Buzzers Battle Back, But Quakes Keep Answering in 13-8 Shootout.

ONTARIO, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers kept fighting Saturday night, but Rancho Cucamonga’s offense just wouldn’t let up. The Quakes piled up 15 hits, drew eight walks, and kept coming through with runners on base. In the end, Rancho won the slugfest 13-8.

The Quakes got rolling right away. Jonny McGill doubled and scored in the first inning. Then Gabriel Davalillo knocked in two more with a sharp single, putting Rancho up 2-0 almost instantly.

Ontario didn’t just roll over. Ching-Hsien Ko singled in the second and eventually came home on Joendry Vargas’ RBI double. In the third, Bryan Gonzalez Garcia singled, and Mairoshendrick Martinus ripped a triple into left to chase him in. Martinus came around on Brendan Tunink’s groundout, and just like that, the Buzzers trimmed the lead to 4-3.

But the Quakes answered right back. They pushed across two more in the third and tacked on three in the fourth, thanks to big hits from McGill, Kevyn Castillo, and Davalillo. By the end of the fourth, Rancho led 7-3, sending the Buzzers into chase mode for the rest of the game.

Davalillo was the star, going 4-for-6 with five RBIs, one of his best nights of the season. Castillo chipped in three hits and scored twice, while McGill reached base three times and crossed the plate three times, too.

Ontario’s starter, Jesus Tillero, flashed some swing-and-miss stuff with six strikeouts in three innings, but he struggled once Quakes’ runners got on. He got charged with four runs on five hits and took the loss.

Rancho kept piling on. Hayden Alvarez belted his seventh home run of the year in the sixth. Then, in the seventh, Marlon Quintero tagged Angel Cruz for a two-run shot, pushing the lead to 10-3.

Still, Ontario had some fight left. In the seventh, Gonzalez Garcia doubled and Oswaldo Osorio singled. Martinus knocked in a run, then Tunink and Chase Harlan each slapped RBI hits. An error at short and a bases-loaded walk kept things rolling, and Ontario erupted for four runs, closing the gap to just 10-7.

But that was as close as it got. Rancho answered with two runs in the eighth and tacked on one more in the ninth. Osorio did homer in the eighth, his first this season, but Ontario couldn’t make up the difference.

Martinus led the Buzzers, going 2-for-5 with a triple, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Osorio went 3-for-4 with a home run, and Gonzalez Garcia also added two hits and two runs.

Rancho’s Trey Gregory-Alford got the win, tossing five innings, striking out eight, and giving up three runs. Tillero got tagged with the loss, dropping Ontario back to .500 at 34-34.

The Tower Buzzers have a chance to rebound in the Sunday afternoon finale as their homestand at ONT Field rolls on.