Storm Take Series Lead with 5-1 Win Over Tower Buzzers
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers couldn’t get much going Saturday night, managing just five hits and a single run as the Lake Elsinore Storm picked up a 5-1 win at The Diamond. That loss put the Buzzers behind 3-2 in the six-game set, a tough turnaround after
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers couldn’t get much going Saturday night, managing just five hits and a single run as the Lake Elsinore Storm picked up a 5-1 win at The Diamond.
That loss put the Buzzers behind 3-2 in the six-game set, a tough turnaround after they grabbed the first two games earlier in the week.
Jack O’Connor started for Ontario and did his job early, keeping things scoreless through three innings. But in the fourth, the Storm got to him. O’Connor ended up giving up two runs on three hits over four innings, with two walks and three strikeouts.
Ontario had their opportunities but they just couldn’t cash in. Joendry Vargas doubled in the third. Ching-Hsien Ko picked up a single in the fourth. But each time, the Buzzers left runners stranded. That missed chance theme echoed all night.
Ontario went just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and ended up stranding nine. Even with seven walks, they couldn’t turn all that traffic into runs.
Lake Elsinore really took off in the fourth when Jesmaylin Arias smacked a two-run triple to give them a 2-0 lead. The Buzzers did cut down Arias at home on the play thanks to a nice throw from Abel Lorenzo, but the Storm had all the momentum.
The fifth inning got worse. Joel Cruz came in for O’Connor and gave up three runs as Lake Elsinore pieced together three hits and a walk. Alex Conover’s two-run double was the big one, and Jorge Quintana added a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0.
Ontario also hurt themselves with two errors that inning, one by Vargas, another on a botched pickoff by Angel Cruz.
The Buzzers finally got something going in the sixth. Ko picked up his second hit, reached second on a throwing error, and then Oswaldo Osorio walked before Caleb Johnson singled to load the bases. Francisco Espinoza brought in Ontario’s lone run with a sacrifice fly, but that was it.
From there, the Storm’s pitchers locked things down. Tyler Schmitt held Ontario to one run over 5.1 innings with six strikeouts. Rordy Mejia shut the door with 3.2 scoreless frames for the save.
Ko ended up 2-for-4 with a run scored. Vargas notched his 28th double of the season. Johnson had a solid night too, making it on base three times with a hit and two walks.
If there was a bright spot for Ontario, it was the bullpen after that messy fifth. Angel Cruz, Devin Bell, and Josehp Marte combined for 3.1 scoreless innings. Bell threw a perfect seventh, and Marte punched out three in the eighth.
But the bats just couldn’t deliver. That makes three straight losses for Ontario after their hot start to the week.
They’ll try to salvage a series split Sunday in the finale at The Diamond.
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Media Contacts:
Adam Serrano
Regional Marketing Director
Diamond Baseball Holdings
Jeff Woolson
Play-by-Play Broadcaster