NVBC 17s can’t overcome first inning hole in state tournament opening round loss to Pacifica
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
YOUNTVILLE-The first inning is often times an inning where pitchers and their defense are most vulnerable. That was the case for the Napa Valley Baseball Club’s 17-and-under team in their 6-3 loss to Pacifica-Garden Grove in the opener of the California State American Legion tournament on Thursday.
In the bottom of the first Pacifica scored four times, but the inning wouldn’t have been as bad if it weren’t for a pair of Napa errors. The Mariners also scored a run in the third and fourth innings.
“Well, I think we started out a little slow,” NVBC 17U coach Jason Schnaible said. “We dug ourselves a hole, which was tough for us. We played sloppy that first inning; I mean we gave up four runs. Once we settled down into the second inning I think we played good baseball, but that first inning you know on both sides, not only the offensive side but on the defensive side of things we dug ourselves a little bit of a hole and that put us behind right out of the gate.”
NVBC (33-12) scored their first run of the game in the top of the third when Alex Dehzad singled and brought home Owen Schnaible who had singled and moved to third base on a pair of wild pitches.
In the fourth, Stacy Nelson walked before being brought in on a Stephen Cole double.
Finally, in the sixth Napa scored once more when Theo Llewelyn double and came home on a Logan Nothman double.
Nelson, who went all six innings for Napa, took the loss on the day.
NVBC will now face Fairfield Friday morning at 9 a.m. So far this season Napa has already beat Fairfield three times in their four meetings.
“I feel pretty confident,” Dehzad said of the meeting with Fairfield. “I mean we’ve beaten them three times; I think we lost one time, so I feel pretty confident about that.”
According to Schnaible when his team has their back against the wall they oftentimes respond well.
“I’m always confident with this team,” he explained. “That’s when we play our best baseball when we get backed into a corner, when it’s late in a game that’s when we play our best baseball.”
