The Storm Drop Two Games on a Saturday Afternoon in Lake Elsinore

The Lake Elsinore Storm were tasked with playing at least 14 innings of baseball today at The Diamond due to a suspended Thursday night game due to rain. This turned out to be a problem instead of a reward as they dropped both games with feeble offensive efforts and faltered pitching.

In Game One, the Quakes nearly replicated the performance that was handed to them by the hometown team on the previous night. Except, the Storm failed to score a single run, unlike the Quakes who at least faked a comeback attempt with five late runs after falling down by 12. The Quakes would win by a score of 10-0 with loud at bats, two triples, and a home run. Lake Elsinore would combine for just five base hits and four walks but ran themselves into a few outs that could have produced runs.

In Game Two, the Storm put Jagger Haynes on the mound. While still on an innings restriction, Haynes did his job by going two innings without giving up a single run and striking out three. Manuel Castro would replace him in the third inning and have a quality and quiet first inning of work before the fourth inning arrived.

He would allow a single before inducing a groundout, however, Thayron Liranzo would subsequently hit a deep home run over the centerfield wall to put the Quakes ahead 2-0. Castro would recover nicely by striking out the next two batters he faced. The Storm would respond and recover half of the deficit after a Graham Pauley walk set up a Griffin Doersching double that would bring the score to 2-1. Additionally, by reaching base in both games tonight, Pauley has now reached base in 23 consecutive games.

In the fifth, the Storm would tie the game with an inning-leading walk from Charlis Aquino and a two-out single from Graham Pauley who was caught attempting to extend his single into a double after Aquino was safe at home. With the game tied, Castro was tasked with holding the lead and after beginning the 6th with a strikeout and inducing a flyout for the second out of the inning, a two-out walk meant trouble was brewing for the Storm. Liranzo would launch another home run to collect four RBIs on the day and push the score to a 4-2 Quakes lead.

In the bottom of the 7th, the Storm once again were threatening to change the tides. Nick Vogt would nab his first hit as a Storm player to put the tying run at the plate. Albert Fabian, clutch as always, peppered a single into center field. Now, the winning run was at the plate and a new sense of hope filled the stadium. Anthony Vilar would then be hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Kai Murphy would ground out and narrowly avoid the game-ending double play to score a run and put the Storm one run away from tying the game.

With the best player Lake Elsinore could have hoped for at the plate, Graham Pauley, disagreements that had lasted nearly all of the 14 innings of play with the umpire at home plate finally bubbled over and Aquino was tossed from the game before Graham Pauley struck out in unconvincing fashion to the hometown dugout.

The Storm will attempt to salvage this homestand with a victory in a soldout Lake Elsinore Diamond Stadium tomorrow at 1 PM

-Written by Justin Jett