Ports Cruise Past Toros in Series Opener

VISALIA, CA - Wyatt Marks made his debut with Stockton tonight and picked up right where he left off with Class A Beloit, holding Visalia to just three hits while coming an out shy of the longest game he'd ever pitched in a 5-1 Ports win.

Marks (W, 1-0), who led NCAA Division I pitchers in strikeout rate in his final season at Louisiana-Lafayette, struck out five Visalia hitters and walked four. He scattered the three singles he allowed: Drew Ellis's came in the second, Ramon Heranndez reached in the fifth, and Adam Walton got aboard with two outs in the seventh to knock Marks out of the game.
Ports reliever Will Gilbert picked up where Marks left off and held Visalia (54-58/17-25) to one run on three hits over 2.1 innings of relief. Marks and Gilbert combined to silence los Toros in seven at bats with runners in scoring position.
Hernandez and Ellis both hit two singles and Hernandez scored the lone run for los Toros.
Hernandez's second base knock came to lead off the ninth and Luis Silverio doubled him to third. Luis Alejandro Basabe provided Visalia's lone RBI on a groundout to third, plating Hernandez and ending Stockton's shutout bid.
Connor Grey pitched well through the first four innings, scattering four Ports hits and allowing only an unearned run after Basabe booted a tailor-made double play ball in the third. But Stockton (64-48/20-22) rallied for three runs in the fifth on a base hit by Luke Persico and a two-run gap-shot double by Eric Mariñez.
Grey (L, 8-8) pitched into the sixth and left after striking out Collin Theroux for the first out of the inning. He dealt 95 pitches and gave up nine hits, though six of them came on weak contact by Ports hitters. Robby Sexton replaced Grey with a runner on first and gave up a run-scoring triple to Trace Loehr to score Stockton's fifth, and final, run.
Erbert Gonzalez pitched two scoreless innings and racked up a pair of strikeouts from the bullpen in his debut for los Toros.
Visalia looks to come back against Stockton tomorrow night. Los Toros will send RHP Cole Stapler (0-3, 4.98) to the hill against Stockton LHP Zack Erwin (8-8, 5.35). First pitch is at 7 PM and tickets are available on rawhidebaseball.com.