Ontario, Calif. – The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (35-29) had a night to remember in their first-ever game at ONT Field as four home runs powered them past the Ontario Tower Buzzers (32-32) 13-5 in Tuesday evening's series opener.
The first of those four blasts opened the scoring, putting the Quakes on top in the second. Ryland Zaborowski drew a walk to lead off the inning, and the very next batter, Kevyn Castillo, launched a two-run shot to right-center field, giving them a 2-0 edge.
Two more long balls broke the game open one frame later, helping Rancho Cucamonga pull away in the early stages. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases to start it off, and Kendrey Maduro immediately cashed in the RBI opportunity, delivering a grand slam. Zaborowski then reached on an error, and Castillo promptly drove him in, cranking his second two-run home run of the contest, propelling the Quakes ahead 8-0.
As the contest approached its halfway point, Rancho Cucamonga’s lineup produced another crooked number. Another two singles and a walk loaded the bases, this time for Gabriel Davalillo. He lifted a sacrifice fly to the right field wall, bringing home the team’s ninth run. Anyelo Marquez followed it up by mashing a three-run big fly of his own to straightaway right field, extending their advantage to 12-0.
All the while, Quakes’ starter Talon Haley kept the Ontario order grounded. The left-hander scattered one hit and two walks over five shutout innings, notching eight strikeouts en route to his first professional win.
Rancho Cucamonga’s bats slowed down over the next two frames before adding their final tally in the top of the eighth. Maduro tripled to begin the inning, and a Castillo groundout plated him, stretching out the lead to 13-0.
The Tower Buzzers rallied for four runs in their half of the inning and tacked on one more in the bottom of the ninth, but the deficit proved too much for the hosts to overcome. Rancho Cucamonga saw off both late threats with ease, nailing down a comfortable victory.
The Quakes are back in action at ONT Field on Wednesday at 6:35 PM for game two of their six-game series against the towers. RHP Ubaldo Soto starts for Rancho Cucamonga opposite RHP Cam Leiter for Ontario in the penultimate game of the first half. Play resumes at Morongo Field on June 23rd at 6:30 PM as the Quakes face the Stockton Ports on Healthy RC Recycle Tuesday and Two Dollar Tuesday.