STOCKTON RALLIES PAST FRESNO 5-4

The Stockton Ports (2-4) let a four-run lead get away, then pushed across a run in the ninth inning to beat the Fresno Grizzlies (3-3) by a score of 5-4 on Thursday night. SS Jose Escorche singled in the eventual game-winner as Stockton won for the second times in three games against the Grizzlies.

The bottom of the order came up big for the Ports as T.J. Schofield-Sam had three hits, including two doubles, and scored the winning run batting out of the seventh spot. Number eight hitter Kevin Richards had two hits, as did Escorche out of the nine-hole.

Starting pitcher Jake Garland was brilliant for five innings, allowing no runs or hits while striking out seven, and left with a 2-0 lead. But the right-hander out of Miami got a no-decision after the bullpen gave up an eventual 4-0 lead. Pedro Santos (W, 1-1) finished it off with two scoreless innings to earn the win.

The six-game series continues Friday night at 6:50PM.

THURSDAY SCORES

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – 6
VISALIA – 0

MODESTO – 5
SAN JOSE – 4

LAKE ELSINORE
INLAND EMPIRE – Rained out

STORM STAY PERFECT

News and notes from last night’s games in the California League:

The defending champion Lake Elsinore Storm moved to 5-0 with a 7-4 win over Inland Empire (1-4) on Saturday night. SS Rosman Verdugo was 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

The San Jose Giants (3-2) beat the Modesto Nuts (3-2) by a score of 7-5 behind a 3-RBI triple by CF Carter Howell in the top of the ninth inning.

The Fresno Grizzlies (3-2) pounded out a 14-2 victory over the Stockton Ports (1-4). The Grizzlies had 16 hits, with three batters having three-hit games. The Ports committed four errors.

The Visalia Rawhide (1-4) got into the win column with a walk-off 5-4 victory over the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (3-2). SS Juan Corniel made his first hit of the season count as he drove a one-out double to CF to end the game. CF Druw Jones, Arizon’s #2 propsect and #13 on MLB’s top 100, continued to struggle out of the gate with an 0-for-4 night that has him at 1-for-19 to start the season.

PORTS ANNOUNCE TEXT-TO-BUY WITH VOZZI

The Stockton Ports are among the first wave of MiLB teams to partner with SMS platform Vozzi to allow fans to buy tickets via text message. Free enrollment will allow fans to purchase tickets without having to download them as well as receive deals and promotions.

STOCKTON PORTS PRESS RELEASE 4/11/23:

STOCKTON, Calif. -The Stockton Ports are excited to announce their new “Text to Buy” campaign with Vozzi, a SMS platform, for the 2023 season. The platform allows fans to text-in to buy their tickets and sign up to receive the latest ticket deals, promotions, in-game contests, and more. The Ports are one of the first MiLB teams to roll out this new initiative.

“Our goal in Stockton is to not only provide affordable family fun to our fans on a daily basis, but to also make it as convenient and user friendly as possible,” said Ports General Manager Jordan Feneck. “Sports and other forms of live entertainment are evolving to be fully digital, and Vozzi’s Text to Buy feature allows us to make these transactions easier on the consumer. We are excited to be working with Vozzi on such a great campaign, and we hope that our fans enjoy it as much as we do!

Fans will text-in “ENROLL” to (833)-930-0644 to sign up. The partnership allows an accelerated path to purchase. Fans will not need to download anything.

Once enrolled, fans will text-in “BUY”, the number of tickets they want to purchase, and the date of the game they’d like to attend. For example, fans can text in “BUY 2 APR22” after enrolled to purchase two tickets for the Ports next Saturday night home game at Banner Island Ballpark on April 22nd against the Visalia Rawhide. Upon purchase, a link is provided to access tickets via text or fans can access their ProVenue account. A key is provided below for each month:

April – APR

May – MAY

June – JUN

July – JUL

August – AUG

September – SEPT

Fans can get started to purchase as soon as today with the Ports back home at Banner Island Ballpark Tuesday, April 18th with first pitch scheduled for 11:00 AM.

For questions or to book your group outing for the 2023 season, contact the Ports Front Office at 209-644-1900 today.

