Napa uses four-run second inning to take lead, get first victory over Wood in long awaited home-opener
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thompson (shamboozled.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Sometimes it’s not about getting punched in the mouth more than responding to that punch. After all, it just takes one inning to control the game completely.
On Friday afternoon at Mount Field, the Napa High baseball team bounced back from a rough start to the game to beat Wood of Vacaville, 6-4.
The Grizzlies (1-3) were able to take the lead in the second where they scored four times and led by a run. The big hit came from Graham Chapouris with two outs when he punched a double into the left-center gap that brought in Mason Bartlett and Cameron Taylor who had reached by way of an infield single and walk in the two at-bats before.
“We knew going into that inning that we had to score something,” Napa senior center field Graham Chapouris said of his key at-bat in the second. “Going up there it was really just watch the ball come in and do the little thing right with your swing and make sure to hit it. In my head, I didn’t imagine it going that far, but I was going for right up the middle and I got lucky with one that went further down the line. So really just make sure to hit the ball just made contact with it on that point.”
Napa scored a pair of runs before that when Collin Taylor reached on a fielder’s choice and later scored on a two-out single by Logan Draper. Draper later scored on a wild pitch.
“I think there’s something about that first inning where there’s a little bit of nerves and you’re just trying to get into the feel of the game,” said Napa High manager Jason Chatham who is in his fifth year at the helm. “Once you get past that, people relax a little bit because it’s baseball and you’ve played it before. I think we have to do a better job of competing in that first inning.”
The Grizzles also pushed a run across to go up 5-3 in the fifth inning when Noah Massey singled and was pinch-ran for by Carson Goodrich. On a single by Trent Adams, Goodrich was able to score after stealing second base.
Napa scored its final run of the game in the sixth when Mason Bartlett singled and stole second before getting to third on a single by Collin Taylor and then scoring on a wild pitch.
Leading the way for Napa at the plate were Adams (2-for-3 RBI), Cameron Taylor (2-for-3 walk, stolen base, run scored), Bartlett (2-for-4, two runs, stolen base), Massey (1-for-3), and Chapouris (1-for-4 double, 2 RBIs).
The Wildcats (0-2) were able to score the majority of their runs right away in the first where they plated three and sent all nine batters to the plate. Wood also scored once more in the seventh on a sacrifice fly.
Earning the five-inning save in this game was Adams. The junior right-hander struck out 9 while walking just 2 on 69 pitches. He also gave up just one run.
“He has the highest strike percentage of anyone in our program,” Chatham pointed out. “Essentially what that means is he’s filling up the zone and watching his bullpens, he throws from a really uncomfortable arm slot. He has kind of a really weird three-quarter arm thing and he throws pretty firm.”
Starting the game and getting the win was Cameron Taylor. The senior right-handed pitcher worked two frames and threw 59 pitches while striking out 5 and walking 3. He also gave up three earned runs.
Up until this, it had been a bit of a rough start for Napa. Getting in the win column was something that was much needed. It was also nice for them to get the win in their long-awaited home opener after weeks of waiting to play due to the weather.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Chaporis said of finally getting the first victory. “I mean, it felt nice out on our own field. It looks beautiful out here and we know we had to do we came up we came out and showed up ready to go.”
Napa will be back in action next Tuesday at 4 pm to begin Vine Valley Athletic League play when they’re supposed to visit Petaluma, assuming the atmospheric river gives way. As for Wood, they’ll begin Monticello Empire League play on Monday at 4 when they visit Armijo in Fairfield.
