Grizzlies Drop Season Opener in Visalia
VISALIA, CA — A pair of homers put the Fresno Grizzlies at an early deficit in what would become a 6–3 loss to the Visalia Rawhide in the Season Opener Friday night at Valley Strong Ballpark. Visalia struck early and never gave the Grizzlies much breathing room, plating two in
VISALIA, CA — A pair of homers put the Fresno Grizzlies at an early deficit in what would become a 6–3 loss to the Visalia Rawhide in the Season Opener Friday night at Valley Strong Ballpark.
Visalia struck early and never gave the Grizzlies much breathing room, plating two in the first on a Enyervert Perez homer. The Rawhide added another on Jose Mejia’s solo blast in the second, and broke things open with a three-run fourth. All of that came against Fresno starter Marcos Herrera, who took the loss, despite striking out four over 3.2 innings.
The Grizzlies showed life late against the Visalia bullpen. Down 6–0, Fresno broke through in the fifth inning, after Cam Nelson was hit by a pitch with two outs, Roldy Brito roped a double off the wall in left field.
Doubles by Wilder Dalis and Derek Bernard in the sixth cut the original deficit in half, with Bernard eventually scoring on Kyle Fossum’s RBI groundout.
Offensively, the Grizzlies outhit the Rawhide with seven hits. Dalis led the way, reaching base three times with two hits, while Brito, Ethan Holliday, Bernard, and Tanner Thach each contributed a hit.
Fresno just needed more production out of the outs, striking out 15 times and finished just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Out of the bullpen, the Grizzlies found plenty of positives. Ethan Cole was outstanding in relief in his pro debut, tossing 3.1 scoreless innings with five strikeouts and retired all ten batters he faced. Zach Harris followed with a clean eighth, striking out two.
While that kept the game within striking distance, Visalia’s bullpen shut the door over the final three innings. Raul Garayzar earned the win in relief, and Taylor Montiel locked down the save.
They picked up after an elite, but short, start from Chung-Hsiang Huang who was hyper efficient in 4 innings of scoreless work in his start. Huang needed just 46 pitches to strike out six.
The Grizzlies aim to take one back from the Rawhide with game two of the three game series Saturday night at 6:30pm.
JB Middleton will take the ball for Fresno in his professional debut in a game that will be broadcast on 790 ESPN Fresno with the Chukchansi Gold Pregame Show beginning at 6:15pm.
ABOUT THE FRESNO GRIZZLIES
The Fresno Grizzlies are a proud affiliate of the Colorado Rockies organization. The club advanced to the California League playoffs in 2025 and continues to post some of Minor League Baseball’s highest attended games. The 2026 season marks the Grizzlies’ 25th year in Downtown Fresno.