Buzzers Rally Again to Stun Storm 9-8, Take 3-1 Series Lead

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers keep rolling. Friday night, they pulled off another wild comeback, wiping out a five-run hole and snatching a dramatic 9-8 win over the Lake Elsinore Storm.

Now sitting at 32-29 on the year, Ontario’s on a heater, taking the first three of four against the Storm. They fell behind early, but sharp hitting, aggressive base running, and another gutsy performance from the bullpen turned things around.

Lake Elsinore wasted no time getting on the board. In the first inning, a two-out error kept the frame alive, and the Storm loaded the bases. That’s when Truitt Madonna ripped a three-run double down the left field line, giving Lake Elsinore a quick 3-0 jump.

It looked like trouble, but Ontario starter Brady Smith found his footing. He punched out five across three innings and gave up just two hits. None of the runs he surrendered were earned, thanks to that early error.

Lake Elsinore tacked on single runs in the fourth and fifth to make it 5-0. The Buzzers couldn’t figure out Padres top prospect Kruz Schoolcraft at first—the teen lefty fanned seven and allowed just four hits through five innings.

But everything flipped in the sixth when Brendan Tunink led off with a walk and moved up on a wild pitch. Mairo Martinus doubled him home to put Ontario on the scoreboard, finally. Chase Harlan wore a pitch, and Ching-Hsien Ko grounded out to bring in another run. Suddenly, it was 5-2.

Then came the biggest swing all night. Ontario first baseman Easton Shelton crushed a two-run homer to left-center, number 19 on the season, pulling the Buzzers within one. Shelton went 1-for-4 with two RBIs and keeps mashing with the best in the league.

Lake Elsinore answered right back in the bottom half with another run, but Ontario wasn’t fazed. In the seventh, Conner O’Neal doubled, and Tunink finally broke through with an RBI single to left-center. Martinus followed with a triple in the gap, tying the game, and two batters later, Landyn Vidourek brought Martinus home with a simple grounder. Suddenly, Ontario had its first lead, 7-6.

Martinus was everywhere. He finished 2-for-5 with a double, triple, two RBIs, and two runs. His extra-base hits lit the fuse for both big innings.

The Storm tied it up again in the eighth on Kerrington Cross’s RBI double, and the game was set up for a tense finish.

Ontario didn’t even need a hit to take back the lead in the ninth. Javier Herrera and Tunink drew walks. Then Martinus hit a routine grounder to second, but a bad throw to third trying to back pick Herrera from Kerrington Cross allowed both base runners to score. The Buzzers jumped ahead, 9-7.

Lake Elsinore had one last gasp in the bottom of the ninth. Luke Cantwell walked and eventually scored on a groundout, slicing the lead to one. After Jorge Quintana doubled to put the tying run in scoring position, reliever Angel Cruz coolly got George Bilecki to foul out and picked up his second save of the season.

Luis Carias got the win, moving to 5-0, after tossing four innings in relief. He struck out five, gave up three runs, and kept things steady after early pitching changes.

Ontario finished with eight hits and went 4-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Tunink crossed the plate three times, O’Neal had a double and scored, and AJ Soldra chipped in with an early double before leaving the game.

Lake Elsinore actually out-hit Ontario with nine, but they left nine runners on base and went just 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

Down 5-0 midway through, Ontario didn’t blink. They battled back yet again to beat the division leaders, showing the same fight that’s fueled this winning streak, and on Saturday, they look for the series win up 3-1.