By Timothy J Sheridan: Mayor Pro Tem, Lake Elsinore; Director of Broadcasting, Lake Elsinore Storm
Special to Elsinore/Menifee 24/7
His name is Qrey Lott. He is from Georgia. He was playing left field Sunday for the Lake Elsinore Storm, who were wrapping up a 6-game series at ONT Field in Ontario against the Tower Buzzers.
It was 9th inning, there was a runner on base, there were 2 outs, and the Storm were losing 8-7. Lott had 2 strikes on him.
If Lott made out, well, he had already had an epic day. He had gotten 4 hits in his first 4 at-bats, including a home run. He had also driven in 4 runs. The Storm had played well all week — and was on a 4-game winning streak. In fact, the Storm had won 10 of its last 11 games.
If the universe did not want Lott to succeed and the Tower Buzzers to win the game, Qrey Lott had a message for the universe: “Not Today!”
With the 2 strikes on him, and 2 balls too, Lott hit the next pitch over the left-center field wall to give the Storm the lead — 9-8.
If this were a major motion picture, Storm pitching would have shut down the Buzzers in the bottom of the 9th, and the Storm would have come home with a hard-fought, come-from-behind win. But this is the Inland Empire and not Hollywood, so it did not work that way.
But it was not bad — at least for Storm fans.
In fact, the Buzzers tied the game in the bottom of the 9th and scored another run in the bottom of the 10th. Fortunately, in between, Lake Elsinore scored 3 runs – that is, in the top of the 10th — and won the back-and-forth affair, 12-10.
All told, the Storm banged out 19 hits, with Lott finishing with 5 of them, and 6 total runs batted in. Designated hitter Luke Cantwell had 4 hits in 5 at-bats. First baseman Truitt Madonna and right fielder George Bilecki had 3 hits each. SoCal native and second baseman Justin DeCriscio also had a home run.
Storm pitching gave up 10 runs, 9 of which were earned, and 14 hits. Relief pitcher Vicarte Domingo won his first game of the year and Rordy Mejia earned his first save.
Tower Buzzers center fielder Jaron Elkins and second baseman Mairo Martinus each had 3 hits, while Jose D. Hernandez doubled, hit a home run, and drove in 3 runs. First baseman Easton Shelton and catcher Conner O’Neal also homered for Ontario.
The Storm is now 17-10 on the year and in first place in Cal South, 1 game better than the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. The Buzzers, in their inaugural season, fall to 11-15 — 5 1/2 games behind Lake Elsinore.
Lake Elsinore travels to San Bernardino on Tuesday night, May 5, to play the Inland Empire 66ers. The game starts at 6 p.m.
The Storm returns to Diamond Stadium on Tuesday, May 12 at 11:05 a.m. For tickets for all Storm games, visit tickets@stormbaseball.com or visit the Diamond Stadium Box Office.
