Vintage’s offense comes to life in second time through order to beat American Canyon
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
A disciplined approach at the plate can lead to some big numbers from time to time. That’s part of the reason top teams hit so well, to go along with being able to adjust to a pitcher on the fly.
On Friday afternoon at the Vintage softball field, the Crushers showed how this approach has been working for them all year as they beat American Canyon, 10-5, in a Vine Valley Athletic League contest between two of the league’s top four squads.
In the third, Vintage (14-8 overall, 8-2 VVAL) fought back to gain the lead in the third where they scored three times to gain a 3-1 edge. It all started when Desiree Griffith walked and got to third on a well-executed hit-and-run by Audrey Manley that put runners at the corners. A single by Rubalcava then brought in Griffith. Rubalcava got to second after Cienne Alvarez walked and then both advanced on a wild pitch. An infield single by Ava Raines brought in Rubalcava and moved Alvarez to third before she scored on a wild pitch.
“We’re always talking about making adjustments and seeing pitches,” Vintage head coach and manager Megan Lopez explained. “We are a team that likes to see as many pitches in our first time through the lineup as possible. So see pitches and then (in the) second at-bat we get aggressive.”
This continued a long streak where Vintage makes an adjustment the second time through the order, which leads to all the runs being scored.
“I think good hitters make adjustments very quickly,” Rubalcava said as to why the team starts stringing together hits after seeing the opposing pitcher once. “And I think my team is all great hitters. So I think that’s what we did.”
The Crushers added another run in the fourth by using some small ball. Emily Vanderbilt walked and then stole second. She got to third on a sacrifice bunt by Griffith and then scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Taylor Lauritsen.
Finally, Vintage blew the game wide open with a six-run outburst in the sixth. Devin Viruet and Vanderbilt began the inning with back-to-back walks and moved up a base on a wild pitch and Lauritsen singled to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Manley singled in Viruet and Vanderbilt and got Lauritsen to third before she came in on a wild pitch. After Rubalcava walked to put runners at second and third, Alvarez put an exclamation point on the inning by roping her first home run of the season to center field over the scoreboard to give Vintage a 10-1 lead. The homer was the first one of the campaign for Alvarez and the first of her high school career.
“She’s just on a roll,” Lopez said of Alvarez who is the cleanup hitter and is hitting a whopping .508 on the season. “She’s seeing the ball well, hitting the ball hard. We have this mentality right now that we’re passing the bat, pass the bat. So it basically means that every girl on our team can hit the ball with power right now so pass the bat.”
Leading the offensive attack for the Crushers in the game was Manley (3-for-4 run scored, 2 RBIs), Raines (2-for-4 stolen base, RBI), Rubalcava (1-for-2 2 runs, RBI), Dessiana Garcia (1-for-2), Alvarez (1-for-3 home run, stolen base, 2 runs, 3 RBIs), and Lauritsen (1-for-3 run, RBI).
The Wolves (12-7, 6-5 VVAL) started the game strong by scoring the first run of the game in the first. It all started when Deja Montgomery singled and stole second. A double down the right field line by Jaida Fulcher brought in Montgomery.
American Canyon then made the game interesting in the seventh when they came to life and pushed across four runs. Alexandria Yra walked and got to second on a single by Kylee Sandino before they both moved up a base on a wild pitch. A single by Fulcher brought in Yra and moved Sandino to third. Fulcher was run for by Delia Lobao who then swiped second before a single by Hannah Wildes brought in Sandino and Lobao. Lastly, a double into the left-center gap brought in Wildes.
“They have two choices,” American Canyon head coach and skipper Roger Harris said of the seventh inning, where his team made the game respectable. “They either roll over give up or they can continue to battle and they continued to battle and they were able to score some runs.”
However, the Wolves had a major chance to change the game when the bases were loaded with just 1 out in the fifth but were unable to score. In that inning, Yra walked, and then Sandino reached by way of a single, and Montgomery walked to load the sacks. But in the next two at-bats, they came up empty to end the inning.
American Canyon was led at the plate by Montgomery. The freshman shortstop went 2-for-3 with a walk, stolen base, and a run scored. She has been a rally starter for the Wolves all season long batting from the second spot in the lineup.
“Well her job is to move runners along and when she gets on base, we use her speed,” Harris said of the freshman shortstop’s abilities. “She is a freshman so she’s learning at the varsity level. So we expect her to make things happen with her speed and moving runners over.”
Others having nice days at the plate for American Canyon were Sandino (2-for-4 run), Fulcher (2-for-4 double, 2 RBIs), Wildes (1-for-4 2 RBIs), and Zeneya Terrell (1-for-4 double, RBI).
Rubalcava worked 6 ⅓ innings where she struck out 8 and walked 4. The sophomore right-handed hurler threw 128 pitches where she gave up 5 runs, all of which were earned on 8 hits on the way to getting her fifth winning decision of the season.
“My defense had my back,” Rubalcava said as to how she was so dominant for most of the day. “I mean pitches were working in the first six innings I think and if I did make a mistake I would correct it out there and just bring it I guess and I just felt I felt comfortable. I like when we play a home game.”
Garcia worked the final ⅔ of an inning to end the game for Vintage. She threw just 10 pitches to get the last two outs and walked one.
All season long, Garcia has been someone the Crushers have paired with Rubalcava because she’s a change of pace.
“Dessi is phenomenal,” Lopez said of Garcia who recorded the final two outs. “She is definitely a change of pace from Angie. So we like to mix it up and try to throw some batters off balance.”
Both teams will continue league play next week with 4 pm games. Vintage will visit Petaluma on Wednesday and American Canyon will host Napa on Friday. Before that, the Wolves will have a pair of games on Saturday where they face Califonia of San Ramon and Castro Valley. Those games are at 1:20 and 3 in the Antioch Rotary Tournament.
Vintage last beat Petaluma 3-2 on April 2nd and American Canyon beat Napa 14-0 on April 12th.
The only other VVAL game on Friday saw Petaluma beat Justin-Siena 13-1. You can view the league standings here.
