Tower Buzzers Split Series with Quakes Behind Strong Pitching in 3-1 Victory

ONTARIO, Calif. - The Ontario Tower Buzzers wrapped up their six-game set against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on Sunday with a 3-1 win at Ont Field. They took three out of six in the series and now sit at 35-33.

The game kicked off with a bang. Ching-Hsien Ko stepped up in the second inning and crushed his 10th homer of the year to right-center, putting Ontario on the board right away. Mairo Martinus followed that with a double in the gap, later scoring on Joendry Vargas’ sac fly all the way from second base, showcasing heads-up baserunning. Suddenly, it was 2-0.

That quick lead was astronomical for Ontario, since offense was hard to come by after that. Tyler Gough got the start and put together one of his best lines of the season: 4.2 innings, just three hits, one run, and three strikeouts. He attacked hitters all afternoon and didn’t give Rancho much to work with, even though they’d been piling up runs all week.

Rancho’s best chance came in the fourth, when Kendrey Maduro singled and eventually came around on Ryland Zaborowski’s RBI hit. That made it 2-1, but Ontario never really let them get any closer.

The real turning point was defense. With two outs in the fifth, Will Gagnon took over on the mound and threw three scoreless innings, stranding runners and keeping things quiet. In the sixth, Ontario’s defense stepped up big time. After a single and a walk, Conner O’Neal cut down Maduro, trying to steal second, and then picked off Kevyn Castillo at first, snuffing out the rally before it started.

That kept Ontario on top, and the offense tacked on a little insurance in the eighth. Kellon Lindsey laid down a perfect bunt single, and Jaron Elkins doubled, putting men on second and third. Ko came through again, sending a sac fly to center that scored Lindsey and gave Ontario a little more breathing room.

Lindsey finished 2-for-4, pushing his average up to .407 in his short time with the Tower Buzzers. Elkins chipped in a double, while Martinus, Vidourek, O’Neal, and Ko all collected hits, too. Seven hits in all, not overwhelming, but enough.

From there, the bullpen finished things off. Jholbran Herder took care of the end of the eighth, and Jecsua Liborius slammed the door in the ninth, striking out all three batters he faced for his fourth save. Ontario’s staff combined to allow just four hits and struck out 10. A big reset, especially a day after giving up 13 runs. This was exactly the bounce-back performance they needed, sealing the series with a well-earned 3-1 victory.

The Buzzers head up to Visalia to begin their six-game series against the Rawhide on Tuesday.