Storm rack up 16 hits; Lake Elsinore best Quakes 7-6 in 10th inning
MiLB
The Diamond – Lake Elsinore, California
An encouraging result following a 2-1 victory in yesterday’s game, the Lake Elsinore Storm will now look towards the weekend and try to take down the Quakes in Rancho Cucamonga, needing only one game to take the series.
Luis Campusano lead off the scoring in the bottom of the third on a shot down the left-field line which glanced off the wall. The ensuing scramble to get the ball in resulted in Xavier Edwards scoring and Campusano standing on third.
The Quakes called and raised on this 1-0 lead on a two-run Dillon Paulson double in the top half of the fourth to make it 2-1 Quakes. Starting Pitcher Reiss Knehr would recover and collect three straight strikeouts to end the inning. Knehr ended the day with eight strikeouts through five innings, mostly on the dominance of his slider, of which Knehr commented, “I had a little more command of it today and a little more late bite to it which really helps me because I throw a good changeup off of it, too.”
Knehr walked two and giving up two runs in a no-decision before being relieved by Deivy Mendez in the 5th inning. Later in the 6th, Mendez turned the duties over to Cody Tyler who let up a three-run shot to the Quakes’ Tre Todd to extend the Quakes lead to 6-1.
The Storm rallied back, though, and Tirso Ornelas hit a triple to drive in two runs following Eguy Rosario‘s one-RBI single to close the gap to two runs. The rally continued in the eighth inning as Luis Campusano drove in Tucupita Marcano, followed by Gabriel Arias driving in Xavier Edwards to tie the game.
The star of the game, as well as the series, thus far is second baseman Xavier Edwards who went two for four with two singles and two walks, making his line on the series four for seven with three walks. Edwards has been a spark plug for the Storm, a role he takes humbly, saying, “just looking to set the table early and often and try to get on base as much as I can so that I can hopefully score more runs than the other team.”
Tirso Ornelas sacrifice fly wins it for the Storm as they take game 2 and go up 2-0 @EVT_News pic.twitter.com/c7evvOjsAO
— Chase Osborn (@thechaseosborn) September 6, 2019
Manager Tony Tarasco sang Edwards’ praises, expanding on how, [Edwards] sees the field a little bit differently than a lot of people that I’ve seen play, he’s got a little bit more instinct than a lot of people that I’ve seen play, and he’s not afraid to use it. He does a great job of doing what the game is asking for.
The Storm will travel to Rancho Cucamonga over the weekend and attempt to put away the series against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Chase is an 18-year-old pre-journalism major at San Diego State University. His two main passions in life are speaking and sports, as he has played sports since he was 4 years old.
In his spare time, Chase plays basketball and talks politics on instagram. Enjoy his content and follow him on social media.