Yuba-Sutter returns home to tackle Boise in 3-game set

Fresh off a 12-game road trip across California, the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds pro independent baseball team returns to Marysville Tuesday for the first of a three-game set with Boise, just the second out-of-state squad that Yuba-Sutter has faced this summer.

Boise sits in a five-way tie for first at 3-0 in the second half of the Pioneer Baseball League’s player development independent league. The two teams in the second half standings will earn the last two postseason spots in the upcoming PBL four-team playoffs at the end of September.

If the same two teams win both halves, then the second-half playoff spots are determined by best overall record, according to league rules.

Billings and Long Beach earned the first two playoff spots with a top-two finish in the first half of the league. Both teams won over 30 games with a .760-plus win percentage through the first half.

Billings Mustangs, compiled a 36-11 (.766) record in the first half, and has been equally impressive home and away, posting an 18-9 record at Dehler Park while dominating on the road with an 18-2 mark.

Billings and Yuba-Sutter did not play in the first half, and will not play to close out the second half of the regular season. After Boise, the Freebirds have two more out-of-state series in August when it heads to Ogden, Utah and Idaho Falls. Ogden was a top-4 finisher in the first half and sits at 2-1 in the second half, according to league numbers.