We have all heard it and for the most part there can be little doubt that it is not true. That is, lightening does not strike twice in the same place.

Right now, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes manager, Drew Saylor, is pretty sure he has seen something like lightning strike twice in the past week.

On Saturday, August 19 Quakes first baseman, Ibandel Isabel, almost single-handedly sent the Storm in Lake Elsinore down to a 12-6 defeat. All he did was homer twice among his four hits and drove in eight runs, a new franchise record for the Quakes. He did miss the cycle by the elusive triple.

Ibandel Isabel
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Isabel, known for punishing the baseball in a manner similar to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, even impressed his manager who has watched him play over 100 games with the Quakes during the current campaign. One of his hits left the bat at 120 mph, the second hardest hit ball in all of baseball in 2017, behind only the aforementioned Judge.

“I can’t recall a moment in my little career in baseball where I’ve seen a guy knock in eight runs and hit two balls probably a combined half a mile,” Rancho Cucamonga manager Drew Saylor said. “It was pretty special to be able to see that.”

Skip ahead to Friday, August 25 to check out that lightning strike again thing at LoanMart Field in Rancho Cucamonga. Fortunately for the Lake Elsinore Storm, they got out of town before they ran into another storm. This time the unsuspecting victims were the Inland Empire 66ers who walked off the field after a 12-1 defeat at the hands of the Quakes.

Manager Saylor undoubtedly watched in amazement as it happened again. None of the hits were in the Isabel exit velocity range but there it was. Four hits, two home runs, eight runs batted in tying a franchise record that stood for one day less than a week. This time the blitz was by relative newcomer Quincy Latimore. Don’t you just love this game?

Right fielder Latimore, who was the California Player of the Week for the week of August 14-20, just made a pitch for a second such honor. His grand slam in the third inning blew the game open for the Quakes and set the stage for some more heroics later in the game for the 5’11”/175-pound veteran.

“The grand slam was huge for us,” Saylor said. “Being up by a run in the third inning and having some traffic [on the bases] before that but not capitalizing, it was nice to see. Having guys like Quincy here is a real help, just to see the way he goes about his at-bats and the way he backs pitchers into corners before finding his pitch. When he gets that pitch, he usually puts a good swing on it and does damage.”

Quincy Latimore
(Photo credit – Steve Saenz)

The native of Raleigh, North Carolina, now 28, began his professional career back in 2007 when he was selected in the fourth round of the First-Year Player Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Middle Creek High School in Apex in his home state.

He was signed by the Dodgers as a minor league free agent on June 5 and assigned to the Tulsa Drillers of the AA Texas League. He hit .265 in 42 games with the Drillers before being reassigned to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on August 15.

With the Quakes in nine games he has 15 hits in 27 at bats including five home runs and now 15 runs batted in. His contribution on the field is obviously a bonus for the Quakes as they approach the playoffs. Perhaps no longer considered a prospect, he is considered an asset and a valued one by manager Saylor, especially for his veteran presence.

“We’re happy to have him here playing with us. It’s a good opportunity for him,” the Rancho Cucamonga skipper said. “He does a fantastic job being a resource for our younger players and being available for them, just with his experiences, his thoughts and the trials and tribulations he’s been through. All the ups and downs he’s experienced, to be able to come into the clubhouse with his positivity and energy … those are two special characteristics for a player.”

Look for more, if not lightning strikes, at least fireworks as the Quakes enter their last nine regular season games and on into the play-offs.