Tower Buzzers Even Series with 4-2 Win Over Stockton

ONTARIO, Calif. — One night after a late-inning meltdown cost them the opener, the Buzzers punched right back, playing sharp baseball and beating the Stockton Ports 4-2. The series sits all square at one game apiece.

When the Buzzers watched Stockton pour on 10 runs in the last two innings, Ontario stayed in control this time. They got quality pitching, came up with hits when it mattered, and the defense didn’t make an error. All the stuff that just wasn’t there on Tuesday.

Tyler Gough delivered another good start in his second time on the mound for Ontario. He’d been searching for his first win of the season, and he earned it on Wednesday by giving the Buzzers five innings of work. Stockton put some runners on, especially early, but Gough kept finding a way out, just giving up one run.

The Buzzers’ offense got going in the third when AJ Soldra jumped on a pitch and launched it over the right field wall. Stockton tied it up in the fourth, where Daniel Bucciero raced home on a Breyson Guedez double, but the Buzzers came right back.

Right away in the bottom of the fourth, Chase Harlan answered with a solo shot of his own to right. The 19-year-old third baseman has been on a roll, and he kept it going with another clutch swing.

Harlan’s night didn’t stop there. In the sixth, after Jaron Elkins worked a leadoff walk, Harlan drilled a double through the left side to bring him home and push Ontario up 3-1. Not long after, Joendry Vargas lined a single to center to score Harlan and stretch the lead to 4-1. Ontario finished with nine hits, and just about everyone chipped in. Kellon Lindsey collected two hits and a stolen base, Elkins reached twice and scored, and Vargas and Brendan Tunink both delivered extra-base hits.

The real difference from Game One was how Ontario handled things on the mound and in the field. After Gough’s strong start, Jesus Tillero slammed the door shut with four solid innings in relief. He allowed one run, struck out four, and came up big whenever Stockton threatened.

Things got tense in the ninth when the Ports strung together a couple of singles and Edgar Montero drove in a run, cutting the Buzzers’ lead to 4-2. Suddenly, the tying run was at the plate. Ontario didn’t blink. Tillero got the grounder he needed. Harlan started a slick double play, Martinus fired to first, and Shelton put the finishing touch on a huge win.

Ontario put Tuesday’s disaster in the rearview and played one of its cleanest games. With the series tied, the momentum’s back on their side heading into Game Three on June 4th 6:35 PM.