The 2023 Pioneer Baseball League Playoffs features clubs with varying levels of championship success. 

The history-rich Billings Mustangs pursue their 16th league title and first since 2014. A 2023 championship would give the Mustangs at least one title in every decade since the 1950s. 

Although the Missoula PaddleHeads are much newer to the Pioneer League, they have enjoyed the most success in the 21st Century. The club is looking for its sixth title all-time since debuting in 1999 and third in the last eight years. 

The Ogden Raptors have just one Pioneer League championship in their history, coming in 2017. But in the franchise's 17th playoff appearance, Ogden has an opportunity to break through for No. 2. 

And then, there's the Rocky Mountain Vibes. 

The Vibes won the South Division, marking the historic first-ever divisional title in organization history. This season is just the Vibes' third in the Pioneer League, and the organization debuted in 2019, so there's a dearth of history in general. 

Still, the 2023 Vibes have the opportunity to set the bar for the club's future remarkably high. 

Since his arrival to Rocky Mountain in July, Jake McMurray has been one of the best hitters in all of baseball. He sports a .449 batting average heading into the Pioneer League Playoffs with 50 RBI. 

Dusty Stroup, who leads the Pioneer in RBI with 108, has been red-hot at the plate ahead of the postseason with hits in 13-of-14 games. Stroup's also hit 20 home runs — two of which came against Ogden. 

Jacob Barfield, who leads the Vibes with 22 home runs and has a .357 average on the campaign, hit seven round-trippers against the Raptors in the regular season — each of which came after August. 

No one in the Pioneer League has mashed more than Ogden's Reese Alexiades with his 29 home runs. Five came against the Vibes, including a two-home run performance on Aug. 7. 

With no shortage of capable hitters on each side, pitching will come at a premium in the South Division series. Raptors starter Brock Gilliam is among the league's strikeout leaders, but sports an ERA of 6.26. 

After joining the Vibes lineup in mid-June, Zach Ottinger was a standout in the Rocky Mountain rotation but struggled in his last two starts of the regular season. 

The North Division figures to contrast the likely high-scoring series in the South. No starting pitcher has been more dominant in the Pioneer League this season than Missoula's Alfredo Villa, who in 108 2/3 innings of work struck out a league-leading 129 batters — 16 more than the next-most prolific strikeout artist — and maintained an ERA of 2.82. Villa went a remarkable 13-1 in the regular season. 

Along with Connor Schultz, who in 17 starts amassed a 7-3 record and 3.82 ERA, the PaddleHeads just might boast the best one-two starting punch in the Pioneer. 

Billings counters with a batting lineup reinforced down the stretch of the regular season, most notably the addition of Brendan Ryan. Ryan joined the club in late July and proceeded to hit .414 with 27 RBI in 34 games. 

John Michael Faile, a late June addition to the Mustangs lineup, carries a run with hits in 17-of-18 games into the Playoffs. Faile connected for two or more base hits in 12 of those games, including a remarkable run of seven consecutive games with multiple base hits.