Napa scores three runs in the eighth to pull Big Game upset and beat Vintage in thriller
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Big Game has a way of creating some incredible moments because records don’t matter and David can beat Goliath.
In Thursday night’s second Big Game of the season at Kiwanis Park, Napa pulled the upset of the season as they beat Vintage 9-8 in eight innings.
The win is huge for Napa. After all, in the last Big Game on April 5th, they scored the first four runs of the game before Vintage scored 14 unanswered runs. Not to mention, Napa came up just short in the final Big Game on May 20th of 2021 after a walk-off three-run homer by Shelby Morse.
“To be honest, I was disappointed with the last time and I told them after that game we’re better than that,” Napa High manager Ron Walston said of the importance of the win. “If we could just put it all together, we can compete with anybody in the league and they proved it tonight.”
The game-winning hit came from Ella Johnson who singled to right-center and brought in Molly Travis.
“When I got up to bat, I had the mentality like I’m not giving up right now,” an emotional Johnson said of her game-winning at-bat. “I’m getting this for my team. I have this every second, I’m not letting down. That’s my mentality the entire time.”
Johnson ended the day with a near-perfect day at the plate as she was 4-for-5 with a double, three singles, three runs scored, and an RBI.
“I just kind of go up there with confidence,” Johnson added. “I really can’t say thank you enough to my coaches and everybody. This game was something to remember for sure.”
Before that, the Grizzlies’ (3-10 overall, 3-5 Vine Valley Athletic League) had some work to do as they entered the frame down 8-6. Reilly Parga was the ghost runner who began the inning at second base and scored on a triple down the right-field line by Olivia Vavricka. A bloop single by Travis brought in Vavricka to tie the game.
Napa took a 6-4 lead in the fourth when Johnson singled and Caity Newburn poked a double to center field that brought her in. Newburn came in on the next at-bat on a single by Dalila Tapia.
The Grizzlies took a 4-3 lead with two runs in the third when Johnson singled, moved up to second on a wild pitch, swiped third, and came in on a Tapia single. Then, Tapia moved to third on a single by Alyssa Michie where the hit-and-run was on and she was able to get to third. When Michie’s courtesy runner, Lauren Nicklas, stole second and drew a throw from Manley, Tapia scored.
Napa’s first run of the game came in the first after Johnson singled and then scored on a single by Tapia.
Others leading the Grizzlies at the plate were Tapia (3-for-4 double, run scored, three RBIs), Travis (3-for-4 two stolen bases, two RBIs, run scored), Vavricka (2-for-3 triple, RBI, two runs scored), Newburn (1-for-4 double, RBI, run), and Alyssa Michie (1-for-4).
“I told them (to) pick inside, pick outside until you get two strikes,” Walston said. “Look forward. If it’s there, hit it.”
In the top half, the Crushers (12-2, 6-1 VVAL) scored a pair to take their second lead of the game. Audrey Manley began the inning as the ghost runner at second base and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Shelby Morse. Then, Emily Vanderbilt was hit by a pitch and stole second to set the table for Devin Viruet who roped a single that brought in Vanderbilt and Manley.
Vintage entered the seventh trailing by a run and was able to get one to knot things up at six. Viruet singled and got to second when Raimy Gamsby hit into a fielder’s choice and then scored on a double just inside the third-base line by Bianca Avalos.
“I’m proud of them,” Vintage manager Megan Lopez said. “I think it would have been easy for them to maybe lay down a little bit, but I am proud of the grit and the determination that they showed there in the end.”
The Crushers scored a run in the sixth as well. Avalos reached on a single and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Taylor Lauristen when Napa’s Molly Travis threw the ball into left field after covering first base.
Vintage pushed across a run in the fourth inning when Lauritsen singled and tagged to second on an Angie Rubalcava flyout to center and scored on a Manley single.
In the third, the Crushers were able to score a run when Rubalcava tripled and came in on a single by Manley.
The Crushers scored the first two runs of the game in the top of the first as well. Rubalcava walked and stole second before advancing to third on a Morse infield single. When Morse stole second, Newburn’s throw went into center field that allowing Rubalcava to score. Manley advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Viruet sacrifice fly to center field.
Leading Vintage at the plate was Manley (4-for-5 double, two runs scored, two RBIs, and a stolen base), Viruet (2-for-4 three RBIs, run, stolen base), Lauritsen (1-for-2 run), Morse (1-for-2 stolen base), Vanderbilt (1-for-3 run, stolen base), Barboza (1-for-3), Avalos (1-for-4 double, run, RBI), and Rubalcava (1-for-4 double, stolen base, two runs).
Getting the win in the circle was Michie. The senior right-hander went all eight frames on 126 pitches. She walked six and struck out five while giving up seven runs, with five of them being earned.
“I’ve never seen Alyssa pitch better than that, and she’s been working hard,” Walson said of Michie’s outing. “She struggled a little bit early and we were kind of thin in the pitching area. Then, we had a couple (of) players out and she had to catch for a while. She wasn’t throwing. She might’ve had a little bit of rust, but we got our work in the last couple of weeks. She just battled and that’s a great hitting team and she got the outs we needed.”
Taking the loss was Gamsby. The senior struck out 14 and walked just one on a whopping 147 pitches. In 7 ⅔ innings, she also allowed eight runs to score.
Both teams will continue league action to wind down the season. Napa will be back in action on Tuesday at 4 pm when they host Sonoma Valley. Vintage will visit Justin-Sien at 11 am Saturday morning and host Casa Grande Tuesday at 4 pm.
In other league action Tuesday, Casa Grande beat Justin-Siena 7-1 and American Canyon beat Petaluma 11-4. You can view the updated league standings here.
