Pair of Walk-offs Highlight Homestand

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. - A pair of walk-offs highlighted the recent seven-game home stand at The Diamond in Lake Elsinore, with one coming against the 66ers of Inland Empire and the other against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Although the Storm were able to muster only two wins out of the seven-game home stand, fans were treated to some of the most exciting Storm wins of the season.
After falling behind early on Wednesday against the 66ers, 4-1 through four innings, it was unclear if the Storm bats would ever get going after collecting a total of six hits in the previous two games combined. More runs would cross the plate for Inland Empire until they took a 7-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth.
Lake Elsinore would rally to score four runs of their own after timely situational hitting by the bottom half of the order.
Then perhaps the highlight of the season, at least for the Storm when playing at The Diamond, happened with one out and the tying run on base. The six hitter in the Lake Elsinore lineup, Edwin Moreno, connected for a walk-off three-run home run that bounced off the very top of the wall in right-center, giving the Storm a dramatic win by a matter of inches.
The power bats would carry the Storm offense in their win against the Quakes Saturday night. Chris Baker connected for a two-run home run over the 380-ft mark in left field to give Lake Elsinore an early lead the Quakes would erase in the fourth. Michael Gettys tied the game at 4-4 when he connected for his 15^th home run, hitting it off his face displayed on the left field videoboard.
After the Quakes almost immediately took the lead back, Ruddy Giron tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with a solo shot, his sixth of the year.
Giron's hot bat would be the difference. The leadoff hitter in the bottom of the ninth, Giron hit a ball that would carom off the base of the wall and start to roll back towards home plate, sending two Quakes outfielders in a chase after converging at the wall. With good speed, Giron slid in safely for a leadoff triple.
Baker, who'd connected for the team's first home run of the night, barreled a pitch to deep left-center, turning the left fielder around, plenty deep to score Giron and give Lake Elsinore their second walk-off win of the homestand.
River Stevens had a strong home stand for Lake Elsinore, going 8-for-24 (.333) with a pair of runs, two RBIs and a double.
Left-handed pitcher Logan Allen stood out for the Storm from the mound, throwing 10 shutout innings while giving up just seven hits and three walks and collecting 13 strikeouts.
The Storm close the doors on The Diamond next weekend, with a three-game series against the Lancaster JetHawks. Friday will mark the final postgame fireworks show of the season. Get your 2018 Storm calendar Saturday, limited to the first 2,000 fans, and celebrate Beerfest at the ballpark. Sunday, the last home game of the season, is Everything Night. Come enjoy all of the best promotions of the 2017 season all rolled in to one awesome night.
 
Get your tickets at stormbaseball.com or call the box office at 951-245-HITS.