TUESDAY MATCHUPS

The California League got underway last week with three-game sets Thursday – Saturday. The Lake Elsinore Storm started the defense of their 2022 championship with a dominant three-game sweep of Visalia, outscoring the Rawhide 27-2. Modesto swept Stockton as well, racking up 30 runs over the three games.

Tonight we go back to the six-game series with Mondays off until Memorial Day, where the schedule gets tweaked a little bit for the holiday. Here’s tonight’s matchups:

RANCHO CUCAMONGA (2-1) at VISALIA (0-3)
LAKE ELSINORE (3-0) at INLAND EMPIRE (1-2)
STOCKTON (0-3) at FRESNO (2-1)
SAN JOSE (1-2) at MODESTO (3-0)

SHOEMAKER RETURNS FOR THIRD SEASON WITH RANCHO CUCAMONGA

John Shoemaker will be the field manager for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes for the third straight year as announced by the team. Shoemaker has been coaching in the Dodgers organization since 1981 and posted a record of 135-117 over the past two seasons at the helm for the Quakes.

Full staff:

Hitting Coach – Dylan Nasiatka
Pitching Coach – Ramon Troncoso
Pitching Coach – Sean Coyne
Bench/Hitting Coach – Ronny Paulino
Athletic Trainer – Akinori Maeda
Performance Coach – Taylor Miller
Video/Development Coach – Ben Castiglia

ZAMORA TO MANAGE LAKE ELSINORE

Pete Zamora has been named as manager of Lake Elsinore to head the 2023 coaching staff. Zamora served as pitching coach for the Storm in 2019 and held that same position with the San Antonio Missions last year.

The rest of the staff is as follow:

Pitching Coach – Thomas Eshelman
Bench Coach – Jhonaldo Pozo
Athletic Trainer – Josean Prieto
Strength Coach – Mark Spadavecchia
Performance Analyst – Charles King
Video Analyst – Kenny Kirkpatrick

PETIT HEADS STOCKTON PORTS 2023 COACHING STAFF

The Stockton Ports announced their 2023 coaching staff, with Gregorio Petit heading the list as the club’s manager. Petit broke into the big leagues with Stockton’s parent club, the A’s, in 2008 and played parts of that season and 2009 with them. In 197 games over six seasons, the Venezuelan-born infielder played in 197 major league games.

Rounding out the Ports’ staff:

Kevin Kouzmanoff – Hitting Coach
Gabriel Ozuna – Pitching Coach
Ruben Escalara – Assistant Hitting Coach
Noah Huff – Athletic Trainer
Nathaniel Penaranda – Sports Performance Coach

FLASHBACK: BAKERSFIELD BLAZE 2015

LAKE ELSINORE WINS 2022 CALIFORNIA LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

The Lake Elsinore beat the Fresno Grizzlies 3-2 to finish off a two-game sweep of the California League championship series on Tuesday night in Fresno. It is the fourth championship for the Storm (1996, 2001, 2011, 2022).

Victor Lizarraga went 6 1/3 innings and gave up two runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts for the win. Duncan Snider pitched the final 2 2/3 innings, preserving the lead on one hit, one walk and three strikeouts.

Lake Elsinore put two runs on the board in the second inning with a sac fly from Tyler Roberston and an RBI single from Jakob Marsee. It stayed 2-0 until the seventh inning when Marsee singled in another run to make it 3-0.

Fresno cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run homer by Sterlin Thompson to chase Lizarraga after 85 pitches. Neither side would score again, and the Storm celebrated on the field at Chukchansi Park.

MERRILL LEADS STORM TO 1-0 LEAD IN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Jackson Merrill went 4-for-5 with three doubles and four RBIs as Lake Elsinore routed Fresno in game one of the California League championship series by a score of 13-2. Five Storm batters had multi-hit games.

Jakob Marsee homered and went 2-for-4 from the leadoff spot with three runs scored and two RBIs.

Marcos Castanon went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs.

Fernando Sanchez started and went 4 1/3 IP for Lake Elsinore, allowing one run on five hits with one walk and seven strideouts.

Will Geerdes went 3 2/3 innings and picked up the win in relief. Geerdes gave up a run on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

Game two of the best-of-three series will be on Tuesday night in Fresno at 6:50PM