Four-run second inning leads Vintage past American Canyon on Senior Day
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
It’s always nice to send your Senior athletes out on a good note on their home field.
It makes it even sweeter when the win is a massive one. The Vintage softball team did both when they beat American Canyon 5-3 on Senior Day.
With the win, the Crushers (11-1 overall, 10-1 Vine Valley Athletic League) move into a tie with American Canyon (13-2, 11-1 VVAL) atop the league standings.
“It feels really good,” said Vintage’s lone Senior Jordan Allen on winning the last game at their home field. “Once I leave Vintage, I can always come back and say I won my last home game. I won and it felt great.”
Vintage started off fast in the game when they scored four runs in the second inning. Raimy Gamsby singled and was pinch ran for by Jillian Harnois. That was then followed up by a walk to Bianca Avalos and a single by Camila Barboza, which loaded the bases. With the bases loaded, Jordan Allen doubled to bring in Harnois and Avalos. Barboza and Allen later came in on a single by Shelby Morse.
“Hitting is contagious,” Vintage manager Robert Poppe said of the Crushers four-run second frame. “We didn’t hit well against AC the first time. So we knew if someone could just put the ball in play, that it’ll just start getting the line moving.”
The Crushers’ only other run of the day came in the fourth inning. Taylor Lauritsen doubled before coming in on a single by Gamsby.
“That was a really good inning for us,” Poppe said of the fourth where Vintage added an insurance run.
American Canyon got on the board in the third with just a run. However, it came in grand fashion when Jaida Fulcher launched a solo home run to left field that landed on the Vintage baseball diamond. The Wolves’ two other runs came in the sixth inning.
Things got interesting in the seventh when American Canyon loaded the bases with two outs, but Shelby Morse worked through it to seal the victory.
“She was feeling that one of her pitches wasn’t working, and I was calling it,” Poppe said of the seventh inning. “So therein lied a little bit of trouble for a couple of batters just till we talked and figured out what was going on and then started calling a couple of different pitches.”
Getting the win in the circle was Gamsby. The junior worked four innings on 66 pitches, allowing just one run. She struck out 10 and had no free passes.
Morse worked three innings in relief and allowed two runs. She walked two, struck out two while throwing 54 pitches.
For American Canyon, the season is complete. However, it’s not for Vintage. Next Tuesday at 4 pm, they’ll visit Petaluma in their final game of the season.
In the first meeting, Vintage beat Petaluma 7-2 on May 6th.
There was one other VVAL game on Thursday afternoon. In the game, Napa beat Sonoma Valley 9-5.
