Storm Rally Late, Top Tower Buzzers 5-2
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers got five solid innings from Luis Gamez and held on to a slim lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, but things slipped away late as Lake Elsinore stormed back with four runs to win, 5-2, Thursday night at The Diamond.
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — The Ontario Tower Buzzers got five solid innings from Luis Gamez and held on to a slim lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, but things slipped away late as Lake Elsinore stormed back with four runs to win, 5-2, Thursday night at The Diamond.
Ontario’s two-game win streak to start the six-game set is over, but the Buzzers still lead the series, 2-1.
Gamez, a 19-year-old righty who joined Ontario from the Arizona Complex League on July 21, looked sharp. He gave up only two hits and a run in five innings, walked two, struck out one—it was easily his best outing so far for the Buzzers. The only mistake: a solo homer by Nu’u Contrades in the third that tied the game 1-1. This was a nice rebound for Gamez after some rough starts, where he’d allowed nine earned runs in just seven innings.
Ontario actually jumped out front in the first. Aidan West doubled, then came home on a Ching-Hsien Ko single. West was locked in all night, going 3-for-3 before Caleb Johnson took over for him defensively in the fifth.
Still, the Buzzers couldn’t capitalize enough. They finished with nine hits and got some help from three Storm errors, but only went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine men on base. Missed opportunities, plain and simple. Easton Shelton, in particular, grounded into two key double plays—including one that wiped out a promising rally right after West’s fifth-inning single.
Ontario finally regained the lead in the sixth. Brendan Tunink took a walk, Conner O’Neal singled him to third, and Javier Herrera knocked Tunink in with a base hit up the middle. Herrera ended up 3-for-4 with an RBI, Ko went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, but that was the last time Ontario was ahead.
Then the game swung. Alex Conover went deep off Ian May in the bottom of the sixth, tying it. Things unraveled for Ontario’s bullpen after that. Lake Elsinore took the lead in the seventh without even needing a hit—Luis Carias walked two, hit two batters, and dinged Conover with the bases loaded to force in a run.
In the eighth, Lake Elsinore tacked on two more. Two walks, a double steal, and Augie Lopez cracked a two-run double to make it 5-2.
The big difference late? Lake Elsinore’s patience. The Storm only tallied five hits but drew six walks and kept finding ways to score with free runners. Meanwhile, Ontario’s bats went silent after the sixth. Not a single hit in the final three frames.
Zack Qin grabbed the win for Lake Elsinore, Carias took the loss, and Jordan Valenzuela picked up the save.
Ontario gets another crack at it Friday night in Game 4, hoping to get back on track at The Diamond.
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Media Contacts:
Adam Serrano
Regional Marketing Director
Diamond Baseball Holdings
Jeff Woolson
Play-by-Play Broadcaster