Patient Tower Buzzers Even Series with 13-9 Victory Over Rawhide
VISALIA, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers left Tuesday’s frustration behind and came out swinging on Wednesday night. This time, they saw pitches, they drew 15 walks, and they didn’t let Visalia’s mistakes slide by. At the end of the night, Ontario owned a 13-9 win over the Rawhide at
VISALIA, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers left Tuesday’s frustration behind and came out swinging on Wednesday night. This time, they saw pitches, they drew 15 walks, and they didn’t let Visalia’s mistakes slide by. At the end of the night, Ontario owned a 13-9 win over the Rawhide at Valley Strong Ballpark, and now the six-game set sits tied at 1-1.
The biggest difference in Wednesday's game was their discipline at the plate. Instead of getting jumpy, the Tower Buzzers made one of the league’s best starters, Junior Ciprian, work for every out. Ciprian came in with a 2.83 ERA and a stingy .155 opponent average, but Ontario forced him out after just four innings.
Ontario racked up those 13 runs on 11 hits, but it was their 15 walks that kept the Rawhide pitchers sweating all night long.
Javier Herrera set things in motion, hitting his first homer of the year in the third. One inning later, Ching-Hsien Ko followed up with his own shot, number 11 for him this season. Ko ended up reaching base three times, drove in two, and scored twice.
Brendan Tunink had maybe his best night at the plate this year: two doubles, three RBIs, and he crossed home twice. Mairo Martinus wasn’t far behind, chipping in two hits (including his 18th double), scoring a pair, and collecting another RBI.
The hottest bat of the series so far belongs to Jaron Elkins. He went 3-for-5, mashed a double and a triple, grabbed another stolen base (his 23rd), and bumped his average up to .302. He reached base four times in Ontario’s win.
The real action came late. Over the seventh and eighth innings, Ontario piled on eight runs. In the seventh, they scored four times, on just one hit. Four walks, a passed ball, and a wild pitch did most of the work. Then, in the eighth, Oswaldo Osorio, who’d just come off the bench, drilled a three-run homer to right. That was his second of the year, and it looked like Ontario had the game wrapped up at 13-5.
The Rawhide showed some fight. Visalia pushed back with four in the bottom of the eighth, including a three-run shot from Enyervert Perez. The Rawhide fans started to make a little noise, but Ontario’s bullpen held firm.
Jholbran Herder picked up the win after taking over from Cam Leiter in the fifth. Leiter, in just his first pro season, kept it together for 4.1 innings: three earned runs, four strikeouts. Through 13 starts, he owns a 3.09 ERA. Jecsua Liborius came in and nailed down the last four outs, stopping Visalia’s rally for good.
Now the Tower Buzzers have some momentum heading into Thursday night’s game. They'll see if they can keep grinding out walks and runs, and maybe string together a winning stretch in Visalia. First pitch Thursday at 6:35 PM.
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Media Contacts:
Adam Serrano
Regional Marketing Director
Diamond Baseball Holdings
Jeff Woolson
Play-by-Play Broadcaster