LAKE ELSINORE, CA - After Lake Elsinore stuck early in the first, Visalia took control for nearly the entirety of the game. The Rawhide countered every Storm rally until it was too much to handle. LE ripped five runs in the seventh and two more in the eight to stun Visalia in a 12-8 comeback win.
Action started in the bottom of the first when Ryan Wideman sent a lead-off single to left and immediately stole second. With a runner already in scoring position, Justin DeCriscio delivered a two-out RBI single to get the Storm on the board. The second baseman then advanced to second on a balk and stole third while Victor Duarte reached first on a catcher’s interference. Lake Elsinore had runners on the corners and elected to double-steal. Duarte beelined for second while DeCriscio darted for home and scored just before Duarte was tagged out.
Visalia got on the board in the third. After two strong scoreless innings from Kruz Schoolcraft, the southpaw gave up six singles and four runs. RBIs came from Carlos Virahonda, Jose Mejia, and Jakey Josepha. Only two of those six knocks could be categorized as hard hit. Schoolcraft pitched much better than his 3.0IP, 7H, 4R line may have read. The Padres’ top prospect induced significant weak contact and limited the free passes far more often than he had in his first three starts. Nevertheless, the Rawhide responded to take a 4-2 advantage.
The lead grew before it shrunk. In the fourth, Storm LHP Joseph Herrera was the first in relief for Schoolcraft. His outing didn’t start off as well as he may have hoped. The first five batters reached base from an error by Qrey Lott, a walk from Enyervert Perez, singles from Eliesbert Alejos and Kayson Cunningham and JD Dix getting hit by a pitch. The Rawhide scored another two runs and increased the lead to four.
The Storm responded quickly with two runs of their own in the home half of the fourth. After a walk from Victor Duarte, Luke Cantwell laced a double into left-center field to the deepest part of the park. Conner Westenburg fired an extra-base-hit of his own down the left field line to score Cantwell. The four run deficit was cut in half.
But the back and forth didn’t end there. Josepha walked and Abdias De La Cruz tripled on a flyball to right that was misplayed by Lott. Josepha scored and De La Cruz had to wait just one pitch to cross home himself thanks to an RBI single from Jose Alpuria. Every time the Storm punched, the Hide had a counter.
Lake Elsinore tacked on another in the fifth on an RBI single from Duarte. While the lead wasn’t cut in half again like the previous inning, the deficit was brought to just three. But that wouldn’t be all for the Storm. In the seventh, Wideman fired a lead-off triple into left. Bradley Frye followed it up with a single to score Wideman and Truitt Madonna put runners on the corners with a single of his own. Frye then scored on a wild pitch and Madonna scored just a few pitches later while stealing third thanks to a throwing error from Virahonda. Just like that, it was tied at eight. Then, Luke Cantwell met the moment with his second double of the night. Two more runs scored and the Storm capped off the five-run seventh to take a 10-8 lead.
Lake Elsinore added two more in the eighth for some extra insurance on a sacrifice bunt from DeCriscio and another RBI single from Duarte. Will Koger closed it out in the ninth and helped bring the Storm a 12-8 win to mark four straight for the Storm.
While the offense was the headline, relief pitching for Lake Elsinore did not go unnoticed. In his first rehab assignment for the Padres, RHR Jeremiah Estrada pitched a scoreless seventh with one strikeout and picked up the win. After eight runs in a three inning span, the back end of the bullpen performed with four consecutive shutout innings to help keep the Rawhide at bay.
Lake Elsinore returns to action on Saturday as it faces Visalia for the fifth game of the six-game series from Diamond Stadium. The Storm will turn to RHP Tyler Schmitt (0-2, 10.00 ERA) to face Rawhide RHP Junior Ciprian (0-1, 3.27 ERA). 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.