For nearly two months, High Desert’s Maverick Stadium laid low, acting at times like it was just a regular ballpark. But this weekend, it attacked, reminding everyone that baseball in High Desert is unlike baseball anywhere else.

As the weather has warmed up, the ball has started flying out of the ballpark as expected in High Desert. Never was that more true than on Sunday when Lake Elsinore cruised to a 33-18 win. The game saw 51 runs, 57 hits, six errors, 18 doubles, three triples, 14 walks, four wild pitches and 10 home runs. There were no stolen bases despite the abundance of base runners, but when the next home run is just a pitch away, why would anyone risk getting thrown out?

Unlike the California League’s other extreme hitters park in Lancaster, the ball flies out in High Desert more because of temperature than wind. It was a balmy 100 degrees when the game began on Sunday, which meant the ball was jumping even if the wind was only blowing at 7 mph. Every member of the Lake Elsinore lineup had at least two hits, and six different Storm hitters had four hits or more. It wasn’t much different for High Desert hitters, every member of the starting lineup except for Joe Dunigan had two or more hits–Dunnigan went 0-for-5, which on this day had to feel like an 0-for-100 streak.

Along the way High Desert center fielder Jamie McOwen set the California League record for longest hitting streak when his single extended his streak to 36 games. McOwen, a 2007 sixth-round pick out of Florida International, is hitting much better in his second tour of the California League–his .335/.393/.455 numbers are dramatically better than last year’s .263/.324/.392–although much of that damage is coming in the friendly environment of High Desert, as he’s hitting .297/.365/.406 on the road.

The biggest victim on Sunday was High Desert’s Nathan Adcock. The righthander ranked in the top 10 in the league in ERA heading into the game, but after giving up eight runs in only 2/3 of an inning, Adcock saw his ERA jump by nearly a run to 4.54. Adcock has a 3.74 ERA in road games, but now has a 5.93 ERA in six starts at home. Eight of the 20 earned runs he’s given up at home came on Sunday. That’s pretty typical for the High Desert staff–they have a 4.01 ERA on the road, but their home ERA is an ugly 6.26.