Padres Minor League Report: Wall & Ortiz Provide Pop As Close Losses Tell The Tale

[Brock Beauchamp]

Power and speed headlined the Padres’ farm Tuesday, though all four clubs fell. Forrest Wall launched a shot and Luis Campusano doubled during El Paso’s late 4–3 push. Devin Ortiz opened San Antonio’s night with a leadoff homer, while Moisés Gómez’s RBI double kept the Missions close. Braedon Karpathios reached four times for Fort Wayne, and shortstop Cobb Hightower piled up three hits and a steal before Lake Elsinore’s rally stalled, 6–5. Catcher Lamar King Jr. swiped two bases.

Padres Transactions

• Optioned RHP Stephen Kolek to El Paso Chihuahuas. 
• Recalled RHP Ryan Bergert from El Paso Chihuahuas. 

Wall’s Solo Blast, Seventh-Inning Rally Can’t Lift El Paso Past Express
Box Score

A shaky first inning left El Paso chasing from the outset, and despite a spirited push in the seventh, the Chihuahuas fell 4-3 on Tuesday night at Dell Diamond.

Forrest Wall jump-started the offense in the fourth, driving a pitch over the wall in left-center to trim the deficit to three. Three frames later, El Paso loaded the bases when Luis Campusano ripped a leadoff double, Clay Dungan and Tim Locastro followed with consecutive singles, and Mason McCoy added a sharp knock to left. Catcher Cody Roberts forced in a run with a four-pitch walk before an infield fly and fielder’s choice grounder halted the surge one run short.

Earlier, defensive miscues compounded the damage of two first-inning walks, staking the home side to a three-run cushion. Right-hander Matt Waldron steadied the game, working six innings before turning it over to the bullpen. Omar Cruz and Bryan Hoeing combined for two scoreless frames to keep the deficit at a single run.

Locastro reached twice, stole a base, and supplied an RBI, while Roberts logged a hit and walk from the nine-hole.

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Ortiz’s Leadoff Blast, Gómez’s Late Double Highlight Missions’ 4–2 Setback
Box Score

Devin Ortiz wasted no time jump-starting San Antonio, turning a pitch into a towering drive that cleared the left-field wall. Braden Nett protected the early lead, breezing through three scoreless frames while piling up four strikeouts.

Momentum flipped in the fourth when a sacrifice fly and a flare to center gave the RoughRiders the lead. Jared Kollar held his own through the middle innings, and the offense threatened in the sixth as Wyatt Hoffman drew a walk and swiped second. That forced a pitching change, but a strikeout stranded two runners after a Francisco Acuna walk.

Ortiz sparked another rally in the eighth, beating out an infield single. Moisés Gómez followed by rifling a line-drive double into the left-field corner, bringing Ortiz all the way around to trim the deficit to 3–2. Acuna worked his second free pass of the night to put the tying run in scoring position, yet a deep fly to left ended the surge.

An insurance homer in the bottom half widened the gap, and a ninth-inning flyout, grounder, and strikeout closed out the contest. Addison Kopack’s third-inning double and Romeo Sanabria’s early single accounted for San Antonio’s other hits, while Marcos Castañon flashed leather and added a line-drive knock to right.

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Karpathios Stays Hot at the Plate, but TinCaps Slip 6–0 at Parkview Field
Box Score

Fort Wayne mustered plenty of traffic but never found the timely swing in a shutout loss Wednesday night. Right fielder Braedon Karpathios was one of few highlights with a single to right in the second and dropped another knock into left two frames later. He kept the pressure on by drawing walks in both the sixth and eighth, twice advancing into scoring position, but the rally spark never caught.

Starter Ian Koenig scattered early contact, erasing a first-inning bunt with a quick strikeout and leaning on his defense for a crisp 5-4-3 double play that closed the second. The left-hander navigated four scoreless innings before the visitors broke through on a two-out liner to left in the fourth, then scratched out two more runs in the sixth to widen the gap.

Luis Germán inherited the seventh and nearly escaped, yet an infield misplay allowed a run to cross ahead of a two-run homer that pushed the deficit to six. Josh Mallitz followed with a scoreless eighth, and Christian Ruebeck punched out two in a tidy ninth to finish the night on a high note.

Leo De Vries coaxed a pair of walks and showcased his arm from shortstop on a twisting grounder deep in the hole. The TinCaps, however, stranded nine runners.

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Hightower’s Three-hit Night and Late Scramble Come Up One Run Shy for Storm
Box Score

Cobb Hightower set the tone with a leadoff double, and Lake Elsinore spent the rest of the evening trading blows before a bases-loaded chance in the ninth slipped away in a 6–5 loss at The Diamond.

Hightower crossed on Lamar King Jr.’s line-drive single in the first, then Fountain’s heads-up baserunning manufactured the go-ahead tally in the fourth when he walked, stole second, and trotted home on Alex McCoy’s sacrifice fly. King Jr. struck again an inning later, lifting a fly to center that plated Hightower after the shortstop’s infield single and a walk pushed traffic into motion.

A rocky top of the sixth flipped the scoreboard, but the Storm answered right back. Kavares Tears drew a free pass, and McCoy rifled a two-bagger to left that scored him. Moments later, Kasen Wells reached on a misplay at second to deliver McCoy and knot the game at five.

Inland Empire eked out the decisive run with a two-out grounder back to the pitcher in the seventh. Lake Elsinore still had one last push: King Jr. walked and stole second with two outs in the ninth, Tears joined him on another pass, and McCoy’s sharp grounder was mishandled to load the bags. Pinch-hitter B.Y. Choi battled but went down swinging, leaving the potential winning run at second.

King Jr. reached twice and swiped a pair, while Hightower added singles in the fifth and eighth and stole his seventh bag of the year.

Top Prospect Performance

1. Leo De Vries, SS: 0-for-2, 2 BB 
2. Kash Mayfield, LHP: Did Not Play
3. Ethan Salas, C: Did Not Play
4. Boston Bateman, LHP: Did Not Play
5. Humberto Cruz, RHP: Did Not Play
6. Kruz Schoolcraft: Not Yet Assigned
7. Isaiah Lowe, RHP: Did Not Play
8. Henry Baez, RHP: Did Not Play
9. Braden Nett, RHP: 3 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 K 
10. Cobb Hightower, SS: 3-for-5, 1 K, 1 2B, 1 SB 
11. Kale Fountain, 1B: 1-for-3, 2 BB 
12. Tirso Ornelas, OF: Did Not Play
13. Bradgley Rodriguez, RHP: Did Not Play
14. Ryan Wideman: Not Yet Assigned
15. Kavares Tears, RF: 0-for-2, 3 BB 
16. Tyson Neighbors, RHP: Did Not Play
17. Victor Lizárraga, RHP: Did Not Play
18. Francis Peña, RHP: Did Not Play
19. Romeo Sanabria, 1B: Did Not Play
20. Ryan Bergert, RHP: N/A (Active MLB roster) 

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