent Jr.
Ogden’s captain and catcher, who most call “Sarge,” is probably the least-wanted sight for Pioneer Baseball League pitchers these days.
He did again Thursday night, leading the Raptors to a 5-4 win over the visiting Boise Hawks at Lindquist Field, Ogden’s third straight victory to climb back into the action early in the second half.
ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner
Ogden Raptors catcher Chris Sargent, left, reaches to tag out Yuba-Sutter's Parker Caddou (5) in a play at the plate Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
The game went into the sixth inning 0-0 before Boise (32-25, 2-7 second half) started battering Ogden (31-25, 5-4) starter Rolando Gutierrez Rosario. First baseman Jeremiah Begora’s two-run single pushed the Hawks to a 4-0 lead.
Sargent started Ogden’s answer in the bottom of the sixth. Connor Bagnieski set the table with an infield single before Sargent parked a homer over the left-field wall to get the Raptors on the board.
That gave the captain a home run in five straight games, and in six of his last seven. Sargent has 22 home runs in 55 games this season, second in the Pioneer League to Missoula’s Roberto Peña, who’s scorching with 28.
Sargent got help in the seventh when Kenny Oyama beat an infield single to load the bases with two outs. Bagnieski struck out swinging but on a wild pitch; he reached first safely while Cole Jordan and True Fontenot came around to score and tie the game 4-4.
That set up Sargent for the thing he’s even better at doing than hitting homers: driving in runs.
Another Oyama infield single led off the bottom of the ninth and Bagnieski drew a walk. Sargent stepped into the box, poked the ball into right-center field and Oyama scored for a 5-4, walk-off victory.
That RBI ran Sargent’s season total to 89, which now leads the league. His 2-for-4 night raised his average to .397, seventh-best in the PBL.
The two teams finish the series Saturday and Sunday before the Colorado Springs Sky Sox come to Ogden for 12 straight.
