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CalL1 Visalia Rawhide

Series Sweep of Storm Complete in 9-7 Win

April 21, 2013 - California League (CalL1)
Visalia Rawhide News Release


VISALIA - It was like watching two heavyweights exchange blows until one could stand no longer, as the Rawhide outslugged the Lake Elsinore Storm 9-7 on Sunday afternoon at Rawhide Ballpark to complete the series sweep. Both teams traded runs all game, but it would be the hometown team who pulled it out in the end.

For the third game in a row, Lake Elsinore was on the board in the 1st inning. Lee Orr continuedto stay hot for the Storm, driving in Travis Jankowski from second on an infield RBI single to put the Storm ahead 1-0. He was moved up to the cleanup spot in Saturday night's game after batting from the ninth spot for much of the sesaon.

But the Rawhide would once again have a big answer in the bottom of the frame. With the bases loaded and one out, catcher Michael Perez blasted a grand slam to left field off Storm starter Matt Jackson to give the Rawhide a healthy 4-1 lead. It was his first home run of the season since joining the team last week. Raywilly Gomez extended his on-base streak to 16 games, taking a walk in the inning. Gomez finished the day 1-for-3 with two walks and the game-winning RBIs.

Defensive miscues hurt the Rawhide in the top of the 2nd inning. Jace Peterson reached first on a cracked bat single to right field with two outs. A wild pitch from Keith Hessler allowed Peterson to advance to scoring position. Jankowskireached on a groundball to second base, as Hessler failed to cover the bag correctly. One batter later, Cory Spangenberg hit a groundball just out of the reach of a diving Gerson Montilla, and Jankowski came all the way home as right fielder Chris Ellison mishandled the ball, cutting the Rawhide lead to 4-3.

After two more walks to Kyle Gaedele and Lee Orr to load the bases, Hessler finally got Luis Domoromo to strike out swinging on three pitches to preserve the lead.

Gerson Montilla padded the lead for the Rawhide in the bottom of the 4th inning, drilling a two-outfastball into the gap in left center field for an RBI double, extending the lead to 5-3.

Lake Elsinore quickly responded in the top of the 5th inning when Lee Orr hit a leadoff home run to deep right field, just to the right of the barn in the outfield. It was the third straight game in which Orr had a home run against the Rawhide.

Michael Perez exchanged the blow on behalf of the Rawhide in the bottom of the 5th inning with his second home run of the game to deep right field off Dennis O'Grady. Perez' home run put the Rawhide back up two runs by a score of 6-4.

Robert Kral reached base to lead off the top of the 5th inning on Matt Helm's second fielding error of the game. Jace Peterson laid down a sacrifice bunt, but there was a miscommunication by the defense and no one covered first base to put two men on with no outs. Two batters later, Spangenberg doubled down the left fieldline off Patrick Schuster, cutting the lead to 6-5. Jankowski came home to tie it 6-6 on a groundout to the second baseman and Lee Orr stung the Rawhide once again on a base hit to score Spangenberg whichgave the Storm a 7-6 lead.

But the Rawhide would punch back in the bottom of the 8th inning against reliever Luis De La Cruz (1-3). After an Evan Marzilli leadoff single, Montilla doubled to left field to put two runners in scoring position. Raywilly Gomez came through in the clutch with a 2-RBI base knock over the head of the shortstop to give the Rawhide an 8-7 lead. Tom Belza tacked on an insurance run on a sacrifice fly to provide the final score of 9-7.

Jake Barrett was summoned for the save opportunity in the 9th, as he sat the Storm down in order to ensure the victory. Diogenes Rosario (2-1) is credited with the victory, pitching a perfect 8th inning to keep the Rawhide within striking distance. With the win, the Rawhide improve to 10-8 and will have the day off on Monday before starting a three-game series against the Stockton Ports on Tuesday at Rawhide Ballpark. First pitch is at 7 pm.

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California League Stories from April 21, 2013


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