Oakland sports standings: Roots playoff push, ultimate frisbee dominance

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Last Sunday, the Golden State Valkyries played the New York Liberty successful a solemnisation of the WNBA’s 30th year. Former Oakland Tech subordinate Yolanda Shavies came to the crippled successful a homemade garment with Coach Anna Johnson’s representation connected it to marque definite that nary 1 forgot an Oakland jock who paved the mode for nonrecreational women’s basketball successful the Bay. Meanwhile, astatine the Oakland Coliseum, the community-owned Oakland Roots are having their champion play ever.

No substance the odds, Oakland continues to incubate sports successful the Bay Area. While we won’t summarize 30 years of The Town’s sports past — for that, cheque retired our communicative connected each the galore sports heroes, from Ricky Henderson to Alyssa Liu to Steph Curry, who are candidates for the Mt. Rushmore of Oakland sports — we tin drawback you up connected the past 30 days in Oakland sports.

⚽ Oakland Roots

The Roots are present successful 3rd spot successful the Western Conference of the USL Championship League, their strongest showing yet and 1 that puts them successful playoff presumption with a grounds of 5-3-6 (wins-losses-ties) successful league play.

They started the period with a 2-0 win successful a USL Cup crippled successful Las Vegas against the Lights FC. Although it doesn’t number successful their league standings, it got the squad backmost connected a winning way aft having dropped their erstwhile 3 matches.

On June 13, the Roots continued their beardown play, earning a constituent against Miami FC successful a 0-0 draw astatine the Coliseum they different dominated connected the pitch. “The bully quality is we inactive created enough, and we conscionable didn’t decorativeness them,” said Coach Ryan Martin. “That’s importantly amended than not creating anything.”

On June 17, the Roots celebrated the Socceroos, Australia’s men’s nationalist shot squad who are using the Roots and Soul facility arsenic their World Cup location base, with an Aussie-themed time crippled against Birmingham Legion FC. (For those keeping track, the kangaroo mascot easy outraced the crocodile and the koala.) Again, the Roots controlled possession and looked solid, but Birmingham scored abruptly connected a Roots turnover successful added clip astatine the extremity of the archetypal half. It looked similar the Roots were going to driblet a winnable game, but Peter Wilson came done successful the past imaginable moment, scoring successful stoppage clip to adjacent the lucifer astatine 1-1.

The Roots headed to Arizona for their 3rd lucifer successful 8 days connected June 20, and they did not look astatine each bushed successful the 100-degree godforsaken heat, knocking successful 4 goals to beat Phoenix Rising FC 4-3. This was the Roots’ archetypal ever triumph against Phoenix successful 8 tries. Wilson came up large again, scoring 2 goals for the brace. The somesthesia wasn’t the lone happening that was hot; the teams got into a scuffle arsenic the lucifer was ending. Former Phoenix guardant Danny Trejo earned a reddish paper for his portion successful the tussle with his aged team.

⚽ Oakland Soul

The Soul completed their play with 5 games successful June, going 3-1-1 successful the period for a 5-3-2 grounds overall. The Soul tasted triumph successful their Pride Match against the Pleasanton Rage connected June 7 by a people of 2-1. Elizabeth Vranesh knocked successful the winning extremity conscionable 1 infinitesimal aft the Rage had evened up the game. On June 12, the Soul avenged their only ever location loss astatine Merritt College by returning the favour and beating the California Storm successful Davis by a people of 1-0. Returning location 2 days later, the squad earned a 1-1 gully against Stockton Cargo FC with starring extremity scorer Shae Murison preventing the nonaccomplishment by banging successful a rebound disconnected her ain deflected shot. Murison kept the momentum going successful the Soul’s adjacent game, connected June 17 against Marin FC Sirens, getting her archetypal extremity conscionable 3 minutes into the match. By the clip she earned a brace with her 2nd extremity successful the 88th minute, the Soul were up 6-0, cruising to the win.

In an breathtaking play finale astatine location against the Monterey Bay Sirens connected June 21, the Soul outshot the part leaders 18-8, but fell by a people of 0-1. The Soul ended up successful 3rd spot successful the Nor Cal Division of the USL W League, 8 points down top-ranked Monterey Bay, who earned the division’s lone playoff spot.

⚾ Oakland Ballers

The reigning Pioneer League champs person not had the rubric defence they’d hoped for. The Ballers presently beryllium astatine eighth retired of 12 teams, with a grounds of 16-20. The crippled connected the tract has yet to lucifer the fantabulous vibes astatine their location games.

The Ballers spent the archetypal fractional of June successful Montana, with a roadworthy bid against 3 Big Sky Country teams. Inauspiciously, they dropped each 3 games against the Glacier Range Riders successful the municipality of Kalispell to commencement the month, including a 10-11 heartbreaker successful the finale connected June 4 erstwhile they mislaid successful the knockout round. In the ensuing bid successful Great Falls against the Voyagers, the Ballers’ bats picked up, arsenic they scored astatine slightest 13 runs successful each 3 games. Unfortunately, they inactive mislaid 2 retired of the 3 to driblet the series. Starting a six-game agelong successful Missoula against the Paddleheads connected June 9, the Ballers continued their saccharine swinging. They ended up taking the bid by winning 4 retired of six, including a 23-11 detonation successful the last 1 connected June 14. The Ballers scored a play precocious 23 runs connected 29 hits, including 2 location runs bashed by league leader Jeter Ybarra.

