Napa picks up one more clutch hit in seventh inning to beat Vintage, earn Big Game split
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When runs are hard to come by, hitting with runners in scoring position is key.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Napa High baseball team got on more clutch hits with runners waiting to score as they beat Vintage 3-1 in the final Big Game of the season.
Both teams had a hard time getting the big hit. After all, Napa was just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and had a runner on base in every inning.
Vintage was just 1-for-10 in their chances to score as well.
The crucial hit in the game came in the top of the seventh when Cam Taylor punched a double into the right-center gap that brought in Connor Ross who reached by way of a fielder’s choice.
“I was just trying to shorten up my approach and just adjust from the last at-bats I had and just get my bat head out not collapsed on my backside and just kind of poke a ball onto the field and it just worked out,” Taylor said of his go-ahead double in the seventh.
Napa (10-11 overall, 5-5 Vine Valley Athletic League) would add one more in the seventh when Erik Kvidahl balked with Leo Saldivar on first after he singled. That would be all the Grizzlies would need as Colby Chambers would close it out in the bottom of the seventh to give Napa a 3-1 Big Game victory.
The Grizzlies scored their first run of the game in the fourth. Graham Chapouris walked and stole second before coming in on a single by Kaleb Matulich.
“Kaleb is just a really cool kid. He’s just the best kid you could ever imagine and I was really happy for him,” Napa High manager Jason Chatham said. “In that situation, we probably wouldn’t have wanted to send the runner. But we struck out a ton today so we had to take a chance.”
Leading Napa at the plate was Zuidema (2-for-4 double, stolen base, run scored), Chapouris (1-for-2 stolen base, run scored), Saldivar (2-for-4), Snider (1-for-3), Taylor (1-for-4 double, RBI, run), Matulich (1-for-3 RBI), and Ross (1-for-4).
The victory avenges Napa’s earlier loss to Vintage on April 1st. It was a nice feeling for senior Elliott Zuidema.
“It’s awesome,” he explained. “Throughout my whole baseball career, I’ve actually never beat vintage in a Big Game. So this was huge for me as a senior, last Big Game in my career. It was awesome to get this win.”
Vintage (11-10, 4-5 VVAL) scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first. Dario Freschi singled and stole second before tagging to third on a Sam Gomez flyout. Freschi came in on a single up the middle by Ian Fernandez.
“We wanted to get up early,” Vintage head coach Billy Smith said of the first. “We haven’t been swinging it. Dario got on first. Actually, Buffler did it on his own, tried to bunt him over. I was letting him because it was early and then we had a sac fly by Sam and then I believe the single two-out single. My money’s on the Ian anytime you need a two-out hit for an RBI. He’s been solid all year. So I was pretty comfortable with that.”
The Crushers were led at the plate by Fernandez (2-for-3 double, RBI), Eli Rojas (2-for-3 triple), and Freschi (1-for-3 run scored, stolen base).
Getting a no-decision on the bump was Zuidema. The senior right-hander worked 5 ⅓ innings giving up just a run. On 87 pitches, he struck out five and walked two.
“I cam into the game mainly throwing a fastball and a curveball,” Zuidema explained. “But this team has seen those two pitches a lot. So in the third or fourth inning, I started resorting to that changeup, I was able to get like four or five K’s with it. So I just continued to use it throughout the third, fourth, and fifth inning, and it was mowing batters down. I was just able to find the zone, find the pitches, and it was just a good day out there.”
Earning the win was Chambers. Over 1 ⅔ inning, he struck out four on 25 pitches.
“Colby is a dominant kid and he had a shoulder injury earlier in the year and he’s been working back from that,” Chatham said of the sophomore left-hander. “We’ve been trying to pick the right spot to put him in.”
Taking a tough loss was Kvidahl. In two innings of work, he struck out four and walked one while allowing two runs to score. Austin Whitehead started and got a no-decision. Over five-plus innings of work, the southpaw struck out 10 and walked just two. He also allowed one run to score.
“Austin was good, really good today. He did that last time he faced them,” Smith said of his pitching. “This is the combo we wanted. We’ve been relying on Austin and Erik.”
Both teams will continue to wind down their season in the coming days. Napa will have a non-league contest on Friday at 4 pm in Fairfield against Vanden. Vintage will visit Casa Grande on Monday at 4 pm.
In other VVAL action Wednesday, Casa Grande beat Justin-Siena 6-2 and Petaluma beat American Canyon 7-3. To view the updated league standings, go here.
All three Napa teams split with each other in the 2022 season
For the first time in VVAL history, all three of the Napa schools have split all of their games with each other.
Napa picked up wins at both Vintage and Justin-Siena. Vintage beat Napa on the road and Justin-Siena at home. Justin-Siena beat Napa on the road and Vintage at home.
Both coaches thought that it spoke to the parity of the league.
“It’s awesome,” Smith said. “Again, it’s a tough league and we knew. Again last year, we knew Napa was going to be good this year. We knew Justin was going to be good this year.”
“It’s a lot of fun,” Chatham said of the parity. “I think I said this at the end of our game against Justin-Siena to our guys, ‘Hey if we go out and win Big Game, then we’re going to have a split all the way around.’ Honestly, all three programs are quality programs.”
