Haven’s complete game effort, four-run first inning lead Vintage past Santa Rosa
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Scoring some early runs puts everybody at ease. It also makes it so that your pitcher can just go out there and throw freely. No matter how you slice it, this is a good thing.
On a rather brisk Monday afternoon at Crusher Field, the hosts jumped out to an early lead and paired it with a great performance on the bump as they beat Santa Rosa, 5-0, in a rare non-league contest in the midst of the league schedule.
The Crushers (6-10) started fast with a four-run inning in the first. It all started when Carson McCaffrey singled on a ball that didn’t reach the outfield but was in between the pitcher and then stole second. John Bullock walked and was safe at second when Ian Fernandez reached on a fielder’s choice. A sacrifice fly to right field by Carson Hall brought in McCaffrey from third. Then, Noah Piersig singled and brought in Bullock who had tagged up to third on the sacrifice fly. A Jefferey Page groundout brought in Fernandez who got to third on the Piersig single. Finally, a single back up the middle by Alec DeHaro brought in Piersig after he advanced to second on the throw on his single.
“They just went up, made the simple plan, see a pitch and be aggressive, and they got it,” Vintage head coach and manager Billy Smith said of the first inning, where his team put a four spot on the board. “We snuck a couple through the 5-6 holes and a couple up the middle, had a couple (of) stolen bases, and it kinda just set us up for the rest of the day.”
Vintage scored their only other run in the fourth when Lucas Avina was hit by a pitch and then stole second before tagging up to third on a flyout by Bullock and then scoring on a wild pitch.
The Crushers were able to force the issue on the bases in this one as well. After all, they swiped a total of 5 bags in this one.
“It was just reading the game,” Smith said of the stolen bases. “Their pitcher, he wasn’t quick to the dish so we had a read on him and the kids, it was on them. If they have the read, they’re free to go.”
In the game, the Crusher offensive attack was led by McCaffrey who was 2-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base. In the last few games, the junior has been a catalyst for the Crushers since moving to the leadoff spot.
“We were looking for somebody to be aggressive,” Smith said of what McCaffrey has brought to the leadoff spot. “We needed to get somebody with an extra bat up there and he was down below, getting a lot of good swings down there. So I decided to give him give him a shot being a leadoff so we’re just trying to we’re still trying to find our knack on where we fit in our lineups We thought we had stuff what we were gonna go with but as you know, things change and we’re still looking for that ideal lead off, man.”
Others who had nice games for Vintage at the plate were Piersig (1-for-2 walk, stolen base, run, RBI), DeHaro (1-for-2 RBI), Bullock (1-for-2 walk, stolen base, run), Fernandez (1-for-3 stolen base, run), Pacheco (1-for-3), and Noah Lustig (1-for-1).
Santa Rosa (7-13) didn’t have many chances to score in the game as well. They only had seven base runners the whole game and were unable to bring any of them in. They also only got one runner in scoring position in the whole game.
Getting the win on the hill for the Crushers in the game was Carter Haven. The senior right-hander threw a complete game shutout striking out 6 and walking 2 in the game. He also gave up just 5 hits on 94 pitches to earn his second winning decision of the campaign.
“Well actually lately I haven’t been throwing many strikes,” Haven explained of what worked in his complete game effort. “So today I just took some off and just let them hit it and good things are happening today my defense is behind me did a great job.”
Haven was able to work the whole game due to keeping the hitters guessing with his cutter, which led to a plethora of ground ball outs and weak contact.
“It’s my best pitch,” Haven said of his cutter. “I love throwing it and it gets ground balls and it’s soft contact and I just It’s my go-to bread and butter.”
The senior also gave the Crushers exactly what they needed by throwing a complete game. By doing so, he saved much-needed pitching for the end of the week when the Crushers have a stretch of three games in three days.
On that note, Vintage will be back in action on Thursday afternoon at 4 when they visit Napa in the second Big Game of the season. In the first Big Game on April 1st, Napa beat Vintage 3-2.
