It was a good day for me. Both the Dodgers and the Trojans won. So for this post, I decided to stick with a team that has been a Dodger affiliate for the last 15 years, but their tenure has come to an end…Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Lost in their loss in the California League Southern Division Playoffs, the LAD affiliate ended their reign as the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes since 2011. Since that 2011 season, the Quakes have six division titles and two league titles (2014 and 2018).
When te Dodgers California League affiliate became The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the stadium was known as the City of Rancho Cucamonga Epicenter Entertainment & Sports Complex, or The Rancho Cucamonga Epicenter for short.
In April 2013, The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes announced they had entered into a long-term partnership agreement with Southern California-based company, LoanMart, giving the Stadium a new name.
In their final playoffs in Rancho Cucamonga, the Inland Empire 66ers (LAA) swept the two-game series. In their final home game at LoanMart field, 20 year old RHP Brady Smith offered up a 2-run HR in the 1st inning, and they never relinquished the lead. Smith was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2023 draft, but this year marked his first professional IP. He finished with 21 IP in the regular season, and 2.2 IP in the playoffs.
Trailing 4-0 in the fifth, Landyn Vidourek tripled home Mairo Martinus to get Rancho on the board at 4-1. Ching-Hsien Ko hit a HR in the 6th cutting the lead to 4-2. But a seven-run seventh by the 66ers put the game seemingly out of reach, 11-2.
In the bottom of the 7th, RC put up 3. Jose Meza singled, moved to 2nd on a WP, and to 3rd on a ground out. Brendan Tunink hit a run scoring PH single. With 2 outs, Emil Morales hit a 2-run HR to complete the scoring.
19 year old LH hitting OF, Brendan Tunink, finally joined Ching-Hsien Ko, Emil Morales, and Chase Harlan as position players promoted from ACL. In his one appearance with Rancho, he went 1-2 on the final game on Thursday night.
Now that the Dodgers’ contract at LoanMart Field in Rancho Cucamonga comes to an end, they are poised for a relocation to a neighboring city in Ontario, California. Beginning construction in October of 2024, the Ontario Sports Empire is set to make its debut in the spring of 2026. This 199-acre complex will not only house the future Single-A affiliate of the Dodgers that holds over 6,000 fans, but it will also add eight baseball fields, four multi-use football fields, and eight soccer fields.
Sports fans around the Inland Empire are excited and eager for the Ontario Sports Empire to open. The Ontario Professional Baseball Instagram account already has 14,500 followers without a single game being played. As the team reveal gets closer, and the start of the new season, this number will only grow substantially.
Final LAD Rancho Cucamonga…
Box Score
Good day. Trojans and Dodger win and Dodgers put up football numbers. Finally. Trojans should go 4-0 next week and then we’ll see what there made of. Now can the bats go on a sustained run?