A – Hayden Beard
Hayden Beard’s Lake Elsinore Storm took Game 1 of the best-of-5 Cal League Championship Series, 6-0, over the visiting Stockton Ports thanks largely to the efforts of 1st baseman Nate Freiman.
Nate put up personal-best numbers in almost every offensive category this year. Not content with having a career year, the first baseman now has his sights set on a championship ring.
“I’ve never played for a championship like this before. Not a real championship where I’ve made the Finals,” Freiman said. “Maybe in Little League?
“It would mean the world to me. We’ve been together since March 1 this year and some of us have played together for three years going back to Eugene. To be on the top at the end of the year would be incredible.”
The Padres farmhand plated two runs on an RBI single in the first inning, drove home Myrio Richard in the third and then singled and scored in the fifth. In the seventh, he hit a two-out single to left field. It marked the sixth time in his three-year career that he collected four hits in a game.
Hayden did not pitch in the opening game. The Storm, who clinched a spot in the playoffs by going 37-33 in the second half of the season, host Game 2 on Friday before the series moves to Stockton
