Storm Win 4 of 7 To Take First Home Stand

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. - The 25^th season of Storm baseball began in spectacular fashion on Thursday, April 12 at The Diamond in Lake Elsinore against the Lancaster JetHawks. With pregame festivities that included a live musical performance from Sophia Bollman, from NBC's The Voice Season 13 and the first ever happy hour on the brand new Hangar 24 Flight Deck. Fans were treated to a flashy player introduction, with players taken to the field via a variety of Subaru vehicles, Thunder and his mascot friends stumbled out of a limousine that dropped them off at the third base dugout, and it all came together for a beautiful National Anthem performance from Bollman that included fireworks and a dove release. But the fireworks didn't end there. The Storm treated a sold out crowd of 6,269 to six quick runs through the first three frames and were in control from that point on.
Reggie Lawson, who hails from nearby Victorville, picked up the win with five dominant innings, giving up just one earned run while picking up five punchouts. Elliot Ashbeck, David Bednar and Gerardo Reyes finished the final four frames without surrendering an earned run in a 6-2 Storm win.
Friday night's game was a different story as Lake Elsinore gave up 11 runs, nine of them earned, despite collecting ten hits offensively. Buddy Reed and Hudson Potts each tallied two hits while Kelvin Melean paced the offense with a 3-for-4 night.
The home team bounced back Saturday with a convincing 9-1 win as the bats stayed hot and got even hotter with a 19 hit performance that saw all in the starting lineup collect at least one hit. Marcus Greene Jr., Ruddy Giron and Hudson Potts each collected a pair of hits, while Reed and Eguy Rosario tallied three hits apiece and Edward Olivares, acquired in a trade with Toronto in the offseason, went 4-for-5 with a solo home run in the first to start the offensive outburst.
All that offense was tough to overshadow the pitching performance of Pedro Avila, who went 4.1 innings before giving up a base hit. His night finished with seven shutout innings to earn the win, his first of the season.
The rollercoaster of ups and downs continued for the Storm on Sunday, getting blanked, 7-0, with just six base hits, five of which came off the bats of Reed (2-for-4) and Olivares (3-for-4).
Sunday's loss concluded the four-game series against the JetHawks, in which the two teams split with two wins each.
Lake Elsinore welcomed division rivals Inland Empire 66ers on Monday night for a three-game series, but dropped the opener in a tough 6-5 loss. Offense was big early for both teams, who were even at 4-4 through just two innings.
With the game tied at five, 66ers' Jared Walsh connected for a home run over the 36-ft high wall in right field to break the tie late in what would be the game winner.
Potts, Oña and Luis Torrens each collected two base hits, while Reed stayed hot with three hits, including his first home run of the season.
Chad Rogers came on in relief of Emmanuel Ramirez, tossing 2.2 shutout innings with a pair of strikeouts.
After dropping a pair of game, back-to-back, it was all Lake Elsinore on Tuesday night in a lopsided 9-1 win. The Storm burst for five runs in the second and three more in the fourth thanks to Reed, who had a career night. After a double in the first, Reed sent a ball to the deepest part of the yard, one-hopping the 425-ft mark and turning on the jets for a three-run inside-the-park shot. Then in the fourth, Reed skied a ball that looked as if it would be a routine fly out to right field, but it kept carrying until it snuck over the Storm's version of the Green Monster to give Reed ten total bases and six RBIs through just four innings.
Reed finished a four-hit night with a pair of doubles, two home runs and six RBIs. His astonishing performance at the dish paired well with the impressive start of right-handed pitcher Lake Bachar, who tossed six shutout innings and has yet to give up an earned run through 17 innings of work. Behind Bachar came Trevor Megill, who struck out the side in order in his inning of relief. Then followed Dauris Valdez, who threw two innings and gave up just one unearned run. Rosario also collected a pair of hits, including his fifth double.
The Storm saved the dramatics for the very last of the seven-game home stand. After jumping out to an early 5-1 lead, a rough inning of walks and miscues saw the 66ers put up a four spot in the top of the seventh to tie the game. The new extra-innings rule was put to the test in front of the home town fans and it paid off in the end for Lake Elsinore.
With a runner starting at second base, a failed bunt attempt resulted in Storm catcher Luis Torrens throwing out the runner at third base. The best chance to give the 66ers a run was squashed, leaving the home team with a huge advantage. Taylor Kohlwey stood at second base when Nate Easley connected for an opposite field base hit off the wall in right field to allow Kohlwey to score easily for the win.
The Storm took the series, 2-1, and will hit the road with four games at Rancho Cucamonga and three at San Jose. Lake Elsinore returns to The Diamond for a three-game series against the Stockton Ports.
For tickets and more information, call (951) 245-HITS or visit stormbaseball.com.