Ports Overwhelmed by Storm Offense, Drop Third Straight

Box Score

LAKE ELSINORE, Ca. – The Lake Elsinore Storm jumped ahead 2-0 in the first inning and never looked back as the Ports dropped their third straight with a 17-0 loss at The Diamond in Lake Elsinore on Friday night.

The Storm (55-39) got the offense going right away against Ports’ starter Stevie Emanuels in the bottom of the first inning after Stockton was 1-2-3 in the top half. Nerwilian Cedeño singled to right field to lead off the frame and moved to second when Albert Fabian drew a one-out walk. Marcos Castañon brought home the first run of the game with a single to left field scoring Cedeño from second base to give Lake Elsinore a 1-0 lead. Carlos Luis then followed with a line drive single to left field to double the Storm lead to 2-0.

Lake Elsinore doubled its lead with a two-out rally in the second. With two outs and nobody on, Cedeño singled and moved up to third on a double off the right field wall by James Wood. Fabian then doubled down the right field line to drive home two, increasing the Storm advantage to 4-0.

A sacrifice fly in the third brought home another for Lake Elsinore in the third, making it 3-0.

Another two-out rally broke the game open for the Storm in the bottom of the sixth. Two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with two outs for Castañon who singled up the middle to score Cedeño from third base to make it 6-0. Luis then cleared the bases with a three-run double down the left field line to increase the Lake Elsinore lead to 9-0.

The Storm added six more in the seventh and two in the eighth with Ports’ infielder Wilson Alvarez on the mound for mop-up duty.

The Ports (33-61), meanwhile, tallied just four hits and got only two runners as far as second base – Shane McGuire in the fourth and Jalen Greer in the eighth – but went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Lake Elsinore starter Garrett Hawkins did not factor in the decision, but the right-hander struck out nine Ports while allowing just two hits over four shutout innings. Storm reliever Hazahel Quijada (4-0) got the win with a scoreless fifth inning, while Emanuels (0-1) took the loss in his Ports debut allowing five runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings while striking out six.

The Ports will look to snap their three-game skid with the fifth of their six-game set against the Storm in Southern California on Saturday evening at The Diamond with first pitch at 5:05 pm.