Sonoma Valley gets key hit in fourth to beat Vintage in a pitcher’s duel, as both offenses squander many chances to score in game
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
In a pitcher’s duel, any mistake is magnified. That can range from hitting with runners in scoring position to making the right pitch and fielding the ball. You have to do everything right.
On top of that, Vine Valley Athletic League games are already wars no matter where a team is in the standings. So it should come as no surprise that Thursday’s game at Crusher Field was a pitcher’s duel in which Sonoma Valley edged past host Vintage, 1-0, in a game that both teams needed to win.
Sonoma Valley (8-9 overall, 1-6 VVAL) scored the lone run of the game in the fourth. It started when Nicolas Scevola reached on a fielder’s choice and got to second when Grant Kiser grounded out to first. Then, Grant Boydell sent a single right back up the middle into center field to bring in Scevola.
The Dragons had a few other chances to score in the game, which they didn’t capitalize on. In the first, Nicolas Sebastiani tripled into left-center and the ball one-hopped to the fence. But in the next at-bat, Andrew Bongfigi flew out to end the opportunity.
Sonoma Valley also threatened in the third when Beau Jurasek singled and Hudson Giarritta reached on an error to put runners on first and second, with two outs. Sebastiani grounded out to end the chance there.
Finally, in the fifth, the Dragons had another chance to score. Donovan Balderrama reached on an infield single and got to second on a sacrifice bunt by Max Harrison. Balderrama moved to third when Giarritta walked, with the final pitch of the at-bat being a wild pitch. However, Sebestiani then popped out to second base to end the threat.
The Dragons’ offensive attack was led by Boydell (1-for-3 RBI), Bongfigi (1-for-3), Jurasek (1-for-3), Balderrama (1-for-3), and Sebastiani (1-for-3). They were 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position and stranded a total of 5 runners on base in the game.
Vintage also had its own opportunities to score throughout the game. However, they were unable to get the key hit.
“I think we made several hard contacts in this game and the ball stayed up for an extra second,” Vintage skipper Billy Smith said of the bad luck his team had after having chances to score. “They made great plays. We hit three hard-hit balls, one to right, (and) two to center. And these 5-6 holes, they’re outs. If things are going good, that’s when things get through. When things aren’t going good, that gets caught they make the play a third it’s just a game. It’s baseball. And again, the hardest thing is you got to keep grinding and show up tomorrow and get after it.”
In the first, Ian Fernandez walked and Sam Gomez singled to set up runners on first and second with two outs before Carson Hall grounded out to second to end the inning.
Then, the Crushers (4-10, 1-5 VVAL) had another chance in the second when Alec DeHaro singled and got to third on a Kai Gulliksen single to put runners on the corners. A McCaffrey flyout to center ended the threat.
Vintage had another chance in the fourth when DeHaro singled and got to second when the left fielder bobbled the ball. But Jacob Fiene grounded out to end that threat.
Maybe the best chance to put a number on the board came in the sixth when Sam Gomez walked and was pinch-ran for by Lucas Avina, then Hall was hit by a pitch and ran for by Grant Menzel. On a Jefferey Page flyout to right field, Avina tagged and moved to third but was stranded there when DeHaro flew out to end the inning.
Finally, in the seventh, it looked like the Crushers were primed for a walk-off when Gabe Pacheco was hit by a pinch and Gulliksen reentered the game to run, and then McCaffrey singled to put runners on first and second. John Bullock grounded into a fielder’s choice that go Gulliksen out at third and was the second out of the inning. Fernandez then grounded into another fielder’s choice to end the game.
In the game, the Crushers were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded a total of 9 runners on base.
Leading the Vintage batting attack in the game were DeHaro (2-for-3), Gomez (1-for-2 walk), and McCaffrey (1-for-4).
Getting the win in the game for Sonoma Valley was Scevola. The junior right-hander worked 5 ⅓ innings walking 2 and striking out 1. He also allowed just 4 hits on 63 pitches.
Julian Brenek earned the save for the Dragons. He worked the final 1 ⅔ innings of the game allowing just a hit on 21 pitches.
Taking a tough loss in the game for the Crushers was Noah Piersig. The junior righty worked a complete game where he struck out 3 and walked 1. He gave up an earned run and just 5 hits while throwing just 75 pitches.
“Hey, that’s what he does every time he goes out on the mound,” Smith said of Piersig. “He gives us six strong innings. He went seven today. Again, we don’t have enough run support.”
Both teams will have an off day before returning to action on Saturday. Sonoma Valley will travel once again as they’ll visit Vacaville at 2 pm. Meanwhile, Vintage will have another home game on Saturday at 11 am when they host American Canyon.
In other VVAL action Thursday, American Canyon beat Casa Grande 14-4 and Petaluma beat Napa 11-2. You can view the updated league standings here.
