Storm Pull off Second Walk-Off in Series, Cross Homer in Ninth Wins It for Lake Elsinore
CalL Lake Elsinore Storm

Storm Pull off Second Walk-Off in Series, Cross Homer in Ninth Wins It for Lake Elsinore

Published on May 29, 2026 under California League (CalL)
Lake Elsinore Storm News Release


LAKE ELSINORE, CA - All three games in Lake Elsinore's series against Inland Empire this week have gone exactly the same: The 66ers would charge out to an early lead, and it would be up to the Storm to mount a comeback. Tuesday, LE pulled off a walk-off win in the ninth on an RBI-single from Jorge Quintana. Yesterday, the Storm rallied for eight runs in the fifth to catapult ahead and smoothly sail to a 10-4 win. And today, Lake Elsinore took the lead in the eighth, blew it in the ninth, but survived on a walk-off home run from Kerrington Cross.

It was a quiet first few innings from Diamond Stadium to begin this contest. After a scoreless first, the 66ers took an early lead thanks to a solo-home run from Grant Jay. IE's catcher blasted his fifth home run of the year 472 feet to give Inland a 1-0 lead. The third and fourth innings wouldn't add any tallies either, but the fifth would. Jay would smash another home run to left field to double the 66er lead. Just two batters later, Ryan Picollo delivered a single and would advance into scoring position on an error from Storm starter Bryan Balzer. Starlin Aguilar singled him home and gave IE a 3-0 advantage.

After the sixth inning didn't produce any runs, the Storm were shutout with just three more frames to go. Yoiber Ocopio answered the call with a lead-off single. After a groundout from George Bilecki advanced Ocopio to second and a wild pitch moved him to third, Dylan Grego ripped a run-scoring single to right to plate the Storm's first run.

In the eighth, Lake Elsinore would continue its rally. Kerrington Cross started the inning with an infield single. Jose Verdugo was hit by a pitch one batter later. Just like that, the Storm had the tying run on base and the go-ahead at the dish. 66er right-hander Jean Munoz lost control of a fastball and helped move Verdugo and Cross to second and third respectively on the wild pitch. After Truitt Madonna walked to put the go-ahead run on base, Munoz threw another wild pitch which moved the runners up and allowed Cross to come in and score Lake Elsinore's second run. Two batters later, Ocopio would deliver again with a sacrifice fly to left. That plated Verdugo and knotted the score at three. Then, George Bilecki followed up with a clutch two-out single to right. Madonna came around to score and for the first time all night, the Storm had the lead 4-3.

Right-hander Will Koger came in for Lake Elsinore to try and record his fifth save of the season, but Inland Empire had other plans. Cesar Quintas led off the ninth with a walk. He was quickly replaced with Estevan Moreno as a pinch-runner. After an out from Sebastian De Andrade, Dustin Crenshaw singled to center to move Moreno into scoring position. Piccolo would strike out putting the 66ers down to their final out, but Aguilar executed in the perfect moment. The first baseman laced a single into left to tie the game back up at four. Lake Elsinore would have to come up with its second walk-off of the series to try and win its fourth straight.

Things got very interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Originally, it was Gleiner Diaz who was supposed to come in for the 66ers and attempt to send the game into extras. But as the right-hander jogged onto the infield and gave his glove and hat to base umpire Landon Boehm, there was a discussion between Boehm, home plate umpire Allen Bryan and IE manager Luis Caballero. After a few minutes of discussion, Diaz was ejected from the game without even throwing a warm-up pitch. In a shocking and rare event, Inland had to turn to Anuery Lora who rushed through his warmup routine to get set and ready to pitch the home half. Lora began the ninth with no signs of any issue. Conner Westenburg started the frame with a lineout and Ryan Wideman followed up with a strikeout. But then, Cross sent the Storm faithful home happy. The third baseman clobbered a solo home run to left and gave the Storm a 5-4 comeback win in miraculous fashion. It's Lake Elsinore's third walk-off of the season and second of the series. The Storm have now won four consecutive games.

Lake Elsinore returns to action on Friday to face Inland Empire for game four of the six-game set from Diamond Stadium. This is the second series of the year between the Storm and the 66ers with the IE winning the first 4-2. The Storm will turn to LHP Kruz Schoolcraft (0-1, 8.14 ERA) to face 66ers LHP Mason Peters (0-0, 1.74 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. PT.

Check out the Lake Elsinore Storm Statistics

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California League Stories from May 29, 2026


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