Vintage’s offense scores early and often to beat Justin-Siena, move into second place in VVAL
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
It’s no surprise, but the first inning is often when the tone is set in a baseball game.
It’s safe to say this is what the Vintage baseball team did on Tuesday afternoon as they beat Justin-Siena 12-2 in a six-inning game.
In the bottom of the first is when the Crushers (11-8 overall, 4-3 Vine Valley Athletic League) took command of the game. It all started when Dario Freschi was hit by a pitch and Austin Buffler singled and advanced a base when Ian Fernandez reached on an error. Freschi and Buffler both came in on a single by Gomez. A single by Carson Hall brought home Fernandez. Later, a single by carter Haven loaded the bases before Eli Rojas drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in Gomez. Hall and Haven then came in on a single by Freschi to cap the six-run inning.
“It’s super important in a game like this against a rival team like Justin, to get right back at him when they get on our ace early,” Gomez said of the first-inning offensive explosion. “So that was really what propelled us to the victory.”
Before that, in the top half of the first Justin-Siena (13-4, 3-4 VVAL) put up a two-spot of their own. Nick Andrews singled and scored on a triple by Dalen Tinsley. When Robby Sangiacomo grounded into a fielder’s choice, that brought in Tinsley and the final run of the day for the Braves.
“Just cashed in on our opportunities,” Justin-Siena skipper Jeremy Tayson said of the top of the first. “Nick and Dalen, it’s probably the fifth time this year that just the two of them have combined to put a run on the board right out of the gates, and Robby backs it up with a productive out there. So just good baseball at the beginning of the game.”
Leading Justin-Siena at the plate were Matt Chadsey (2-for-3 two singles), Tinsley (1-for-2 triple, RBI), and Andrews (1-for-2 single, run).
Vintage tacked on four more in the fourth. Freschi walked, Buffler reached on a bunt single, Ferndandez singled and all of them came in on a double to right-center by Gomez. Jacob Fiene pinch ran for Gomez and scored on a Hall single.
The game ended in the bottom of the sixth when Hall singled and scored when Calvin Jonshon reached on an error. After singling and moving to second on an error, Justin Ray scored the game-ending run on a Rojas sacrifice fly to center field.
Gomez finished the day going 3-for-4 at the dish with two singles, a double, a run scored, and a whopping five RBIs.
“The past few games I haven’t been as disciplined, and today I kind of had an approach,” Gomez pointed out. “I talked to someone the other day, actually, that really helped me get my mind right, and I was getting the pitches I wanted. When I do that, I get a lot of hits.”
Others having big days to help the Crushers were Freschi (1-for-1 single, two RBIs, two runs scored) and Hall (2-for-2 two singles, two RBIs, two runs).
Kvidahl was marvelous on the bump in this one. The senior right-hander worked all six frames and allowed just two earned runs. He also fanned 11 and walked just two batters on his way to getting the winning decision.
“My curveball wasn’t really working in the first inning, I hit the third batter with it,” Kvidahl said of his outing. “I wasn’t coming all the way through with it. So I had to stick with my fastball for the first couple of innings and then about the third, fourth, it started coming down and it was really working for me.”
According to Crushers manager Billy Smith, Kvidahl was looking forward to this game.
“He’s been waiting for this game – just for personal reasons and to show them that Erik is one of the top pitchers in this league and I thought he showed that today,” he said. “He just went right after everybody with his fastball occasional curveball every now and then. But he worked hard he’s been wanting this game and he got it so I’m proud of him.”
Both teams will have a very short turnaround, as both are slated to be back in action tomorrow. Justin-Siena is slated to host Armijo-Fairfield at 4 pm before visiting Napa at 4 pm on Friday. Meanwhile, Vintage is slated to take a trip to Sonoma to face the Dragons under the light at Arnold Field at 7 pm. The only snag could be a predicted 74% chance of rain for both Napa and Sonoma, according to accuweather.com.
In the last meetings, Napa beat Justin-Siena 6-4 and Sonoma Valley beat Vintage 6-4.
You can view the updated league standings here.
