Six-run rally in third inning propels Vintage past Napa in first Big Game baseball
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Taking advantage of opportunities is often times the difference between wins and losses in baseball.
It’s even more imperative to do so when the opportunity was given to you for free.
In Friday’s first Big Game baseball of the season, that’s what the Vintage baseball team did when they beat Napa 9-1.
Vintage (3-1 overall, 3-0 Vine Valley Athletic League) took control of the game thanks to a six-run top of the third. The rally was started when Boden Cooke and Jorge Lopez-Rios were both hit by a pitch and Sam Neal reached on an error to load the sacks. A walk by Dylan Rody scored Cooke, before another walk by Davide Migotto brought in Lopez-Rios. Ian Avalos had a sacrifice fly, which brought in Neal. Nick Schuttish had the big hit of the inning where he singled and made it to third on a throwing error. On the play, Sam Gomez scored after being hit by a pitch and it also brought in Migotto and Rody.
“They came out and their pitch calling were good,” Vintage skipper Billy Smith said of the big third inning. “They kept us off-speed looking for something that we weren’t looking for. We weren’t balanced up. We just got fortunate. They loaded the bases up for us with a couple of hit batsmen and then we got one hit out of the deal and then we just made them play catch. So we took advantage of the situation that they gave us in it. It’s a different ballgame if we don’t get that situation.”
Napa (1-4, 1-3 VVAL) scored the game’s first run in the first. Elliot Zuidema singled and then scored when Lucas Brandon singled.
“We love our short game,” Napa High manager Jason Chatham said of the first-inning rally. “To mix that and it’s just going to be a part of our identity. We’re going to blend it and it was nice to get on the board there in the first.”
The Crushers scored three more in the fifth inning. Eli Rojas walked before coming in on an Avalos single. Avalos later came in along with Migotto who singled on another Schuttish single.
“We wanted to be patient,” Rody said of the offensive approach. “Before this, we were really out front swinging out our butts and just trying to get a bat on a ball. Our approach today was sitting back, getting pitches, running up the pitch count, and getting people on and working through that.”
Starting and getting the win on the day was Dylan Rody. In six innings of work, he allowed just one run. He struck out six and walked one as well.
“(The) first inning, it was rough a little bit, gave up a hit or two, gave up a run,” Rody said. “But I worked through it. Curveball was actually really good today and fastball got a little hump in the middle innings. Still worked through it, my arm’s feeling good. (The) defense behind me really helped me out too.”
“That’s our number one. That’s why we give him the ball in all the big games, not just this Big Game,” Smith explained. “But he wants the ball every Friday and it’s good going out knowing that he’s going to throw strikes and compete.”
The starter for Napa was Noah Massey. The sophomore worked 2.2 innings, walked three, and struck out one.
Both teams will play non-league games next before resuming league play next week. Vintage will head to Santa Rosa to face Maria Carillo on Monday at 4 pm. Meanwhile, Napa will have a quick turnaround before facing Sonoma Valley on Saturday night at 7 pm in what will be a non-league game against a league opponent.
In other VVAL games Friday afternoon, Casa Grande beat Justin-Siena 5-0 and Petaluma beat American Canyon 8-4.
