By admin 
Maybe the Padres’ future is in good hands.
There’s certainly a lot riding on the three arms that pitched low Single-A Lake Elsinore into the California League Championship Series on Thursday.
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Left-hander Kruz Schoolcraft struck out eight over five shutout innings, right-hander Coleman Borthwick struck out four over two innings in his professional debut and right-hander Lan-Hong Su closed a 6-1 win over Ontario with two no-hit innings to secure the Storm’s sweep.
Lake Elsinore is vying for its first championship since Jackson Merrill led the team to a title in 2022, a year after the Padres made him their first-round pick.
Perhaps their latest first-rounders will help them secure a title this year.
The Padres signed Schoolcraft – the team’s No. 2 prospect behind Ethan Salas, according to MLB.com – for $3.61 million as the 25th overall pick in 2025. He largely battled command while posting a 5.90 ERA over 79 ⅓ innings in his first full year of pro ball this year with the Storm.
On Thursday, Schoolcraft earned the win by allowing just two hits and a walk while throwing 45 of his 78 pitches for strikes.
Borthwick, the team’s first-rounder in July (21st overall, $3.8 million), followed Schoolcraft into the game for his professional debut and allowed one run on two hits and two walks while striking out four. Borthwick touched 97 mph in the game. He was throwing live batting practice as recently as last week in Arizona, toured Petco Park with second-rounder Elliot Lascelles over the weekend and was added to the playoff roster on Tuesday.
Borthwick is ranked No. 3 in the system by MLB.com.
As for Su, he’s ranked No. 9 in the system by MLB.com and posted a 5.10 ERA over 47⅔ innings between rookie ball and Lake Elsinore.
Su struck out three, walked one and threw 17 of his 31 pitches for strikes in finishing off the sweep in the best-of-three series.
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Some of the bats drafted in July also had a hand in Thursday’s win.
Lascelles went 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI, a walk and a run scored.
Sixth-rounder Nu’u Contrades drove in two runs on two hits, including a double. He also walked.
Fourth-rounder Alex Conover went 1-for-3 with an RBI double and seventh-rounder Joe Tiroly walked twice and scored two runs.
The best-of-three California League Championship Series begins 4:35 p.m. Sunday against San Jose in Lake Elsinore.
Game 2 will be in San Jose on Tuesday, with Game 3 on Wednesday if necessary.
Thursday’s scoreboard
TRIPLE-A EL PASO (57-84)
Tacoma 5, Chihuahuas 4 (11): DH Miguel Andujar (wrist) went 1-for-4 with his second double while playing in his third rehab game. CF Bryce Johnson (.780 OPS) went 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a walk. 2B Marcos Castañon (.780 OPS) went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, a walk and two runs scored. LHP Luis Gutierrez (2.25 ERA) struck out four and walked two while allowing a run on three hits in four innings in the start. LHP Jagger Haynes (6.55 ERA) allowed two runs in three innings. RHP Garrett Hawkins (5.20 ERA) struck out two over two scoreless innings. RHP Alek Jacob 96-8, 5.40 ERA) walked three and allowed two unearned runs in the 11th inning.
DOUBLE-A SAN ANTONIO (58-77)
Amarillo 5, Missions 3: LHP Fernando Sanchez (2-4, 5.11 ERA) allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks in five innings in the loss. RHP Francis Peña (3.05 ERA) allowed a run in two innings. RF Alex McCoy (.847 OPS) went 3-for-4. CF Kai Roberts (.570 OPS) hit his fifth homer and C Brendan Durfee (.558 OPS) and 3B Ryan Jackson (.634 OPS) both hit their fourth homers.
Note: A left oblique strain has sent INF Will Wagner to Triple-A El Paso’s injured list. Wagner, 28, was hitting .254/.368/.377 with six homers in 70 games with the Chihuahuas. Wagner hit .257/.422/.286 in 16 games with the Padres this season.
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This story was originally published September 11, 2026 at 5:36 AM.