Hernandez, Ellis Blast Rawhide to Win

VISALIA, CA - The Rawhide held a 2-0 lead in the second inning and loaded the bases with two outs when Marcus Wilson was plunked by Nuts starter Danny Garcia. Garcia threw one pitch to Ramon Hernandez and the game got out of reach.

Hernandez blasted a no-doubt grand slam, the first of the season for the Rawhide, to put Visalia up 6-0. Daulton Varsho was then hit by Garcia and Drew Ellis blasted a two-run shot of his own to left center, giving the Rawhide an 8-0 lead.
Visalia (24-20) never looked back. They added on runs on sacrifice flies by Ellis and Luis Alejandro Basabe in the fourth and fifth respectively before a scoring five runs off of Jeffeson Medina in the eighth.
The Rawhide finished the game with 15 runs on 16 hits, both of which are season-high marks for the club, and every Rawhide hitter in the lineup recorded at least one hit.
Varsho and Wilson led the way for Visalia with three hits apiece, while Hernandez, Camden Duzenack, and Stephen Smith all added two hits each. Ellis and Hernandez both drove in four while Varsho added three RBIs.
Meanwhile, Modesto (19-25) was flummoxed by Visalia starter Kevin McCanna, who hit a rhythm early stuck with it to turn in his best start of the season. McCanna (W, 2-0) went seven innings and struck out seven Nuts hitters while allowing one run on four hits.
After working allowing singles to Donnie Walton and Evan White in the first inning, McCanna escaped the jam unhurt and became untouchable as he set down 13 consecutive Nuts hitters: the longest such streak by any Rawhide pitcher this year. Gareth Morgan broke it up by hitting his tenth homer of the season to open the sixth.
Garcia (L, 0-4) lasted just two innings and was on the hook for a season-high eight runs on five hits while allowing two homers and hitting four hitters.
The Nuts plated a pair in the seventh inning but the Rawhide won 15-3, their largest margin of victory this season.
The Rawhide earned a series win after pulling out of their four-game losing skid last night. They will head into an off-day tomorrow before welcoming Inland Empire to Visalia for a three-game set that begins on Tuesday evening.
On Tuesday night, Visalia will send RHP Riley Smith (2-3, 4.76) to the hill against 66ers RHP Eric Manoah (1-3, 6.35) First pitch is slated for 6 PM and tickets are available on rawhidebaseball.com.