Ninth Inning Rally Pushes Ports Ahead of 66ers

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Stockton showed their resiliency on Wednesday night at Inland Empire, coming back from a one-run deficit in the fourth and going ahead in the ninth to win 7-5 over the 66ers for a two-games-to-none series lead.

The Ports led 4-3 most of the way, but the 66ers got a run in the eighth on an RBI triple from Adrian Placencia to tie the game at 4-4. Stockton was not deterred, however, and struck back immediately in the top of the ninth.

Myles Naylor led off the inning with a single into center on the first pitch, and with one out Darlyn Montero doubled inside the third base line to score Naylor all the way from first as the ball took a fortuitous bounce for the Ports in the left field corner to go back ahead 5-4.

Nelson Beltran worked a walk and he and Montero would score on a two-RBI base hit up the middle from TJ Schofield-Sam that gave the Ports some much needed breathing room to go up 7-4.

They would need those insurance runs in the bottom of the ninth, as the Stockton defense was not sharp in the bottom of the inning with just a few fans in attendance after the bus loads of school kids left in the seventh.

A come backer nicked off the glove of pitcher Micah Dallas with one out and Schofield-Sam wasn’t able to field it after that. Montero then made a throwing error to second on a fielder’s choice grounder that put runners at the corners.

The weirdest play of the inning happened when Luke Mann fielded a grounder to third, and when he threw to second to get the force, no one was covering the bag allowing a run to score and make it 7-5. But Dallas would strike out the next two batters swinging to close out the win and earn his first professional save.

Stockton went up 2-0 in the second on an RBI hit to left from Ryan Lasko and a wild pitch, before a three-run home run by Anthony Scull in the third put Inland Empire up 3-2. The Ports answered instantly on that occasion as well when Nate Nankil singled up the middle in the fourth to score Schofield-Sam and Cole Conn for the 4-3 lead they held until the eighth.

UP NEXT
Game three will be a 6:35 start at San Manuel Stadium with Inland Empire right hander Keythel Key (1-3, 4.30 ERA) going up against the Ports Yunior Tur (0-1, 3.58).

Single game tickets, mini plans, and group outings are all on sale for the 2024 season. For more information, call the Ports front office at 209-644-1900 or email at [email protected].