River City’s big fourth inning too much for Napa to overcome in season-opener
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Don Lex (LuckyDuckImages.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
A new era of baseball at Napa High began on Friday.
“It feels good,” Napa’s newest coach Jason Chatham said of taking the reins officially from longtime coach Todd Pridy. “I’ve been coaching for two decades now, right, but there was a moment where I was allowing myself to look around and say ‘hey, this is starting now’, and kinda see the beginnings of this thing start and I like it.”
In Chatham’s first game as Napa’s fourth head coach in program history the Grizzlies lost 7-3 to River City-West Sacramento in a daylight shortened six innings.
Napa (0-1) came out with some offensive fireworks in the bottom of the first inning. The runs were fueled by three River City (1-0) errors. Omar Gonzalez singled and later scored on a Cole Kipsey bunt single, with an error by the River City first baseman. Trent Maher reached on a single and scored on Lucas Brandon’s groundout, which also brought home Kipsey thanks to another error on River City’s first baseman.
“Honestly what worked in the first inning was just putting the ball in play,” Chatham explained. “Early on, in the preseason, right now especially it’s going to be sloppy.”
Then, in the top of the fourth the game turned on its head as the Raiders put up a seven spot. The game turned when sophomore second baseman Calvin Snider was unable to field a ground ball in the hole between first and second base.
Overall, Napa made a total of four errors, which is ultimately something they’ll be looking to cleanup.
Napa starter Dylan Foster took the loss in the game. He gave up five runs on only four hits in 3 and ⅔ innings of work. He also struck out five and walked two in 63 pitches.
“He was tired,” Chatham said of the junior’s effort. “His final pitch count was probably low 60s, somewhere in there, and that’s where we wanted to stop him. I don’t think he did poorly at all, even as he was struggling he found ways to compete. They just got the bat on the ball in crucial situations, and that’s the game of baseball.
“I thought Dylan Foster competed today,” Chatham added. “He was locked in. I’m really proud of the guy. He lives and breathes intensity and focus. He loves to take the ball, and we love to give it to him.”
Napa will have a quick turnaround, as they will host former Monticello Empire League rival Wood-Vacaville on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
