ONTARIO, CA- The Ontario Tower Buzzers kicked off their homestand Tuesday with one of their sharpest games of the season, rolling over the San Jose Giants 9-2. They put up a dozen hits and racked up 13 strikeouts, and for once, just about everything clicked.
Now 15-18 on the season, Ontario shook off a slow start, with neither side scoring for two innings. Buzzers starter Cam Leiter set the tone, too. He breezed through two shutout frames, allowed only one hit, and punched out two Giants. Leiter has still allowed no earned runs at home this year.
Then the third inning came around, and after one run allowed to the Giants, Ontario got right to work against San Jose’s Keyner Martinez. Anson Aroz drew a walk, then Easton Shelton sent a two-run homer out to give Ontario the early lead. A couple of batters later, Emil Morales ripped an RBI double, and suddenly it was 3-1.
San Jose answered in the fourth with a solo homer from Lorenzon Meola off of Mason Estrada, but the Buzzers didn’t let them breathe for long. Ontario exploded for four more in the bottom of the fourth, where Morales came up clutch again with a two-out RBI triple, Landyn Vidourek brought in another run with a single, and Chase Harlan tacked on an RBI hit.
Ontario collected six hits in the fourth, and before the Giants knew it, they were down 7-2, and Martinez was out after just three innings, tagged for five earned runs on five hits despite six strikeouts.
Ontario never really took its foot off the gas. Joendry Vargas hit his fourth homer of the year in the seventh, and the lineup kept grinding out good at-bats. They finished 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position and got production up and down the order.
The bullpen did its job, too. Seamus Barrett got the win after an inning in relief and three strikeouts, Mason Estrada added four strong frames on his birthday with just one run on two hits and six more strikeouts, and Jhonny Jimenez closed the door with two clean innings.
San Jose couldn’t get much going aside from Lorenzo Meola’s homer, and a couple of hits from Rod Barajas Jr. Their big bats, Cam Maldonado and Hayden Jatczak, combined for six strikeouts as the Buzzers' pitching staff just kept pounding the zone.
After a split series against the Quakes, this win showed Ontario can put all the pieces together: timely hitting, strong pitching, steady defense, and with the power still there. Easton Shelton and Joendry Vargas both went deep, bringing the season total to 43 home runs.
But maybe the best sign? Ontario finally played from ahead wire to wire. That’s been rare so far this year, and after John Shoemaker talked about the team's consistency on both sides of the diamond.
The Buzzers are in a position now to build some momentum with five more games against the Giants coming up. If this was a preview of what’s to come, Ontario might finally be finding its groove. Game two is Wednesday, May 13th at 6:35.
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Media Contacts:
Adam Serrano
Regional Marketing Director
Diamond Baseball Holdings
Jeff Woolson
Play-by-Play Broadcaster