Tower Buzzers Walk Off 66ers 7-6
ONTARIO, Calif. — Just one night after that wild, record-shattering 22-21 game, the Ontario Tower Buzzers pulled off another thriller. They came from behind again, shaking off a one-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth and taking full advantage of three costly errors by Inland Empire to walk off
ONTARIO, Calif. — Just one night after that wild, record-shattering 22-21 game, the Ontario Tower Buzzers pulled off another thriller.
They came from behind again, shaking off a one-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth and taking full advantage of three costly errors by Inland Empire to walk off with a 7-6 win Thursday at ONT Field. That makes two straight victories in the six-game series and puts Ontario at 44-40 on the year.
This one looked nothing like Wednesday’s wild shootout, at least early on. The starters kept things tight, but late in the game, everything unraveled…again.
Hyun-Seok Jang was sharp for Ontario. He scattered four hits and two runs over six innings, punched out eight, and walked only two. Inland Empire’s hitters couldn’t get comfortable against him all night.
The 66ers got on the board first in the third. But Ontario answered right away. Mairo Martinus singled, then Jaron Elkins drove him in to tie the game. Just two batters later, Ching-Hsien Ko came up and launched a three-run shot to right for his 15th homer this season. Suddenly, Ontario was up 4-1.
Ko ended up with three RBIs. Elkins stayed hot too, picking up two hits and driving in a couple of runs himself.
Ontario made it 5-2 in the sixth after Easton Shelton doubled, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on Brendan Tunink’s single.
Things got messy in the seventh, though. After Jang left, the 66ers bounced back with three runs off Peter Bonilla to erase the lead. Connor Dykstra doubled in a run, then Dervy Ventura and Aiden Taurek each knocked in another. Just like that, it was 5-5.
The 66ers kept pushing. In the eighth, Dykstra tripled and later came home on a wild pitch to put Inland Empire up 6-5.
Ontario’s bullpen kept it close. Jhonny Jimenez calmed things down, pitching the last two innings, giving up just one run and striking out four. After that eighth-inning blemish, he retired six of the next seven hitters and gave the Tower Buzzers one final shot.
That last chance came in the bottom of the ninth. Conner O’Neal started the rally with a single. Oswaldo Osorio came in to run, and Martinus followed with another base hit. Then Elkins lined a single to center, tying things up as Osorio scored. More chaos followed; back-to-back throwing errors let Elkins move up, and after Kellon Lindsey walked, Ko hit a routine grounder that went under the glove of Starlin Aguilar at first. Martinus sprinted home, and Ontario walked it off.
The Tower Buzzers finished with 10 hits. Martinus, Elkins, and Shelton each had two. Ko’s homer was the big blow, while Lindsey reached four times, with a hit and three walks.
Defense ended up deciding this one. The 66ers fell apart in the ninth, making three of their total five errors on the night. That’s all Ontario needed to grab another walk-off to take the 2-1 series lead and keep the momentum going into Friday’s matchup.
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Media Contacts:
Adam Serrano
Regional Marketing Director
Diamond Baseball Holdings
Jeff Woolson
Play-by-Play Broadcaster