Visalia, CA – The Visalia Rawhide (53-74, 25-36) survived multiple Stockton Ports (58-69, 31-30) rallies in a 6-5 series opening win Tuesday evening at Valley Strong Ballpark.
The Rawhide never trailed but the Ports trimmed the deficit to one run multiple times including the tying run reaching third base in the ninth inning.
Victor Santana led the Rawhide with three hits and two RBI. Visalia finished with 12 hits including five extra base hits.
The Rawhide struck first with three runs in the second inning. Nathan Hall led off with a double to right field and Paul Schoenfeld followed with a bloop single. Pedro Blanco then drove in Hall with an RBI single through the right side.
Santana added a tally on an RBI hit to right field and Blanco scored on a passed ball.
Stockton plated a run apiece in the third and fourth frames to trim the lead to one.
Blanco doubled the lead to two in the sixth inning with a leadoff 402 foot home run off the top of the barn in right field. The slugger has 17 home runs on the season- the second most by any Rawhide player this decade.
Adriel Radney followed with a double and Santana drove him home on a RBI single.
The Rawhide lead was extended to four in the seventh as Ryder Helfrick banged a triple off the centerfield wall and Jake Duer drove him home via a sacrifice fly.
Stockton then plated three runs in the eighth and brought the tying run to 3rd base in the ninth. Daniel Nunez escaped the jam for Visalia with a game-ending flyout as part of a six out save.
David Sanchez made his Valley Strong Ballpark debut on the mound completing a four inning start with just two runs allowed and a stateside career high six strikeouts.
Teofilo Mendez earned his fifth win of the season with two scoreless innings and two strikeouts.
Helfrick and Blanco added two hits apiece for the Rawhide. Visalia has won six of their last seven games at Valley Strong Ballpark.
The series between the Rawhide and Ports continues on Wednesday with a 6:35 PM first pitch. Wednesday evening at Valley Strong Ballpark is headlined by Ballpark Bingo presented by Park Visalia. As part of a Great8 Wednesday, fans can also take advantage of $8 tickets to the Kaweah Health Grandstands. Plus, fans 21 and older can enjoy $8 cocktails.
The evening is the final Rawhide Rustlers’ Wednesday of the season. The first 200 Rawhide Rustlers senior club members will receive Rawhide gardening gloves thanks to Lux Dermatology.
Gates open for season ticket holders at 5:15 PM and the general public at 5:30 PM.
All Rawhide tickets are available through the team’s website and at the stadium box office starting at 10 AM on weekday gamedays.
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The Visalia Rawhide are the Single-A Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks playing professional baseball in the Central Valley since 1946. The Rawhide's 2026 theme is "Savor the Season" as the team transforms into the Central Valley Sir Loins on Saturday gamedays.
Stay up to date with the Rawhide on the team’s website and by following the Rawhide on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and X. The Rawhide play all home games at Valley Strong Ballpark located at 300 N Giddings Street Visalia, CA 93291.
Fans can purchase season ticket packages, group ticket plans, single game tickets and team merchandise through the Rawhide website and at the stadium ticket office sponsored by Kaweah Health. All Rawhide games can be watched on MLB.TV and the Bally Sports Live App with a free radio broadcast also available online. Select home games will be aired on KNXT MyTV53. For more information, visit milb.com/visalia, email info@rawhidebaseball.com or call (559) 732-4433.