Tower Buzzers Capitalize on Opportunities, Even Series with 10-7 Victory

ONTARIO, Calif. — Friday night at ONT Field, the Ontario Tower Buzzers didn’t need a ton of hits to come up big. Instead, they took advantage of walks, wild pitches, and just enough timely swings to beat the Ports 10-7 and tie up the six-game series.

The Buzzers finished with only seven hits, but that didn’t slow them down. They stayed patient, kept the pressure on, and found ways to manufacture runs all night long.

Stockton got on the board first in the second inning. Jared Sprague-Lott smacked an RBI double, then scored later on a groundout after a botched throw. Ontario fell behind 2-0 but woke up in the bottom of the third. Ching-Hsien Ko drew a two-out walk, moved up on a wild pitch, and Mairo Martinus dropped an RBI double down the left-field line. Two pitches later, Easton Shelton crushed a two-run homer to left, putting Ontario ahead 3-2 and swinging the momentum their way.

In the fourth, Ontario kept Stockton under pressure. Landyn Vidourek walked, stole second, and scored on AJ Soldra’s single to center. Soldra got to second on an error, and suddenly Ontario was up 4-2.

Stockton fought back and tied it in the fifth, taking advantage of another error, a balk, and a couple of hits to make it 4-4. But Ontario answered right away. Even with just a single hit in the bottom of the fifth, they pushed three runs across. Ko and Shelton drew walks, Martinus doubled again, then Joendry Vargas and Vidourek forced in runs with bases-loaded walks. Soldra got hit by a pitch to bring home another run. The Buzzers turned Stockton’s wildness into a 7-4 lead.

That stretch pretty much told the story. Stockton got aggressive on the bases and racked up six hits, but Ontario kept putting their pitchers in tough spots. The Buzzers drew eight walks and were hit once, so the bases were crowded all night.

Martinus led the charge, picking up three hits (two doubles), driving in a run, and scoring twice. Shelton’s two-run homer was huge; he finished with three RBIs. Ko put together disciplined at-bats, reaching base three times and scoring three runs. Vidourek came through with two runs and an RBI.

Ontario tacked on two more runs in the sixth, then another in the seventh to stretch the lead to 10-4.

Stockton didn’t go quietly. In the ninth, they scored three runs and brought the tying run to the on-deck circle, but Jose Cabrera came out of the bullpen and nailed down the last two outs for his first save of the season.

Ontario made three errors, and there were 24 total walks, but it didn’t matter. Every time Stockton rallied, the Buzzers answered right back. Their knack for cashing in on free bases and forcing mistakes made all the difference. Now, with the series tied, Game five is up next, June 6th at 6:05 PM.