# 2023 Pioneer League season

The 2023 Pioneer League season is the 80th season of professional baseball in the Pioneer League, an independent baseball league in the Western United States, since its creation in 1939. There are 10 Pioneer League teams, split evenly between North and South divisions.
The Grand Junction Rockies (now named Grand Junction Jackalopes) entered the season as the defending champions, having defeated the Missoula PaddleHeads, two games to zero, in the league's 2022 championship series.

## Season schedule

The 10 teams in the league are split evenly between two divisions, North and South. The Grand Junction Rockies changed their name to the Grand Junction Jackalopes.
Over the course of the season, each team will play 96 games in a split schedule between the North Division (Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Glacier, and Idaho Falls) and the South Division (NoCo, Rocky Mountain, Grand Junction, Boise, and Ogden) with the first half ending on July 16 and the second half ending on September 9. In the playoffs, first-half division winners will play second-half division winners in a best-of-three playoff. The division playoff winners will meet for a final best-of-three championship series.

## Regular season standings

Legend:

### y

    Clinched division

### x

    Clinched playoff spot

### e

    Eliminated from playoff contention

### First half standings

North Division Regular Season Standings :
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| 1 | y – Missoula PaddleHeads | 48 | 35 | 13 | .729 | -- |
| 2 | e – Glacier Range Riders | 46 | 31 | 15 | .674 | 3.0 |
| 3 | e – Billings Mustangs | 48 | 19 | 29 | .396 | 16.0 |
| 4 | e – Great Falls Voyagers | 46 | 15 | 31 | .326 | 19.0 |
| 5 | e – Idaho Falls Chukars | 48 | 15 | 33 | .313 | 20.0 |
South Division Regular Season Standings :
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| 1 | y – Ogden Raptors | 48 | 31 | 17 | .646 | -- |
| 2 | e – Boise Hawks | 48 | 28 | 20 | .583 | 3.0 |
| 3 | e – Northern Colorado Owlz | 47 | 23 | 24 | .489 | 7.5 |
| 4 | e – Rocky Mountain Vibes | 47 | 20 | 27 | .426 | 10.5 |
| 5 | e – Grand Junction Jackalopes | 48 | 20 | 28 | .417 | 11.0 |

### Second half standings

North Division Regular Season Standings :
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| 1 | y – Billings Mustangs | 48 | 32 | 16 | .667 | -- |
| 2 | e – Missoula PaddleHeads | 47 | 31 | 16 | .660 | 0.5 |
| 3 | e – Glacier Range Riders | 50 | 23 | 27 | .460 | 10.0 |
| 4 | e – Great Falls Voyagers | 50 | 21 | 29 | .420 | 12.0 |
| 5 | e – Idaho Falls Chukars | 47 | 18 | 29 | .383 | 13.5 |
South Division Regular Season Standings :
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| 1 | y – Rocky Mountain Vibes | 48 | 28 | 20 | .583 | -- |
| 2 | e – Grand Junction Jackalopes | 48 | 25 | 23 | .521 | 3.0 |
| 3 | e – Northern Colorado Owlz | 48 | 23 | 25 | .479 | 5.0 |
| 4 | e – Boise Hawks | 48 | 21 | 27 | .438 | 7.0 |
| 5 | e – Ogden Raptors | 48 | 19 | 29 | .396 | 9.0 |

### Full season standings

North Division Regular Season Standings :
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| 1 | x – Missoula PaddleHeads | 95 | 66 | 29 | .695 | -- |
| 2 | e – Glacier Range Riders | 96 | 54 | 42 | .563 | 12.5 |
| 3 | x – Billings Mustangs | 96 | 51 | 45 | .531 | 15.5 |
| 4 | e – Great Falls Voyagers | 96 | 35 | 61 | .365 | 31.5 |
| 5 | e – Idaho Falls Chukars | 95 | 34 | 61 | .358 | 32.0 |
South Division Regular Season Standings :
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| 1 | x – Ogden Raptors | 96 | 50 | 46 | .521 | -- |
| 2 | e – Boise Hawks | 96 | 49 | 47 | .537 | 1.0 |
| 3 | x – Rocky Mountain Vibes | 95 | 48 | 47 | .505 | 1.5 |
| 4 | e – Northern Colorado Owlz | 95 | 46 | 49 | .484 | 3.5 |
| 5 | e – Grand Junction Jackalopes | 96 | 45 | 51 | .469 | 5.0 |

