Storm Pound the Quakes 10-0

LAKE ELSINORE — For the second straight night, the Storm got a great performance from their starter, but this time the offense finished the job to cruise to a 10-0 shellacking of the Dodgers’ Rancho Cucamonga Quakes affiliate.

Righty Kannon Kemp turned in his best start of the year, working six scoreless and striking out a season-high seven batters.

“I think he did a great job of mixing his pitches and attacking the zone,” said Storm manager Brian Burres. He started off heavy on the heater. They started to find some barrels, and then he started mixing his changeup and slider, keeping them off balance.”

Kannon Kemp showed off a stronger arsenal as he turned in his best start of the year. (Photo: Robert Escalante)

Kemp, 20, earned the second-highest bonus in the Padres’ 2023 draft class as an eighth-round pick out of high school in Texas. Shoulder injuries cost him most of his first 18 months as a professional, but he has been healthy enough to make 17 appearances starting the year in the Arizona Complex League.

Now working with an 85-pitch limit, Thursday was the first time this season he was able to go six innings. Kemp finished the night with 84 pitches, with 53 for strikes, working around three walks and four hits. He sat mid-90s with his fastball, touching 97. That’s a significant step up from where he was to start the year.

With Kemp cruising, the Storm offense didn’t waste any time building up a lead. After Quakes starter Jakob Wright loaded the bases in the first with two hit batters and a walk, Kavares Tears singled in one run, a balk brought in a second, and a groundout plated the third. 

The club capitalized on more sloppy effort from Rancho in the third, scoring a pair of runs on one hit thanks to an error, walk, and a potential double play ball that only got one out. An inning later, Dylan Grego and Tears had RBI singles to extend the lead.

The snowball continued to roll as Storm batters rapped out ten hits on the evening and every player in the lineup reached base safetly at least once.  

Grego, 21, and Tears, 22, capped the scoring with monster home runs over the right field wall in the eighth.

Dylan Grego hit his second home run of the season on Thursday. (Photo: Robert Escalante)

Grego, a switch-hitting middle infielder, was the Padres’ 13th-round pick out of Ball State last month. After a slow 1-for-14 start when he joined the club at the start of the month and had to get back up to speed after a two-month layoff, he has picked up the pace. He now has six hits in the series, four for extra bases.

“He’s starting to really swing it, and he already has a good glove,” smiled Burres. “I’ve noticed, and that is why he was in the three-hole tonight.”

Tears finished with his first three-hit game since May 30 and, after enduring a seven-week homerless stretch, now has three in the last week.

“With Kavares, he’s been doing some work with JD [Lake Elsinore hitting coach, Jerry Downs], and sometimes it’s just one minor adjustment, and it allows him to get to his talent. It’s always nice to see guys who put in the daily work get rewarded.”