Tower Buzzers Rally Past Grizzlies 7-4 to Open Series in Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers didn’t let an early hole knock them off course Tuesday night. They shook off a two-run deficit, put together strong at-bats all the way through the order, and leaned on their bullpen to shut things down, beating the Fresno Grizzlies 7-4 in the first game of their six-game series at Chukchansi Park.

Ontario, now 40-36, racked up 15 hits with help from just about everyone in the lineup. The bullpen was lights out. Four relievers teamed up to keep Fresno off the board for the last six innings, wrapping up Ontario’s seventh win in their last ten.

The Buzzers got things rolling in the first inning. Ching-Hsien Ko ripped an RBI double, then Easton Shelton knocked in another run with a single. Just like that, Ontario was up 2-0.

Fresno came right back, though. They scratched one across in their half of the first and tied it up in the second. In the third, the Grizzlies took the lead after two walks, a wild throw, and a two-run single by Jesus Freitez made it 4-2.

But Ontario flipped the game in the fifth. With two outs, Kendall George drew a walk and stole second. Jaron Elkins punched an RBI double into the gap, trimming the lead to one. On the very next at-bat, Mairoshendrick Martinus crushed a two-run homer over the right-field wall. Suddenly, Ontario was on top 5-4, and they never looked back.

They kept piling on. Elkins singled home another run in the sixth, and Shelton capped things off with an RBI single in the ninth.

It was one of Ontario’s best offensive showings this season. Five players had multiple hits. George, Elkins, Ko, and Shelton each finished with three hits. Martinus drove in two and scored twice. Shelton’s pair of RBIs upped his season total to 70, and Elkins also knocked in two.

Their depth at the plate made the difference, especially against tough Fresno starter Riley Kelly, who usually racks up strikeouts but struggled to contain Ontario. The Buzzers tagged him for eight hits and forced him out in the fifth.

The bullpen made sure those runs held up. Starter Cam Leiter threw two innings, giving up two runs and striking out four. After Accimias Morales allowed two in the third, Will Gagnon came in and slammed the door, putting up 2.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts to get the win. Dailoui Abad added 1.1 scoreless innings, Jholbran Herder breezed through the eighth, and Angel Cruz locked down his third save in the ninth.

Altogether, the Ontario relievers surrendered only two hits over the final seven innings, getting out of jam after jam. Fresno had their chances but went just 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 runners.

With the win, the Tower Buzzers improve to 41-35 and take a strong first step on the road. They’ll try to keep the momentum going Wednesday, with righty Brady Smith set to take on Fresno’s Easton Marks in game two.