Opening Day Onslaught in Lake Elsinore as the Storm Beat Rawhide
Opening Night at The Diamond became the perfect celebration of the 2022 California League Champions and the ideal beginning to their 2023 title defense. The Lake Elsinore Storm finished tonight's game with a box score worth framing, keeping on the mantle, and bragging about to visitors, beating the Visalia Rawhide
Opening Night at The Diamond became the perfect celebration of the 2022 California League Champions and the ideal beginning to their 2023 title defense. The Lake Elsinore Storm finished tonight's game with a box score worth framing, keeping on the mantle, and bragging about to visitors, beating the Visalia Rawhide by a score of 17-0.
In a game that took 4 hours and 6 minutes to complete, despite the pitch clock doing its best to keep every game under 150 minutes, the Storm collected 17 hits, 7 walks, and 13 RBIs while the pitching staff tossed a no-hitter with three different pitchers putting up near identical lines with three innings pitched, three strikeouts, and one hit allowed. Robby Snelling was given his first Minor League start, Ian Koenig was awarded the win, and Will Geerdes the save despite the 17-run differential.
The onslaught began in the very first inning of the season with Tyler Robertson stealing 2nd base after his first pitch single, the ball sailed over the head of the second baseman, and went into centerfield, who subsequently overthrew the ball into the visiting clubhouse giving the Storm their first win of the season. Albert Fabian, who would go 2-5 with 3 RBIs, hit a sacrifice fly into right field to bring Griffin Doersching home.
In the 3rd inning, the Storm notched four consecutive hits beginning with a Graham Pauley double, one of his three hits on his perfect night at the plate. Albert Fabian followed him with a towering home run to the right of the batter's eye on a pitch that was high and outside. Doubling the lead from two to four, the newbies, Rosman Verdugo and Anthony Vilar followed with singles of their own before Chase Valentine flew out to left field for the final out.
The Rawhide, meanwhile, never strung any hits together and only had more than one man on base in just two innings. The Storm on the other hand, in the fourth inning alone, had five consecutive batters reach base to the six total Visalia batters that reached base across nine innings. This inning saw five players touch home plate and turned an Opening Day Battle into an Opening Night Laugher, in which the Storm acquired a 9-0 lead through four innings played.
The Storm would score eight additional runs over the next four innings. The Rawhide awarded the Storm four of their 17 total runs on overthrown balls either from the pitcher