Second inning offensive explosion pushes Napa Silverados to victory over Vallejo
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
In baseball there are nights when balls just find holes, as was the case for the Napa Silverados Thursday night in their 9-5 win over the Vallejo Admirals.
“Yeah, so it was about the approach you know,” Napa manager Tito Fuentes Jr. said of the offense on the night. “I told the guys ‘just jump on it early, stop guessing pitches, just jump on the first pitch fastball, and be aggressive’,and that was the result, and this field helped us.”
Napa (25-36) scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the first. Ray Jones walked and later scored when Josh Montelongo singled.
The Admirals (31-30) took a brief lead in the top of the second when they scored three runs.
The Silverados exploded in their half of the second inning by putting up five runs on seven hits. In that inning they sent ten batters to the plate.
In the third Napa plated two more runs. After singling and scoring second Matt Richards scored on a Jones single. Later in the inning Jones scored on a wild pitch.
Vallejo scored a run in fourth and fifth to conclude their scoring on the day.
The highlight of the game came in the bottom of the fourth when Napa third baseman Dominic Bethencourt launched a solo home run to left-center, which was his seventh of the campaign.
“So overdue,” Fuentes explained of the homer by his third baseman. “I think he’s just been seeing the ball well today, he felt it coming, and the guy just left a fastball up and he hit it out.”
“I’ve been late (on the pitch) a lot lately,” Bethencourt said. “Since this last week I’ve transitioned to guys who throw a little bit harder. I’ve just been getting my barrel out and just found the ball there.”
The pitching for Napa was solid on the night. Jackson Berumen, who started the game for Napa, went 5 and ⅓ innings while striking out four, walking three, and giving up five runs, four of which were earned. Chris Butcher went 2 and ⅔ innings, struck out five and walked one. Angel Mejia worked one frame, struck out two, and walked one.
“Pitchers did great tonight, that’s all we can expect from them every game,” Bethencourt said of the team pitching on the evening. “If we do that every time we’ll win every ball game.”
In order for Napa to take part in the four-team playoff at the end of the season they’ll need to catch fire and go on a run. Fuentes said he reminded the team about that before the game.
“Yes, we had that conversation today, and I think it sparked them,” he said.
