Storm's Quantrill fans career-high dozen

Going against a team that featured two rehabbing big leaguers and a top prospect on the mound opposing him, Cal Quantrill was feeling good Thursday. The 2016 first-rounder was so loose, in fact, he didn't mind talking about an unlikely inspiration in a team website interview before the first pitch.
"I might have a little crush on Selena Gomez," Quantrill said. "It's been only like a four- or five-year thing, so no big deal. They asked me who I'd like to talk to if I could talk to anybody about baseball. I figured everybody else would say baseball players, so I went with my crush, Selena Gomez."

Cool and confident, San Diego's No. 2 prospect set a new career high with 12 strikeouts, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks over six innings as Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore rallied to beat Rancho Cucamonga, 4-3.
Box score
"I felt like I had control of the fastball, put myself in counts to beat them with offspeed, but also with the fastball," Quantrill said. "I think it was just a good game overall, probably a few too many leadoff hits. That makes it really hard, a lot of high-pressure pitches, but I managed the baseball game and we got it done."
The Stanford product dealt with traffic on the basepaths all night, not retiring the side in order once, but he didn't let any inning spiral away from him. Quantrill struck out at least one batter in all six of his frames, fanning the side in the second.
"No one's going to tell you they like having guys on with nobody out," he said. "It's something I'll work on, maybe coming out with a little more focus for the first batter of each inning or whatever. It's nice knowing that if I need to rear back and get a swing through or weak contact or a K, hopefully I'll be able to do it. You don't want to put yourself in a risky situation like that as often as I did, but we worked around it."
In addition to an already talented Quakes team, Quantrill also faced rehabbing Dodgers Joc Pederson and Logan Forsythe in his fifth start of the year. The pair combined to go 1-for-5 against Quantrill with a walk and four strikeouts.
"You respect that [they are good hitters], but so is Drew Jackson and so is DJ Peters," he said, noting the Dodgers' No. 18 and 19 prospects in the Quakes lineup. "You attack them with your best stuff. Pitchers live by this rule, but a good pitch, a good executed pitch, beats a good hitter. They're going to take advantage of mistakes you make more often than a player in our league, but I figure if I execute my pitches, it doesn't matter if it's Barry Bonds up there. You should still get him out."
Across from him, second-ranked Dodgers prospect Yadier Álvarez allowed one run on one hit over just four innings. He walked three and struck out three.
Quantrill fired 60 of his 91 pitches for strikes in matching the longest outing of his career. The Ontario native missed the bulk of his sophomore season and all of his junior year at Stanford due to Tommy John surgery in 2014 and was heavily limited last year in his introduction to the Minors. Now he's discovering his identity on the mound as a professional pitcher.
"I think I have good stuff, but they didn't draft me because I throw 102 (mph) and I'm just going to blow guys up for two innings," he said. "They drafted me because I'm a starting pitcher, and I'm going to go out and give my team a chance to win. I feel like I'm finally getting to do that again. It's been a long time with the surgery and college and everything, but each outing, the pitch count goes up a little bit. I feel like even when I'm not at my best, I'm out there competing and doing what makes me me. It's fun. Baseball is fun again."

Quantrill exited with the game tied, 6-6. The Storm pushed across the eventual game-winning runs on Ty France's triple in the eighth. Rehabbing Padres pitcher Jarred Cosart (1-0) allowed a run on three hits over two innings and Trevor Frank picked up the save with a scoreless ninth.
"The boys battled," Quantrill said. "We manufactured those extra runs and took control of the game. Frank came in and shut the door in the ninth, so it was -- I know it sounds cliche -- but it was a good team effort. Everyone did what they were supposed to do."
And as for his crush?
"There will be tickets at every game for the rest of the year waiting there for her, so if she's ever in the area and she wants to come see a high-A baseball game, there will be a ticket there waiting for her," he said with a laugh.
"I figure now is the time to take my shot, right?"