But Tremayne Cobb Jr. had the last say in his professional debut for the Ballers.

Cobb hit 5 for 5, his ninth-inning RBI got a game-tying rally going and his one swing in the Knockout Round decided the contest as Oakland prevailed 5-4 to open the Pioneer Baseball League season.

The 6-foot-1 infielder was second nationally in defensive runs saved among shortstops in his 2024 senior season at Troy University, but it was Cobb’s bat that claimed Tuesday. With his team trailing 4-1, he chased Ogden closer Brayden Bonner — who did not record an out in the ninth — with an RBI single to make it 4-2.

With Brett Erwin pitching for the Raptors, Lou Helmig nearly ended the game with a double off the wall in right, scoring Esai Santos for a 4-3 margin and putting runners on second and third with no outs.

Erwin got an infield groundout, then Daniel Harris IV flew out to center field. Cobb tagged and scored to tie the game, Helmig was caught off second base during the play, and the game headed to Knockout Round, the tiebreaking home run derby exclusive to the Pioneer League.

Ogden batted Chris Sargent for its round of Knockout. He hit 19 home runs last season but didn’t threaten in his turn; each batter’s turn lasts two minutes or five outs, whichever comes first.

Cobb needed just one swing to send one over the left-field fence and deliver victory for the home team.

Van Sickle, who was the Pac-12 Conference pitcher of the year at the University of Utah in 2024, pitched around five walks in five innings, allowing four hits and striking out four. The lefty departed with the game tied 1-1; he allowed a Helmig RBI single in the third.

Outfielder Kenny Oyama’s sacrifice fly for Ogden in the fifth scored shortstop Elliott Good (both returners for the Raptors) to tie it up and give Van Sickle a no decision.

Shawn Triplett (also a returner and, like Van Sickle, a Utah native) pitched a stellar 2 2/3 innings for Ogden, striking out three, walking zero and allowing two hits.

That got the game to the ninth with the Raptors leading 4-1. Ogden broke through for three runs in the seventh against pitcher Carson Lambert. Good walked and right fielder Damian Stone reached on a bunt single to get things going. Oyama then reached via error.

Cole Jordan, who returns from last season, then seemed to ground into an inning-ending double play but Oyama was called safe at second, scoring Good for a 2-1 lead.

Connor Bagnieski, also a returner for Ogden, singled to score Stone and Oyama for the 4-1 lead.

Bonner surrendered a double and two singles to Ballers batters to start the bottom of the ninth, then gave the ball to Erwin, who couldn’t stop the rally in time to secure the win.

Bagnieski hit 3 for 3 to lead the Raptors at the plate. Stone was 2 for 4. The Ballers outhit the Raptors 11-6; six of Oakland’s 11 hits came in the final two innings.

Oakland joined the league last year and made the playoffs; this was the first meeting between the clubs as Ogden did not face the Ballers in 2024.

Ogden and Oakland play again at 7:35 p.m. MDT Wednesday.