Rawhide Win Season Opener in Front of Sold Out Crowd

Visalia, CA – The Visalia Rawhide (1-0) opened their 2026 season with a 6-3 win over the Fresno Grizzlies (0-1) in front of a sold out crowd of 2,468 fans on Friday night at Valley Strong Ballpark.

The Rawhide scored their six runs in the first four innings. Enyervert Perez crushed a two run home run over the left field wall in the first frame to open the scoring. Jose Mejia, in his first official at-bat in the D-backs organization, extended the lead in the second by crushing a solo home run.

Visalia added three runs in the fourth. Jakey Jospeha started the big frame with an infield base hit. Pedro Catuy then ripped a single up the middle. Josepha raced to third base on the single and a wild Grizzlies’ throw bounced into the Rawhide dugout and advanced Josepha home.

Catuy came around to score on a wild pitch and Kayson Cunningham capped the inning with an RBI single. Cunningham, the D-backs 2025 1st round draft pick, finished with two hits on the day.

Rawhide starting pitcher Chung-Hsiang Huang tossed four shutout innings with six strikeouts and just one hit allowed.

The Grizzlies tallied a run in the fifth and two scores in the sixth but the Rawhide’s bullpen shut out Fresno over the final three frames.

Raul Garayzar tossed 1.1 scoreless innings with two strikeouts to earn the win in his professional debut. Luke Dotson made his pro debut with a scoreless eighth and Tayler Montiel earned his first pro save by striking out the side in a perfect ninth inning.

Game two of opening weekend between Visalia and Fresno is Saturday at Valley Strong Ballpark. The first 500 fans will receive a Cooler Bag thanks to Tint Master and a Rawhide Magnet Schedule courtesy of the Kaweah Health Lifestyle Fitness Center. Visalia will also take the field for the first time as their new alternate identity the Central Valley Sir Loins.

First pitch is at 6:35 PM with gates opening for season ticket holders at 5:15 PM and the general public at 5:30 PM. Tickets are available on the Rawhide's website and at the Rawhide Ticket Office presented by Kaweah Health starting at Noon on weekend gamedays.

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All media resources can be found here including videos and photos from tonight in this folder.

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The Visalia Rawhide are the Single-A Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks playing professional baseball in the Central Valley since 1946. The Rawhide's 2026 theme is "Savor the Season" as the team transforms into the Central Valley Sir Loins on Saturday gamedays.   

Stay up to date with the Rawhide on the team’s website and by following the Rawhide on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and X. The Rawhide play all home games at Valley Strong Ballpark located at 300 N Giddings Street Visalia, CA 93291.

Fans can purchase season ticket packages, group ticket plans, single game tickets and team merchandise through the Rawhide website and at the stadium ticket office sponsored by Kaweah Health. All Rawhide games can be watched on MiLB.TV and the Bally Sports Live App with a free radio broadcast also available online. Select home games will be aired on KNXT MyTV53. For more information, visit milb.com/visalia, email info@rawhidebaseball.com or call (559) 732-4433.