LAKE ELSINORE, CA - The easiest way to describe what the Storm have done this season is with one word: Magic. For a team with 28 five-or-more-run innings, a record-breaking pace of stolen bases, and comeback win after comeback win, Lake Elsinore added Friday night to its long list of incredible victories with a 10-8 win over Ontario.
In the first three games of the six-game set, the Tower Buzzers opened the scoring. Ontario kept up that pace and did the same tonight in the second on a Francisco Espinoza single to score Joendry Vargas to take a 1-0 lead. That advantage grew in a hurry. Just one inning later, the Buzzers stung for five runs. The first came after Ching-Hsien Ko reached on a throwing error by Yimy Tovar to score Kellon Lindsey. Then Ontario broke the game wide open on a three-run blast from Vargas. It was the third baseman's ninth long-ball of the year and came at a big time for the Tower Buzzers. Ontario added one more after Caleb Johnson walked and scored later on a wild pitch. The inning ended there, but the damage was done. Storm trailed 6-0 heading to the bottom of the third.
They didn’t get them all back at once, but the Storm wouldn't go down without a fight. Nu’u Contrades and Tovar walked while Alex Conover was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Ty Harvey. The catcher laced a two-run single to center and cut the deficit to four. Tovar and Harvey proceeded to steal second and third and give Jose Verdugo an opportunity to produce a sacrifice fly. That scored Tovar and the lead shrunk in half to make it a 6-3 game.
Innings four and five went scoreless, but more action picked up in the sixth. In his second game back from the Injured List, Dawson Willis rocketed a solo home run to right-center and made it a two-run game. Truitt Madonna walked two batters later and brought up Dylan Grego, who knocked a bunt single down the third base line and reached on a throwing error by Ontario’s pitcher Will Gagnon. Madonna moved to third and scored on an RBI groundout by Qrey Lott just a batter later.
With it being just a one-run game, the Storm wouldn’t quit yet. Conover was hit again and then moved to third by a single from Tovar. Harvey’s big night continued with a double off the right-field wall and gave the Storm the lead 7-6. Lake Elsinore added another on for insurance when Verdugo slapped a single to center and plated Harvey to give the Storm a two-run lead. LE had come all the way back from 6-0 down and then some.
But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows down the stretch. Brandon Langley came in to try and get the final six outs tonight for the Storm and started off the eighth by allowing back-to-back singles to put the tying run on base. After securing the next two outs against the following two batters, Buzzers first baseman Easton Shelton snapped out of his hitless skid and delivered a game-tying two-run single and knotted things up at eight. The Storm would have to pull another late-game rabbit out of their hat to come away with a win.
And that’s exactly what happened. After Contrades walked, Conover was hit again for the third time tonight. That put two runners on for Tovar who didn’t even need to swing the bat to get a run across. A pair of wild pitches from Accimias Morales brought Contrades to plate the go-ahead run before Tovar struck out. After a pitching change, Harvey sailed a sac fly to right and scored Conover to extend the Storm lead to 10-8. Langley came in and closed the door in the ninth, and Lake Elsinore escaped another battle against Ontario with a 10-8 win.
Lake Elsinore returns to action on Saturday to face Ontario for game five of the six-game set from Diamond Stadium. This is the fifth series of the year between the Storm and the Tower Buzzers, with Lake Elsinore leading 12-10. The Storm will send RHP Tyler Schmitt (6-6, 5.28) to the mound to face off against Tower Buzzers RHP Jack O’Connor (2-3, 6.58). First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 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.