Tower Buzzers Pitch Past Stockton, 8-2
STOCKTON, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers leaned on sharp pitching and some real patience at the plate Thursday night, rolling past the Stockton Ports, 8-2, at Banner Island Ballpark. That puts Ontario up two games to one in this six-game showdown. Marlon Nieves, Ontario’s 21-year-old righty, delivered one of
STOCKTON, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers leaned on sharp pitching and some real patience at the plate Thursday night, rolling past the Stockton Ports, 8-2, at Banner Island Ballpark. That puts Ontario up two games to one in this six-game showdown.
Marlon Nieves, Ontario’s 21-year-old righty, delivered one of his better outings all season. He gave them 4.2 scoreless innings, scattering four hits, two walks, and piling up seven strikeouts. Control’s given Nieves trouble before, but this time he had it working, he tossed 50 of his 81 pitches for strikes and kept the Ports off the board even when things got dicey.
In the fifth, with the bases loaded, two outs, and here comes Devin Bell from the bullpen. Bell got Bobby Blandford to roll one over, inning over, damage avoided, and Ontario still up 3-0.
Bell kept it going and ended up with his first win, covering 1.1 shutout innings. Javier Bartolozzi handled the next two, where Stockton finally scratched out their only runs, and Ian May slammed the door with two punchouts in a clean ninth.
Stockton just never got the clutch hit, going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine men stranded.
Ontario’s lineup didn’t exactly light it up with runners on either. 4-for-19, thirteen runners left. But they wore down the Ports by grinding out 10 walks.
Aidan West owned the night at the plate. He finished 2-for-5, drove in four, and doubled. He got two home in the third, then doubled in two more in the crazy four-run sixth inning.
That sixth inning ended up being the backbreaker. Ontario only got one hit but scored four times, milking four walks and watching Stockton commit two wild pitches. West’s double stretched the lead to 6-0, and Caleb Johnson crossed the plate on another misfire.
Johnson kept swinging a hot bat since joining Single-A, driving in two runs. Ching-Hsien Ko went 2-for-6 with his 16th double this year, and Kellon Lindsey reached four times with three walks and a hit while swiping his 16th bag.
Just for good measure, Ontario tacked on another run in the ninth, Abel Lorenzo singled home Conner O’Neal.
Stockton starter Colin Fitzgerald took the L, tagged for three runs on five hits and three walks in 2.2 innings. The bullpen didn’t help either; Yohandri Contreras handed out four free passes in less than an inning.
With this win, Ontario has now taken two straight after dropping the opener on Tuesday. The Tower Buzzers have racked up 21 runs over the past two nights, getting plenty of help from their young bats and an improving group of arms.
Ontario and Stockton pick it back up Friday night at Banner Island Ballpark.
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