Rawhide Drop Series Finale to 66ers

Visalia, CA – The Visalia Rawhide (40-62, 12-24) fell victim to a seven run inning in a 11-4 defeat to the Inland Empire 66ers (45-57, 16-19) Sunday afternoon at Valley Strong Ballpark.

The Rawhide got out to an early lead in the first inning. Yerald Nin laced a double and Abdias De La Cruz worked a walk. Ivan Luciano drove them both home on a two RBI single to right field.

Visalia took a 3-0 lead in the second frame. Tytus Cissell led off with a bunt base hit and Nin bashed a triple off the right field wall to drive Cissell home.

The 66ers used seven hits including four extra base hits to plate seven runs in the fifth inning. Inland Empire added three more tallies in the eighth and a final run in the ninth.

Visalia scored the last run of the game in the bottom of the ninth as Abdias De La Cruz hit a double off the left field wall and scored on Luciano’s sacrifice fly.

Neiker Palacios made the start for Visalia in his Single-A debut. He tossed three scoreless innings with five strikeouts and allowed just two hits.

Joe Ariola pitched two dominant innings in relief allowing just two baserunners with no runs and four strikeouts. He has not allowed an earned run in the first 12 innings of his Rawhide career.

Juan Ledezma added a scoreless inning from the bullpen.

Shortstop Tytus Cissell made the play of the week in the fifth inning with a leaping over the shoulder grab on a blooper to left field.

Luciano, Nin and Pedro Blanco led Visalia with two hits apiece while Jose Alpuria recorded a single to extend his on-base streak to 15 games. The Rawhide had 10 hits for a second consecutive game.

Visalia next heads to Fresno for the final six games of the Highway 99 Rivalry Series this year against the Grizzlies. The series starts Tuesday at 6:50 PM at Chukchansi Park. Fans can listen to the whole series for free on the Rawhide Broadcast Network via the Rawhide’s website.

The Rawhide return to Valley Strong Ballpark on Tuesday, August 18 to open a six game series with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

All Rawhide tickets are available through the team’s website and at the stadium box office from 10 AM to 4 PM on weekday gamedays.

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The Visalia Rawhide are the Single-A Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks playing professional baseball in the Central Valley since 1946. The Rawhide's 2026 theme is "Savor the Season" as the team transforms into the Central Valley Sir Loins on Saturday gamedays.   

Stay up to date with the Rawhide on the team’s website and by following the Rawhide on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and X. The Rawhide play all home games at Valley Strong Ballpark located at 300 N Giddings Street Visalia, CA 93291.

Fans can purchase season ticket packages, group ticket plans, single game tickets and team merchandise through the Rawhide website and at the stadium ticket office sponsored by Kaweah Health. All Rawhide games can be watched on MLB.TV and the Bally Sports Live App with a free radio broadcast also available online. Select home games will be aired on KNXT MyTV53. For more information, visit milb.com/visalia, email [email protected] or call (559) 732-4433.