Buzzers’ Patience Pays Off in 12-4 Comeback Win Over 66ers

San Bernardino, Calif.-- The Ontario Tower Buzzers spent nearly the entire night waiting for a spark, and when it came, it set off a fire. Ontario erupted for eight runs in the ninth, blowing past the Inland Empire 66ers for a 12-4 win at San Manuel Stadium.

Pitching ruled early. Both teams missed chances, and the lead kept flipping. Ontario struck out 17 times, yet somehow stayed in the fight. Every time the 66ers pulled ahead, Ontario found a way to answer back. Even with the Inland Empire’s starter Sean Hermann looking sharp. He racked up 11 strikeouts over 5.2 innings and held the Buzzers without a run until the fifth. Ontario refused to let the game slip away.

On the mound for Ontario, Cam Leiter was manageable despite his limited workload. He let up just one unearned run in 2.1 innings, striking out two, but the 66ers had traffic every inning. Leiter’s pitch count spiked, and he left in the third inning.

At that point, Ontario’s bullpen took over. Jhonny Jimenez entered with two men on base and struck out the next two batters, shutting the door on a possible 66ers rally. It’s one of those sequences that barely shows up in the box score, but it changed the game. The 66ers couldn’t pull away, and Ontario stayed close.

Inland Empire grabbed the lead again in the fifth on Korbyn Dickerson’s RBI single. But the Buzzers came right back in the sixth. Joendry Vargas earned a walk, and with a new arm on the mound, Easton Shelton jumped on the first pitch he saw, sending it over the wall for a two-run shot. Ontario led 3-2, their first lead all night.

Shelton’s swing summed up Ontario’s approach: strikeouts against the starter, but aggressive at-bats against the bullpen.

The 66ers didn’t go quietly, though. They scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead right back. But after that, Ontario’s bullpen slammed the door. Jecsua Liborius worked out of a jam in the sixth, and Seamus Barrett kept the score tied in the seventh, stranding two runners after a wild pitch put them both in scoring position.

Then came the ninth. Martinus reached on an error, and suddenly, Ontario had runners moving all over the place. Lindsey and Tunink singled, Ko knocked in another run, and Vargas drew a walk, loading the bases. Inland Empire’s pitchers started to unravel.

Ontario kept coming through with two outs, Shelton knocked in two more, Anson Aroz smashed a double into the gap to score another pair, and Martinus capped the rally with one more RBI single.

By the time the inning was over, the Buzzers had hung eight runs on the board in a single inning. They finished with 13 hits, six of them with two outs, and flipped the entire game on its head. Ontario continues to raise the ceiling in extra innings. What started as a tense opener turned into a statement win to start the series.

The Buzzers will play two seven-inning games on the 20th to make up a postponed game from their earlier series against the 66ers.