Pitched Battle For Storm In California League Finals

For the fifth time in the past 11 years as a San Diego Padres advanced Single-A affiliate, Lake Elsinore will play in the best-of-five California League Finals.

The Storm will play at Ports tonight at The Diamond in a best-of-five series for the league championship. They will face a Ports team that has familiar strengths, especially in the pitching department. Stockton had a 4.29 team earned-run average, second in the California League. Lake Elsinore was fifth with a 4.60 ERA.

“These two teams don’t have too much experience against each other,” Storm interim manager Phil Plantier said. “The next thing is learning as much as we can as fast as we can, while we’re watching each other. We just have to focus on our game.”

From April 25-28, Lake Elsinore split a four-game series with Stockton. From May 6-8, the Storm lost two of three. All of Lake Elsinore’s losses to the Ports were by three runs or less.

Game One is at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday. Game Two is at 7:05 p.m. on Friday, with both games at The Diamond at Lake Elsinore.

Game Three is at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday at Stockton. Game 4 is Sunday, if necessary, and Game 5, also if necessary, is Monday. Games 4 and 5 are at times to be determined.

The Storm will roll out Game One starter Jose DePaula, a 21-year-old left-hander from the Dominican Republic who is the team’s leader with 10 wins (10-5). DePaula was 5-3 but struggled with a 6.23 ERA in the first half, but came back strong with a 5-2 record and a 4.38 ERA in the second half.

DePaula also stepped up by earning the win September 9, in a 10-2 Game Three victory over Inland Empire in the first round of the playoffs. He allowed three hits and no runs through seven innings. DePaula struck out three and walked none.

“Jose grew up a lot this year,” Plantier said. “We’re very confident with him on the mound. He’s a young kid, he’s going through a typical learning curve. At the end of the year, he’s pitching aggressively. It’s going to be very important for Jose to pitch to his strengths.”

Designated hitter Tommy Medica and right fielder Jake Blakewood are both swinging hot bats. Medica, who has hit in the third spot in the order, is batting .385 in the playoffs, while Blakewood is hitting .375. Other players swinging a big stick are catcher Eddy Rodriguez (.308) and team MVP Nathan Freiman (.296).

But nearly everyone has been contributing.

“It’s a cyclical game,” Plantier said. “These two guys (Medica and Blakewood) got hot at the right time. Someone in our lineup has contributed to wins. Whether they’re hitting .200 or .400 is irrelevant. In the playoffs, you have to have good pitching and great defense, and everyone’s done that. That’s always going to be the same thing at A-ball or at any other level.”

Three of the Storm’s four playoff wins were locked up by the bullpen – Dustin Pease, Jeff Ibarra and Jason Ray have all racked up either a win or a save.

“I feel great about our bullpen,” Plantier said. “We can play matchups (with righties and lefties). Our starters are doing great.”

Stockton was last in the regular season with a .261 team batting average. Lake Elsinore was third at .280. But the Ports beat the first round champion San Jose Giants, 3 games to 1, in the North Division playoffs. So they’re doing plenty of things right.

“I have a lot of respect for their coaches,” Plantier said. “I know they’re coached well.”