Tower Buzzers Rally for Six in the Ninth, Stun Rawhide 9-8

ONTARIO, Calif. — For eight innings on Sunday, it felt like Visalia already had the win in their back pocket. But then the Ontario Tower Buzzers pulled off their most improbable comeback all year.

Down 8-3 heading into the ninth, Ontario woke up. They strung together a six-run rally. Chase Harlan and Ching-Hsien Ko delivered the big RBI hits and walked off the Rawhide, 9-8, right in front of their home fans on May 31.

That swing gave Ontario a series split after six games. Visalia looked comfortable all afternoon. Ontario kept getting runners on, but didn’t cash many in until Visalia’s bullpen cracked in the ninth.

Starting pitcher Junior Ciprian set the tone for the Rawhide. He gave up a sacrifice fly in the third but then started dealing. Cirpiran delivered four scoreless innings after that, five strikeouts, and only two hits allowed.

For Ontario, Brady Smith flashed some strikeout stuff himself, punching six over four innings, but Visalia figured him out. They put together three hits in the fourth to tie things up and then just took over in the fifth and sixth.

Pedro Catuy got it started with a solo shot. Carlos Virahonda tacked on a sac fly later that inning. The biggest punch came in the sixth, Pedro Blanco, who has been the hottest Rwahide bat all series, launched a three-run bomb, flipping a 3-1 lead into 6-1. Virahonda added an RBI single before the inning ended, and suddenly it was 7-1 Visalia.

The Rawhide kept racking up hits, twelve total with production everywhere in the lineup. Virahonda went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Catuy homered and scored twice. Blanco’s big blast drove in three, and JD Dix was on base twice and scored two runs.

But still, Visalia left the door cracked open. They stranded three runners in both the fourth and seventh. Each miss started to sting a little more as Ontario chipped away.

The Buzzers started a spark with Mairo Martinus’s solo homer in the seventh, then pushed across another in the eighth. They were still down 8-3 heading to the ninth, and at that point, nobody was betting on a comeback.

But Ontario just kept getting on base. They finished with thirteen hits and drew six walks. Those chances finally paid off.

Easton Shelton jump-started the ninth with a leadoff homer. Suddenly, you could feel the energy shift. Then Landyn Vidourek walked, Javier Herrera singled, and Francisco Espinoza grounded in a run. AJ Soldra followed with a two-run homer. Now it’s 8-7.

The chaos didn’t stop. An error put Martinus in scoring position, Brendan Tunink walked, and Harlan smoked an RBI single to tie the game. Ko punched a single through the right side, bringing home the winner. Game over. The Buzzers stormed the field.

Soldra finished 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs. Herrera had two hits and scored twice. Martinus filled the box score—homer, two RBIs, two runs. Harlan got on base three times and drove in the tying run; Ko ended it.

The Buzzers wouldn’t die. They scored 15 the night before, then exploded for 24 runs across the last two games of the series.

For Visalia, they were that close to their first road series win of the season. Ciprian pitched well, and the lineup banged out enough runs to win easily. But when they needed the bullpen to get those last three outs, things fell apart. Ontario only needed five in the ninth to tie it, but wound up scoring six, turning what looked like a routine win for Visalia into one that no one in Ontario is going to forget this season.

Ontario is back at home on Tuesday, June 2nd, against the Stockton Ports.