Napa drops tournament opener to Arroyo, comes back to beat Archie Williams and split games in first day of spring tournament
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Most of the time, the top three batters in your order are who you rely on to get the offense going. After all, they are batting there for a reason.
On the first day of action at the Napa Spring Tournament, the top of the order had a good day leading the Grizzles to a split of their first two games.
Napa (4-7) picked up their lone win of the day in the second game of their doubleheader when they beat Archie Williams of San Anselmo, 5-1.
The Grizzlies scored the first two runs of the game in the first. Molly Travis reached on an error and then stole second base. Ella Johnson then walked before swiping second and Travis stole third on a double steal to set up the scoring opportunity. Reilly Parga ripped a single back up the middle to bring home Travis and Johnson.
“Molly’s got the attitude she has to get on,” Napa High head coach and tournament director Ron Walston said of Travis and how she kickstarts the lineup. “That’s what we expect from her and she reads defenses really well, and she’ll put the ball where she has a good chance to get on.”
In the fourth, Napa scored once more when Parga reached on an error that allowed her to get to second base and then moved to third when the throw into the infield went into right field. A single by Lauren Nicklas then brought in Parga.
“Hits with runners on was the biggest thing,” Walston said as to what changed with his team in the second game. “We had a couple (of) opportunities in the first game and we didn’t get that hit when we needed it. But (the) second game, even with two outs, we had runners on and we got that hit.”
Finally, in the fifth, the Grizzlies scored two more runs. Travis began the inning by reaching on a bunt single and moving to second on a Johnson single. A single by Olivia Horn brought in Travis and moved Johnson to second. Jessye Wood then walked to load the bases before Parga hit a sacrifice fly to center field that brought in Johnson.
“I haven’t looked at the numbers but she’s been one of our most consistent hitters,” Walston pointed out as to what he’s seen from Horn since moving the junior first baseman to the third spot in the lineup. “I’ve told them all if you can give me one hit a game and we can put them together, we’ll be in business, and she’s kind of taking the mindset. She’s got to get on at least once a game and I think the biggest thing for her is she is being more selective, trying to get her pitch.”
Archie Williams (2-12) scored their lone run of the contest in the sixth when Sarah Conway singled and got to second on a groundout, and then moved to third on a single by Emma Freed. She then scored on a groundout by Kennedy Dunsing.
Getting the win in the circle in the contest was Brooklyn Miller. The sophomore right-handed hurler worked all six innings of this one, where she allowed just an earned run. She also struck out 4 and walked 1.
“She’s made a couple (of) adjustments,” Walston said of Miller’s improvement as the season progresses. “Like I said earlier in the season, everything was up. But she’s bringing the ball down and she’s not walking people, and that’s the biggest change.”
The hosts of the tournament were also able to bounce back after dropping their opener. They also are starting to play some better softball having won 2 of their last 3 games.
Arroyo 11, Napa 3
In the first game of the day, Arroyo of San Lorenzo beat Napa 11-3. Napa hung with the Dons early as well.
Napa scored a pair of runs in the first as the visitors in this one. Travis reached on a bunt single that was followed by a walk by Johnson, and then another infield single by Horn. A Wood single then brought in Travis and Johnson.
“We always click together,” Horn said of the top of the order where she bats behind Travis and Johnson. “We’ve all been playing together for a really long time, and I think we bring each other up a lot, too.”
The Grizzlies scored once more in the third when Horn walked and got to third on a double by Wood. She then scored on a sacrifice fly by Nicklas to left field.
Arroyo (5-7) tied the game at 2 in the first. Ashley Reyes doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring on an error, which allowed her to get to second before advancing to third on a wild pitch. She scored in the next at-bat when Laila Villalobos singled.
The Dons tacked on three more in the second on just one swing of the bat t take the lead. That crack of the bat came when Isabelle Reyes ripped a three-run homer to left center to give Arroyo a 5-2 lead.
“They jumped out ahead a little bit,” Walston said of the first game. “Our bats went quiet. After that, I think we had a couple (of) runners on but just couldn’t get them around.”
Before the games even started, the start of the tournament was delayed an hour, and start times were pushed back due to some morning rain that lingered for most of the day. The grounds crew led by Scott Newburn was working hard all day to keep the fields playable by applying turface to soak up some standing water. The tournament also had a 1 hour, 20-minute time limit to keep getting games in. The weather should be much better to play and finish the tournament on Saturday.
Napa is scheduled to finish up the tournament in the consolation tomorrow. By going 1-1, they are essentially guaranteed to be in that part of the bracket. As for the championship, that will be decided by seeding where the No. 1 seed will meet the No. 4 and No. 2 will meet No. 3, with the two winners meeting for the tournament title. On Friday, the other half of the tournament was played at Sonoma Valley. Everyone will be playing in Napa come Saturday. Once the tournament is over, Napa will go back into VVAL play when they host American Canyon on Wednesday at 4 pm.
