Early Offense Withstands Tower Buzzers Late in Close Quakes Win

Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. – The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (20-26, 56-56) busted out their biggest swings in the early stages to help overcome a pesky Ontario Tower Buzzers (26-20, 59-53) squad, nailing down a 9-6 victory on Friday night at Morongo Field.

The Tower Buzzers opened the scoring in their first turn at bat, using a Joendry Vargas sacrifice fly to cash in a Kellon Lindsey leadoff double and a wild pitch. However, the Quakes immediately fought back in their half of the inning. Jaxon Willits belted a solo home run to dead center field, leveling the contest at one right away. John Wimmer and Gavin Grahovac then drew walks, setting up Gabriel Davalillo to cap off the early comeback. He did just that by supplying a sacrifice fly of his own, putting Rancho Cucamonga on top. Jeffery Heard and Lucas Ramirez kept up the early momentum, lining consecutive RBI triples, resulting in a 4-1 edge.

Two frames later, the Quakes pieced together another four-run rally. Heard plated Grahovac from third base on a fielder’s choice, and Ramirez collected an RBI double, placing two runners in scoring position for Jonathan Linares. He proceeded to bloop a two-run single into center field, increasing Rancho Cucamonga’s advantage to 8-1 heading into the middle innings.

However, the Tower Buzzers caught fire at the dish in the top of the fifth, swinging the momentum back in their direction. Following back-to-back base hits to begin the frame, Francisco Espinosa raced home on a wild pitch. Vargas chipped in an RBI single of his own, and Ching-Hsien Ko completed his trip around the bases, blasting a two-run home run to pull Ontario within three at 8-5.

The Quakes capitalized on a pair of errors in the bottom of the sixth, leading to a Wimmer sacrifice fly to bring Willits in and take a four-run cushion into the final three innings, but the Tower Buzzers promptly canceled it out. Lindsey legged out an inside-the-park home run in the top of the seventh, lowering their deficit to three with eight outs to use.

At that point, though, Rancho Cucamonga’s bullpen rose to the occasion. Yokelvin Reyes finished out the frame without incurring any further damage, and Angelo Smith tossed a perfect final two, silencing the Ontario lineup down the stretch to lock down the win.

The Quakes go for their first-ever series win over the Tower Buzzers on Saturday at 6:30 PM in game five of their six-game set. LHP Yusei Kikuchi is scheduled to make a Major League rehab appearance for Rancho Cucamonga while RHP Marlon Nieves starts for Ontario. In addition to Sumo Wrestling Night at Morongo Field, there will be a spectacular postgame fireworks display, courtesy of California Earthquake Authority.