LAKE ELSINORE, CA – In the quickest game of the series from Diamond Stadium, Lake Elsinore will hit the road after taking four of six games from Visalia capped off with a 2-1 nail-biting Storm win on Sunday night.
Visalia got some traffic on the bases in the top of the first but produced nothing to show for it. Lake Elsinore took advantage of that missed opportunity and struck first in the bottom of the second thanks to a solo home run from Yoiber Ocopio. The fifth long-ball of the year for the first baseman opened the scoring and gave the Storm an early 1-0 lead.
Innings three and four would go scoreless for both sides but in the fifth, Visalia responded with its first hit of the night and it was a big one. Designated hitter Moises Alcala destroyed a middle-middle fastball well over the right-field wall and knotted the game back up at one. This was the final game of Alcala’s first series at the Single-A level in his career and ended it with two home runs and a big one in the fifth to bring Visalia right back in it.
The excitement for the Rawhide was extremely short-lived. Just a half-inning later, Truitt Madonna smacked a line drive that just snuck over the left-field fence and gave the Storm a 2-1 lead. All three runs tonight were scored via the long-ball for a quick and efficient 2:13 minute game.
On the mound, Lake Elsinore shined. Starter Luis Maracara went five innings of one-run ball and struck out five. The right-hander nearly doubled his previous Single-A high in start-length. Before today, the longest Maracara had stayed in for Lake Elsinore was just three innings. Brandon Langley then came out of the pen and picked up where Maracara left off. The Canada native struck out six in just 2.1IP. He exited and gave way to Sean Barnett for a five-out save. The flamethrowing righty ran into a bit of trouble in the ninth and brought the tying run to third, but forced a game-ending groundout and gave the Storm a series win for the first time since late May.
Lake Elsinore returns to action on Tuesday to face Stockton for game one of the six-game set. This is the third series of the year between the Storm and the Ports with Stockton winning eight of the first 12. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. PT.
About the Lake Elsinore Storm
The Lake Elsinore Storm are the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres in the California League. For more information on the Storm, visit milb.com/lake-elsinore. For information about tickets to any of Lake Elsinore’s 66 home games, call (951) 245-4487 or email: info@stormbaseball.com.