Big Lead Drifts Away from Ports as Rancho Comes Back to Win 11-9

STOCKTON, Calif. — The Ports coughed up a seven-run lead on Wednesday night, dropping game two of the six-game series with the Quakes 11-9.

Clark Elliott gave Stockton an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run (2) that caromed off the top of the wall and into the back porch in right. An unearned run would score in the second inning for Rancho Cucamonga to tie the game, before the ports offense exploded in the fourth.

A single by Nate Nankil was followed by doubles from Carlos Amaya and Darlyn Montero, with Montero’s two bagger plating a pair for a 3-1 lead. A walk for Myles Naylor and Elvis Rijo’s 10th hit-by-pitch of the season loaded the bases, before Bjay Cooke drew a walk to make it 4-1. Ryan Lasko would also work a bases-loaded walk to push the lead to 5-1 Ports. That was followed by an RBI base hit for Elliott, a sac fly for T.J. Schofield-Sam, and an RBI ground out for Nankil to complete a seven-run inning for Stockton, giving them an 8-1 lead.

But things got weird in the fifth, after an RBI triple for Sean McLain off reliever Yunior Tur. It appeared McLain called time to hand his hitting gear to the third base coach before the next batter came to the plate, and Tur threw out the baseball to get a new one. The umpires ruled time was never called, and Tur throwing the ball out led to an error against him and the run coming in from third for a 8-3 game.

A solo home run from Cameron Decker make it 8-4 to finish the fifth, then Jeral Perez hit a three-run blast 400 feet to left to cut it to one run at 8-7. But Stockton got a little breathing room in the bottom of the sixth, when Elliott singled to short and a throwing error allowed Lasko to score for a 9-7 advantage.

Perez struck again, however, in the seventh with a two-RBI single to center against Dereck Corro to tie it at 9-9, and Decker did the same in the ninth against Luke Anderson to put Rancho ahead 11-9. Of the 11 runs allowed by the Ports, nine were earned, making the defensive mistakes loom large in the final outcome.

Nankil increased his hit streak to 13 games, and Lakso and Naylor extended their on-base streaks to 16 and 15 games respectively. Lasko also continued his steak of games with an RBI which now stands at six straight.

UP NEXT
Game three is set for 7:05 PM with Racho RHP Cam Day (2-3, 5.03) going up against the Ports Tzu-Chen Sha (2-1, 5.13)

It will be a thirsty Thursday at Banner Island Ballpark, with $1 cans of Busch Light, $2 popcorn, $3 hot dogs, and an $8 field box tickets. Single game tickets, mini plans, and group outings are all on sale for the 2024 season. For more information, call the Ports front office at 209-644-1900 or email at [email protected].