VISALIA, CA - Daulton Varsho and Drew Ellis hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning for Visalia and the power surge held up for the Rawhide as they hung on for a win, 4 to 1.
VISALIA, CA - Daulton Varsho and Drew Ellis hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning for Visalia and the power surge held up for the Rawhide as they hung on for a win, 4 to 1.
Camden Duzenack had led off the first with a walk and then Storm starter Lake Bachar proceeded to retire the next two hitters in order. Ramon Hernandez then rolled over a grounder to third that Hudson Potts bobbled, allowing Hernandez to reach and prolonging the inning.
Then Varsho got a 1-1 pitch he could handle and blasted a home run that nearly sailed out of the stadium to right field to put the Rawhide up 3-0.
Drew Ellis stepped in and took a first pitch fastball out of the zone before he hit a laser of his own over the left field wall to put Visalia up 4-0.
For both Ellis and Varsho, it was their second home run in as many games. Visalia has now scored seven of their past eight runs thanks to the long ball and four of their last five hits have left the ballpark.
The only other Rawhide hit came from Camden Duzenack, who ripped a double down the third base line to open the bottom of the fifth inning.
On the mound, Bo Takahashi was once again effective, tossing five innings. Unlike his first outing, where he set a career-high with 12 strikeouts, Takahashi was more economical, pitching to contact and using the defense behind him to cruise through his five innings of work. Takahashi (W, 1-0) allowed only one run on a solo homer to Hudson Potts while scattering six hits and hitting one batter. He did not issue any walks or strike any hitters out.
Bachar (L, 1-1) didn't allow an earned run, but was tagged with the loss, allowing four unearned runs on three hits. The Storm bullpen one again quieted the Rawhide offense, as Trevor Megill pitched three no-hit innings with four strikeouts and a walk.
Kevin Ginkel took over for Takahashi and pitched two scoreless innings and was followed by Keegan Long, who delivered a quiet eighth. Josh Taylor (SV, 2) tossed a perfect ninth inning with a strikeout to pick up the save.
The win gave the Rawhide their first series victory of the year, and gave them four wins on the seven game homestand.
Visalia next hits the road for a four-game series in Modesto, starting tomorrow night. The Rawhide's first road game will feature RHP Emilio Vargas (0-0, 1.80) on the mound against Nuts RHP Jon Richy (0-0, 9.00). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM and the live radio broadcast will be available on rawhidebaseball.com.
