Balk-Off Winner For Ports in 10th Leads to Fourth-Straight Victory

STOCKTON, Calif. — A game-ending balk in the bottom of the 10th sent to the Ports to their fourth-straight win, and third straight over Visalia on Thursday night, in a 4-3 defeat of the Rawhide in game three of the six-game series.

Highly-touted prospect Steven Echavarria made his pro debut on Thursday in Stockton. He looked the part of budding ace that the A’s paid three-times over slot value to get to de-commit to the Florida Gators when they took him in the third round of last year’s draft at just 17 years of age.

The now 18-year-old flashed the velocity on the heater and bite on the off speed pitches early on, before running into a little trouble in the fourth. He exited after 74 pitches (46 for strikes) with two outs and the bases loaded. Micah Dallas induced a pop up in the infield, but with no other infielder able to get to the ball, Dallas tried to play it himself, only for it to pop out of his glove for an error, allowing Visalia to take a 2-0 lead.

It would stay that way until the eighth as Franck De La Rosa delivered four shutout innings to keep the Ports within two. With one out in the eighth, Luke Mann crushed a home run out to the Back Porch in right for his second home run of the season, closing the deficit to 2-1.

The Rawhide would bring in fire baller Sam Knowlton and his triple-digit fast ball for the ninth. But while he was hard to square up, he struggled to throw strikes and come to a set position with runners on.

He hit Casey Yamauchi in the head with a 99-MPH fastball, knocking the helmet off the Ports second baseman. But the Hilo, Hawaii native stayed in the game and advanced to second on a wild pitch, before Cole Conn bunted him over to third. That was followed by Knowlton’s first balk of the night — and the second by Visalia — allowing Yamauchi to come home and tie the game at 2-2.

Druw Jones would drive in Cole Roberts in the top of the 10th, with one son of a major league outfielder drove in another to put Visalia up 3-2. But a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play would end the threat there, as Mark Adamiak and Conn combined to end the top of the 10th.

The bottom of the 10th started with a pair of fielder’s choice ground outs, with the Ports losing the “ghost runner” at second and were down to their last out with a runner at first. But Nick Schwartz drew a walk, before Ryan Lasko hit a pinch-hit single to left to tie the game at 3-3.

On the very next pitch with Pedro Pineda at third, Knowlton again didn’t come set, and it was a walk-off balk for the Ports, giving them the 4-3 win and their fourth-straight victory. Adamiak got his first win of the season by allowing just one earned run over two innings.

UP NEXT: Game five is set for 7:05 p.m. The Ports will have their first Major League rehab assignment of the season on Friday, with former Giant, Dodger, and Royal, Scott Alexander on the mound. The nine-year major leaguer owns a 3.29 ERA in 270.2 innings after starring at Sonoma State and Cardinal Newman High. The Rawhide will counter with Roman Angelo (1-1, 2.45) out of Fresno State.

It’s Luau night at Banner Island Ballpark, with a Hawaiian shirt giveaway to the first 1,000 fans, and a BBQ special for $35.

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].