Vintage gets revenge on Napa behind Wood’s complete game effort
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Don Lex (LuckyDuckImages.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Revenge is always nice.
Well, on Friday the Vintage baseball team avenged their loss in the first Big Game on April 3rd by routing rival Napa 11-2.
“Oh yeah definitely,” Vintage senior pitcher Eli Wood said of how it feels to get revenge. “That last game was tough, and it’s really been a turning point in our season I think, especially offensively. We’ve just started going up ever since, and it’s been awesome at the plate for everyone.”
“We didn’t have much revenge talk,” Vintage coach Rich Anderson admitted. “Obviously, you lose to anybody, but especially Napa High you want to comeback and prove that you can perform better than you did the first time. The first time they just beat us.”
It also helped that Wood had a pretty solid day on the bump for the Crushers. Over a complete game he struck out seven and walked three. He also gave up two runs on the day, but only one run was earned.
“I really just tried to get my fastball across,” Wood explained. “That was probably my big pitch that was working for me today. But, I also had my slider that I got a couple strike out on, so that was helpful.”
“Eli Wood was fantastic today,” Napa coach Jason Chatham said. “We were fortunate we got him last time, he got us this time. I thought he did a good job.”
Vintage (11-10 overall, 6-3 Vine Valley Athletic League) was able to push across the game’s first run in the top of the first. Davide Migotto singled and later came home when fellow sophomore Ian Avalos reached on an error.
The Grizzlies (2-19, 2-8 VVAL) were then able to score a run in the bottom of the second thanks to the use of small ball. Cole Kipsey singled, and advanced to second on a wild pitch before scoring on a Jacks Madigan bunt single with a error.
“We had a couple bunts here. We had a hit-and-run that paid off. We had a slash. We had a couple steals,” Chatham said of the small ball.
Then, in the top of the fourth the Crushers pushed across six runs, due in large part to Napa making five errors to gain control of the game.
“It’s always easier to pitch with a big lead,” Wood explained. “You’re just confident on the mound. You’re just comfortable knowing that you don’t have to put up a zero, that if you give up a run you’ll be alright. So, yeah the offense came up big for me today, and I was really appreciative of that.”
In the bottom of the fourth Napa scored once more. After reaching on a error Travis Brayton later scored on a Lucas Brandon single.
Vintage extended their lead in the top of the sixth when they scored three more times. A Luke Leachman double brought home Migotto who was hit by a pitch and Wood who was walked. Then, after walking Avalos scored on a Alex Dehzad sacrifice fly.
In the seventh the Crushers score the game’s final run when Logan Nothmann singled and scored a Migotto single.
Omar Gonzalez took the loss for Napa. He went four innings, gave up seven unearned runs, and threw 68 pitches.
Vintage will be back in action on Wednesday at 4 p.m. when they host Casa Grande-Petaluma, while Napa won’t be back on the field until Friday when they host Sonoma Valley. On April 4th Vintage beat Casa Grande 5-4, while Napa lost to Sonoma Valley 7-2 on April 10th.
