Early Lead Slips Away as Tower Buzzers Fall to Storm, 10-8
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers jumped out to a six-run lead early, and even rallied to tie things up in the eighth, but they couldn’t pull it off. Lake Elsinore scored twice in the bottom half and walked away with a 10-8 win Friday night at The
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers jumped out to a six-run lead early, and even rallied to tie things up in the eighth, but they couldn’t pull it off. Lake Elsinore scored twice in the bottom half and walked away with a 10-8 win Friday night at The Diamond.
That loss means the six-game series is now tied 2-2. Still, Ontario got a bright spot: left-hander Charlie West had a strong pro debut, throwing a scoreless inning. The Dodgers’ 2026 seventh-round pick gave up two hits, but no walks, and struck out three out of five batters.
The Buzzers wasted no time backing him up. By the third inning, it looked like Ontario was in control. Joendry Vargas put on a show. He went 4-for-5 with a double, a three-run homer, three RBIs, and scored twice. His home run in the third was the big blow of a five-run inning, and Ontario was sitting on a 6-0 lead.
Francisco Espinoza got Ontario’s first run home in the second, with Ching-Hsien Ko and Easton Shelton adding key RBIs. And in the eighth, with two outs, Shelton came up big with a two-run single to tie the score at 8-8.
But honestly, Ontario missed a bunch of chances to break the game open. They went just 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. In the end, that hurt.
Lake Elsinore just chipped away all night. Will Gagnon followed West and covered 4.1 innings, but gave up five earned runs on four hits and three walks. Dawson Willis hit a solo homer in the sixth, cutting Ontario’s lead to one, and the Storm scored three in the seventh off Dailoui Abad to grab an 8-6 advantage.
Ontario didn’t fold. Espinoza and Abel Lorenzo singled to start the eighth, a bunt moved them up, and with two outs, Shelton punched a single back up the middle to knot the game. But it was short-lived.
In the bottom of that inning, Accimias Morales walked Nu’u Contrades, then hit Alex Conover. Two wild pitches later, Contrades scored the go-ahead run and Conover moved to third. Ty Harvey brought him in with a sacrifice fly, and suddenly it was 10-8.
Ontario went down quietly in the ninth with no more hits.
Lake Elsinore played aggressive from the start, swiping six bases and putting pressure on Ontario all night. The Storm went 5-for-15 with runners in scoring position, while Ontario struggled at 3-for-16.
Harvey drove in five runs for Lake Elsinore. Willis homered, and Conover reached base four times. Morales took the loss for Ontario, giving up two runs in one inning. Brandon Langley got the win for Lake Elsinore, even after letting Ontario tie it up in the eighth.
Ontario gets another shot to take the series lead Saturday, with two games still left at The Diamond.
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Media Contacts:
Adam Serrano
Regional Marketing Director
Diamond Baseball Holdings
Jeff Woolson
Play-by-Play Broadcaster