Storm Kick Off 4th of July Weekend With Offensive Fireworks

The 4th of July typically concludes with fireworks, however, on Friday night the Lake Elsinore Storm provided their own with an 11-3 victory over the Inland Empire 66ers.

Following a scoreless 1st frame, Dwayne Matos surrendered his only runs of the night when Jose Guzman homered following a Carlos Reina free pass in the top of the 2nd. Luckily, the Storm began their onslaught in the bottom of the second inning when the team loaded the bases for Angel Solarte. Again Solarte provided second inning heroics when he singled up the middle to bring home 2.

Matos would complete his night in the 3rd inning when he was able to secure 3 outs on just 7 pitches. The Storm would complete the 66ers night in the bottom of the 3rd when they put up a crooked, 5 innings on the scoreboard. It began with a walk and a stolen base from Yordy Barley. Tonight's stolen base would be his 30th of the season, one shy of the minor league lead in total stolen bases. Robert Hassell lll would then double him in to score the 3rd run of the game.

After that, three consecutive singles from Matthew Acosta, newbie, Carlos Luis, and Sean Guilbe would load the bases with 2 outs. After a wild pitch that scored Acosta, Alison Quintero would hit a single of his own to put the Storm up 7-2 over the 66ers.

Carlos Guarate would then enter the game going 5 strong innings, striking out 5, allowing just 3 hits and 1 earned run. The Storm would provide him with 4 extra runs of insurance and Lake Elsinore would cruise to a 11-3 victory to kick off July 4th Weekend.

Following the game, actual fireworks were set off inside The Diamond and will once again be done tomorrow night following the game at 6:35.

-Written by Justin Jett