Chasing The Storm 2017-11 LBC Series Review

[njherdfan]

After its tour of Canada, Seattle was happy to return home, where it swept the Surfers in a 3 game series..

Game One: Clutch hitting and stellar pitching was Seattle’s recipe for a 7-0 series-opening win. Morgan Ackerman took the mound for Seattle and he pitched terrifically, going 8 innings, allowing only 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5. The offense was led by 4 hits from Keith Moss. Seattle scored a run in the second when Jose Munoz hit an RBI single off of Surfers’ starter Javier Garcia. Seattle exploded for 6 runs, and put the game out of reach, in the fifth as Moss hit a bases-clearing double and Michael Hampton also drove in a run with a double.

Game Two: Seattle continued to receive great starting pitching, and this time Ken Stark was the offensive star as the Storm won 6-3. The Surfers loaded the bases in the first against Seattle starter Edward Davis, but he was able to induce a groundout and escape damage. Seattle took a 1-0 lead in the second as Stark hit a solo homer off of Long Beach starter Duncan Winters. A Francisco Franco single double the lead in the fifth, and Stark hit an RBI double to make it 3-0. Stark hit his 2nd homer of the day to make it 4-0. In the eighth the Surfers threatened, loading the bases with 1 out, but Davis was able to strike out Harvey Newton, and Greg Downing then came in and struck out Matthew Moore. Seattle added 2 runs that would prove crucial in the ninth, because Downing lost the ability to get hitters out once the ninth inning started. After a strikeout to start the inning, Downing allowed 3 hits and a walk before he was pulled for James Endres. Endres promptly issued another walk to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate in Drew Zod, but Endres got Zod to ground out before striking out Newton to end the game.

Game Three: Seattle overcame shoddy defense to sweep the Surfers with a 6-4 win. Seattle starter Angel Cervantes was the early victim of the bad defense, as a 2-out error in the first prolonged the inning and Drew Zod made the Storm pay with a 2-run homer. Seattle had runners on the corners against Surfers starter Gabriel Murillo with no outs in the second, but couldn’t score. In the third Michael Snyder hit a solo shot to give Long Beach a 3-0 lead. Seattle came back to tie the game in the fourth as Josh Tyler hit a bases-loaded double that plated 3 runs. Tyler was then thrown out at the plate trying to score on a Bob White single, which kept the game tied. Seattle chased Murillo from the game in the fifth courtesy of a 3-run Richard Rollins homer which gave Seattle a 6-3 lead. Long Beach scored again in the seventh, as the first 2 runners reached base on errors. Cervantes went 7.2 innings, allowing 4 runs (1 earned) while striking out 7. Cervantes gave up 2 singles in the eighth to put runners on the corners with 2 outs, but Greg Downing came in to strike out Tim Wolf. Downing then finished the game for his 11th save of the season. With the win Seattle’s record stands at 20-15.