## Statistical leaders
### Hitting

2023 Pioneer League season hitting records :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| HR | Reese Alexiades | Ogden Raptors | 29 |
| AVG | Dondrei Hubbard | Missoula PaddleHeads | .395 |
| RBIs | Jaylen Hubbard | Grand Junction Jackalopes | 117 |
| SB | Payton Robertson | Northern Colorado Owlz | 62 |

### Pitching

2023 Pioneer League season pitching records :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| W | Alfredo Villa | Missoula PaddleHeads | 13 |
| ERA | Alfredo Villa | Missoula PaddleHeads | 2.82 |
| SO | Alfredo Villa | Missoula PaddleHeads | 129 |
| SV | Dan Kubiuk | Ogden Raptors | 15 |

## Awards
### End of year awards

2023 Pioneer League season end of year awards :
| Award | Player | Team |
| Most Valuable Player | Reese Alexiades | Ogden Raptors |
| Pitcher of the Year | Alfredo Villa | Missoula PaddleHeads |
| Reliever of the Year | Dan Kubiuk | Ogden Raptors |
| Rookie of the Year | John Michael Faile / Ron Washington Jr. | Billings Mustangs / Grand Junction Jackalopes |
| International Player of the Year | Abdel Guadalupe | Northern Colorado Owlz |
| Manager of the Year | Billy Horton | Billings Mustangs |

### All-star selections

All-star hitters in the 2023 Pioneer League season :
| Position | Player | Team |
| C | Logan Williams | Raptors |
| 1B | Joe Johnson | Jackalopes |
| 2B | Jaylen Hubbard | Jackalopes |
| 3B | Dusty Stroup | Vibes |
| SS | McClain O'Connor | PaddleHeads |
| LF | Henry George | Owlz |
| CF | Reese Alexiades | Raptors |
| RF | Ron Washington Jr. | Jackalopes |
| DH | D.J. Poteet | Hawks |
All-star pitchers in the 2023 Pioneer League season :
| Position | Player | Team |
| SP | Zach Penrod | PaddleHeads |
| SP | Alfredo Villa | PaddleHeads |
| RP | Dan Kubiuk | Raptors |
| RP | Brandon McCabe | Raptors |

## Playoffs
### Format

In the playoffs, first-half division winners will play second-half division winners in a best-of-three playoff. The division playoff winners will meet for a final best-of-three championship series.

### Playoff bracket

| Division Series (best-of-three) | Division Series (best-of-three) | Division Series (best-of-three) | Division Series (best-of-three) | Division Series (best-of-three) | Championship Series (best-of-three) | Championship Series (best-of-three) | Championship Series (best-of-three) | Championship Series (best-of-three) | Championship Series (best-of-three) |
| North Division | North Division | North Division | North Division | North Division | | | | | |
| Missoula PaddleHeads | Missoula PaddleHeads | 5 | 13 | 7 | | | | | |
| Billings Mustangs | Billings Mustangs | 8 | 3 | 8 | | |
| Billings Mustangs | Billings Mustangs | 8 | 3 | 8 | Billings Mustangs | Billings Mustangs | 4 | 5 | X |
| South Division | South Division | South Division | South Division | South Division | Billings Mustangs | Billings Mustangs | 4 | 5 | X |
| South Division | South Division | South Division | South Division | South Division | Ogden Raptors | Ogden Raptors | 7 | 7 | X |
| Ogden Raptors | Ogden Raptors | 0 | 9 | 3 | Ogden Raptors | Ogden Raptors | 7 | 7 | X |
| Rocky Mountain Vibes | Rocky Mountain Vibes | 11 | 4 | 1 | | |