Storm Stomp Grizzlies in Game One of Championship Series

The Lake Elsinore Storm hosted Game One of the California League Championship Series today in search of their first California League title since 2011.

In front of 2,626 Storm fans, Jackson Merrill's immaculate 4-hit day helped lead the Storm to an impressive 13-2 win. On the mound, Fernando Sanchez was tasked with facing the vaunted Fresno Grizzlies. The Grizzlies won the most games in the California League by a wide margin and sported the best batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS in Single-A.

Sanchez responded by tossing 4.1 innings of the 1-run ball while striking out 7 batters. His lone mistake came in the top of the second inning as a single and a walk put two guys on base. Braxton Fulford would drive in a run with a double before Sanchez struck out the next two guys he faced.

The Grizzlies would hold onto this precarious 1-run lead until the bottom of the fourth when the offense broke open after Griffin Doersching smacked a balancing act double just inside the third base line. Doersching would once again accumulate 3 hits, increasing his playoff OPS to 1.648 This run tied the game at 1 run apiece, however, Jakob Marsee would untie the game just a few batters later with a home run to deep right field.

In the following inning, the Storm would put 5 runs on the board as the score continued its crooked turn. The first run of the inning would come off the bat of Juan Zabala. His double would score a run and be one of the Storm's NINE doubles in today's game. A Griffin Doerschign single and Jackson Merrill bases-clearing double would flip this game from nail-biter to laugher. Merrill would hit three doubles in this game as his playoff OPS ballooned to an incredible 1.733.

The Storm would score 5 more runs to the Grizzlies 1 in the final innings of this game. The Storm would leave the stadium tonight with a win by a final score of 13-2.

All playoffs long, the Storm have combined their potent offense with a stalwart pitching staff. It has now guided them to 3 consecutive wins and leaves them just 1 win shy of a title. Following Sanchez's departure in the fifth inning, Will Geerdes would take the mound for 3.2 innings of incredible work. He too would give up just 1-earned run while striking out 3. He would be credited for the win in today's game.

After today's victory, the Storm offense has now driven in 9 or more runs while their pitching staff has struck out 12 or more batters in all three playoff games so far this season. The team will now head to Fresno where they will play their final games of the season in an attempt to win a Championship in enemy territory.

-Written by Justin Jett