VISALIA, Calif. – For the second-straight night Stockton played another back-and-forth, marathon affair against the Rawhide, this time outlasting Visalia 13-8 in 10 innings. The Ports (14-15) again relinquished a big lead and found themselves down a run late in the game before forcing extras and putting together a five-run 10th to tie the series at a game apiece.
Stockton trailed 1-0 after three innings, but starter Jackson Phipps was stingy outside of that, allowing just the one run in his four innings against Visalia (9-20) on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts. The Ports took advantage of two walks and an error in the fourth inning and got a two-RBI single from Edgar Montero to go ahead 3-1.
Back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning extended their lead, as Daniel Bucciero laced a long ball (1) off the barn in right center with Breyson Guedez on base to put the Ports up 5-1. Owen Carapellotti followed that with an oppo taco to left for his fourth of the season that created a 6-1 advantage. The Ports put up another run I the top of the sixth when Bryan Andrade singled home Myles Naylor after his one out double (3) to go up 7-1.
It stayed that way until the sixth which proved to be a nightmare frame for Stockton again. Blake Hammond looked great in his first two appearances with the Ports this season but struggled on Wednesday night. The first two hits against him were a bleeder and a blooper, but a blast would follow, as Eliesbert Alejos launched a three-run homer to cut the Stockton lead to 7-4. Hammond walked the next two batters before giving up another three-run shot, this time to catcher Carlos Virahonda, whose seventh homer of the season tied the game at 7-7.
An error by Montero to start the eighth would cost the Ports, as that run came across against Griffin Kirn to give Visalia their first lead of the night at 8-7. But Carapellotti would come through again, this time with a solo home run (5) to the left of the batter’s eye in center to tie the game up at 8-8.
Jay Dill worked a scoreless ninth before the Ports erupted in the 10th. Visalia lost their starter Daury Vasquez due to an injury on his pitching hand in the fourth inning, putting more strain on an already worn-out bullpen after the 10-inning slugfest the night before. They called on their third catcher Diosfran Cabeza, who had three scoreless appearances last season as a pitcher to see if he could pull it off again.
Instead, the Ports would bat around on the pitching position player for a five-run frame. A two-RBI single for Guedez put Stockton in front at 10-8. Carapellotti almost hit a third home run to the same spot he hit his second dinger in center, but would bang a two-run double (2) off the wall for a 12-8 lead. Cesar Gonzalez singled home another run to cap the five-run fifth and give the Ports more breathing room.
Dill went back out for the bottom of the 10th, and with the Stockton bullpen taxed as well, he had to throw a career-high 47 pitches and got around a one-out single to close out the win and move to 3-0 on the season.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Stockton is now 4-1 in extra inning games. It was their third-straight extra-inning contest going back to Sunday’s walk-off win over Fresno. Bonus baseball has come in bunches for the Ports this season, as they had back-to-back extra-inning games to start the series against Lake Elsinore on April 14 and 15. It was Stockton’s first time going to extras in three-straight games since last June 4-6 against Fresno, with the Ports winning the first and last of three games in that stretch as well.
It was Carapellotti’s first three-hit game of his career, and they all came on extra base hits, including his first two-homer game. Bucciero reach base four times with a pair of walks to go along with a double and his first homer, and stole two bases in a game for the first time.
UP NEXT: Game three is also scheduled for a 6:35 PM first pitch, with a juicy pitching matchup that features RHP Junior Ciprian (1-1, 2.14) starting for Visalia versus RHP Sam Stuhr (3-0, 4.22) for Stockton.
Single game tickets, mini plans, and group outings are all on sale for the 2026 season. For more information, call the Ports front office at 209-644-1400 or email at info@stocktonports.com.