Lake Elsinore Storm Pour it on Against the Ports
Tonight, the Lake Elsinore Storm felt confident. They had Austin Krob, and his incredible sub-2.00 ERA heading into the night, on the mound and a struggling Stockton Ports team in town. Unfortunately, Krob had his least productive outing of the season going four innings, allowing eight hits, and three earned
Tonight, the Lake Elsinore Storm felt confident. They had Austin Krob, and his incredible sub-2.00 ERA heading into the night, on the mound and a struggling Stockton Ports team in town. Unfortunately, Krob had his least productive outing of the season going four innings, allowing eight hits, and three earned runs. Fortunately, even Krob's worst is enough to keep his team in the game.
An electric offense doesn't hurt either as the Lake Elsinore ultimately routed the Stockton Ports by a score of 12-4. After trailing by one run early after three runners reached base in the first, the Storm responded in the bottom of the second. Rosman Verdugo would hit an RBI single, his sixth RBI in his last three games played at The Diamond, to bring Albert Fabian home.
After falling behind yet again, the Storm would respond as such. A huge third inning saw a Graham Pauley triple score two runs for the lead. This long ball to centerfield would bounce off of the wall and leave the centerfielder running for cover as Pauley didn't need to exert much effort to find his way to third base. It would also see the California league leader in doubles (17) and RBIs (50) extend those leads with an RBI that scored Pauley and saw him standing at second base.
After the Ports scored one run in consecutive innings and forced Krob out of the game in just four, the Storm once again found themselves without a lead. However, the Storm bullpen would allow just one additional hit over the next five innings and strike out eight while keeping the Ports to four total runs.
The Storm offense, on the other hand, would explode like a lightning strike hitting a small yacht docked in say, Stockton? Anthony Vilar would hit a three RBI home run over the Ad Monster in right field, his first since April 21st, that gave Lake Elsinore a three-run lead. A wild pitch would somehow score Padres' 4th ranked prospect, Samuel Zavala, all the way from second base, Verdugo would collect his 7th RBI in three home games, and leading ribeye enjoyer, Albert Fabian would send a baseball into orbit for his 49th and 50th RBIs of the season. This effort was enough to give the Storm 12 total runs scored on 10 hits.
Tomorrow night, the Storm will play again at The Diamond on Woof Wednesday as they look to string some wins together to remain in the hunt for the first-half California League Title.
-Written by Justin Jett