Casa Grande’s seven-run third inning proves to be too much for Vintage to overcome
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
With momentum on their side following a Big Game win last Friday, it appeared as though the Vintage baseball team was going to start rolling.
Well, sometimes things don’t go as planned, as they lost 9-4 to Casa Grande-Petaluma.
The Crushers (11-11 overall, 6-4 Vine Valley Athletic League) weren’t able to overcome one inning in the game, which was the third when Casa Grande scored seven times.
But, as Vintage coach Rich Anderson explains they should’ve scored more runs due to the conditions with the wind blowing out to center field.
“Casa’s a good team, and whenever we run Eli (Wood) out there (on the mound), on the days he’s not out we tend to give up some runs,” he said. “But, on those days you just have to score more runs. You can’t expect guys to throw shutouts every single time, and we got off to the good start with the 2-0 lead, and we just never really overcame that seven-run inning, and I don’t blame that on the pitchers. They got hit, and they gave up runs, and of course pitchers are going to give up runs. But, this field, the way it is today, with how fast it is and how windy it is we couldn’t go five inning in a row with a zero up there. If we put a two here, a two there, it’s a 7-6 game, and all of a sudden it’s a whole different thing going on. But, I think our offense kinda took what happened on defense and wore it, and we’ve just got to separate offense and defense. We should’ve just banged out. We should’ve scored ten runs today.”
However, Vintage started the game off on a high note when they scored twice. Ethan Hemmerlin singled, stole second, and then went to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a Davide Migotto double. Later, Migotto scored on a Ian Avalos sacrifice fly to left field.
The Crushers also scored twice more in the bottom of the seventh inning to prove they weren’t going down without a fight. Zach Joson walked and later scored on a Max Phipps single. After singling Hemmerlin scored on a Migotto single.
“We’re disappointed we lost, we’re frustrated we lost,” Anderson emphasized. “But, that doesn’t mean we don’t like out guys, and love being around them, and believe in them, so it is a great group of guys to be around. So, it is disappointing when we lose because we want them to win so badly, but there’s no criticism by the coaching staff as far as effort, and wanting to play and wanting to win, they give that everyday and we’re super impressed by that.”
The Gauchos (10-10, 5-4 VVAL) also were able to push two more runs across in the fourth inning.
Vintage’s offensive attack was led by Migotto who went 3-for-4 with a single, double, and a triple, and two RBIs, and a run. Avalos went 1-for-2 with a single, sacrifice fly, and a RBI. Hemmerlin went 2-for-4 with two singles, two runs, and two stolen bases.
“Davide’s hit since the minute he got here last year as a freshman,” Anderson said of his sophomore third baseman. “He started as a freshman last year, but more importantly because he did have hits, but if you were checked in with the game and listened to what was going on he was the one guy that never got frustrated when they gave up a seven spot. All game he was energized, he was talking. If you watched him play you would’ve thought we were up 7-2 because (of) his energy level and everything because that’s just how he is, and consequently he gets a bunch of hits too. So, he’s just a really good all-around baseball player, and the mental part of the game is just as strong as his physical part. His hitting, his defense is great.”
Logan Nothmann took the loss for Vintage. He went 2 and ⅓ innings, walked two and struck out one.
Vintage will be back in action on Friday at 4 p.m. when they visit American Canyon. The last time Vintage and American Canyon met on April 10th American Canyon won a slugfest 16-10. As for Casa Grande, they’ll visit Northgate-Walnut Creek on Saturday at 3 p.m. before hosting crosstown rival Petaluma next Tuesday at 4 p.m.