Ybarra continued his onslaught with 3 much dingers successful the Ballers’ instrumentality to Oakland connected June 16, wherever they prevailed 8-7 against the Long Beach Coast acknowledgment to Tremayne Cobb hitting 4 location runs successful the knockout round. The Coast got their revenge, winning the adjacent 2 games to instrumentality the series. Next, the Ballers had a six crippled home-then-away bid against the Modesto Roadsters. On a joyous Juneteenth Friday night, the Ballers won 7-5 on Cobb’s three-run walkoff homer. However, they mislaid the adjacent 2 astatine home, and past 2 retired of 3 successful Modesto.

The Ballers past homestand of the period was a promising one, arsenic they bushed the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds doubly successful a enactment aft dropping the opener connected June 26. Christmas came aboriginal for the Ballers connected “Christmas successful June” Sunday, erstwhile they won 11-10 connected June 28 connected a walkoff jack by Nick Leehey. Will this beryllium a motion of a turnaround? Fortunately, successful the Pioneer League playoff format, the Ballers tin deed restart and marque the playoffs by securing a apical 2 grounds successful the 2nd fractional of the season.

🥏 Bay Area Falcons

The Bay Area Falcons, Oakland’s nonrecreational women and nonbinary eventual frisbee team, closed the regular play with 7 wins successful a row. This tied them with the San Diego Super Bloom for the champion grounds successful the Western Ultimate League astatine 7-1. Unfortunately, their streak ended connected the archetypal time of Championship Weekend successful Portland, Ore., erstwhile they had their lowest scoring crippled of the year, falling to the eventual champions, the Seattle Tempest, 11-21 connected June 13.

Despite failing to drawback the eventual prize (pun intended), the Falcons tin bent their chapeau connected making it to the last 4 for the 4th twelvemonth successful a row. They besides had respective players named finalists for end-of-season awards: Robyn Fennig and Alex Barnett for Offensive Player of the Year and Bridget Wipfler for Defensive Player of the Year.

🥏 Oakland Spiders

The Oakland Spiders, the Falcons’ antheral counterparts, won connected June 6, their seventh consecutive crippled successful the season, successful a 23-15 location matchup against the Colorado Apex. The adjacent weekend, the Spiders hosted their last location crippled of the play against the Minnesota Wind Chill successful a conflict of undefeated teams. The lucifer lived up to its billing, arsenic the Spiders fell by conscionable 1 point, 18-19 connected June 12.

Last weekend, the Spiders completed a challenging roadworthy back-to-back. On Friday night, June 26, they arrived successful Golden and took down the Colorado Apex 26-17. Then they flew the adjacent greeting to Utah for an evening crippled against the Salt Lake Shred. By eking retired a 20-19 triumph connected Saturday night, the Spiders clinched a location playoff game, apt connected August 8.

With a ascendant grounds of 9-1, the Spiders beryllium successful archetypal spot successful the West part of the Ultimate Frisbee Association. Why is the squad doing truthful good this year? As Spider subordinate Robin Vickers Batzdorf told The Oaklandside, “There is nary magic ‘It Factor’ but mentation and the assurance that comes with it.”

🏏 San Francisco Unicorns

Two weeks into the Major League Cricket season, the San Francisco Unicorns, whose location oval is astatine the Oakland Coliseum, are successful archetypal spot with a grounds of 3-2. The play opened with each six teams playing tournament-style successful Dallas. Their archetypal lucifer was against the Los Angeles Knight Riders connected June 19, erstwhile they narrowly mislaid with conscionable 2 of 120 balls remaining. A metallic lining was the promising debut of recently signed South African cricketer Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who had 58 of the team’s 150 runs. The pursuing day, Pretorius was connected occurrence again with different half-century, this clip with 69 runs. His teammates followed suit and bushed the hometown Dallas Super Kings with 13 balls remaining.

On June 24, the Unicorns kicked disconnected a five-day stint astatine location successful Oakland with different lucifer against the Super Kings. This 1 did not spell arsenic well, with each 10 batters getting retired earlier the squad completed 20 overs (120 balls), for a nonaccomplishment by 22 runs. Two nights later, with the afloat powerfulness of their fanbase, the Sparkle Army, unleashed connected their location field, the Unicorns came backmost to bushed the Seattle Orcas successful a thriller with conscionable 2 balls remaining. Their bats were lively again connected June 28, arsenic the Unicorns chased down the Washington Freedom quickly, winning by 8 wickets with 20 balls remaining. Pretorius again led the way, and successful the process tied the league grounds for the fastest 50, scoring 50 connected conscionable 16 balls connected his mode to earning 66 runs connected the night.

🏋️National Weighlifting Championships

Local endowment showed retired astatine the National Weightlifting Championships, June 20 to 28 successful Colorado Springs, wherever 3 athletes who bid astatine the Oakland Strong gym with the Lift Us Foundation won nationalist titles. The youngest, Legend Gabourel, conscionable 9 years old, won the golden medal successful his value people competing against 12-year-olds successful the U13 category. Skyline High’s Rucker Johnson won the Junior (ages 17 to 20) nationalist title for his value class, going back-to-back aft winning a younker nationalist title a twelvemonth ago. And Oakland Tech’s Robert Whitlock, who is the apical ranked younker lifter successful the country, won his 3rd nationalist title successful the U17, going back-to-back-to-back arsenic a golden medalist. “That ne'er happens,” said manager Mike Jenkins, who founded the weightlifting programme that helped bring these young Oakland athletes to glory. Next up, Johnson and Whitlock volition hole astatine the Olympic Training Center successful hopes of becoming satellite and, eventually, Olympic champions.

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