Justin-Siena gets offense going behind four home runs, uses monster fifth inning to beat Sonoma Valley in offensive thriller
By Kyle Foster
Follow on Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Fundamental baseball is always nice to watch. But hitting the ball all over the yard is one heck of an attention grabber.
On Thursday afternoon at Braves Diamond, this is what Justin-Siena did as they beat Sonoma Valley, 15-5, in a Vine Valley Athletic League contest.
In all, Justin-Siena hit a whopping four homers in the game, with them hitting three homers in four batters as well. The power is something that has always been there but Thursday was a true showcase of the power up-and-down the lineup. They now have 9 homers on the season as well.
“We’re blessed,” Justin-Siena junior catcher Jake Fletcher said of the power on the team. “All these guys are dogs. I trust everybody one through 16. We’ve all been working, we’ve been putting the time in the weight room and everything. We know what we can do, we know who we are. When it’s time to show we show and I trust everybody having each other’s backs and I mean we proved that we have each other’s back. We kept pulling through.”
The rally started when Fletcher hit his second home run of the season in the third inning as part of a key four-run rally that gave Justin-Siena a 5-4 lead.
“I was looking for a low fastball,” Fletcher said of his long ball that got the offense going. “Both times I got it and I didn’t want to waste any time on the other stuff. I was just looking for the fastball and that’s what I got and I made them pay for it.”
Following that, Henry Meyers came up and hit another homer over the left-field fence. This was his first homer of the season.
After a Luke Giusto single, Sam Denkin came to the plate and roped a 2-run homer again to left field that gave the Braves a key 5-4 lead.
“I saw some guys get tested man and we’re in a brutal league as you know, and it seemed that they were prepared to handle a couple of punches and for them to come out on the other end of that with their heads up high,” Justin-Siena head coach Jeremy Tayson said of fight his team showed to come back. “Take one bite at a time, as we like to say, and that type rang through real loud and clear.”
However, Justin-Siena (6-2 overall, 2-0 VVAL) began the game with a powerful jolt as well. In the bottom of the first, Noah Giovannelli roped a solo shot to right center that gave the hosts a 1-0 lead. It was his second long ball of the season as well.
“I think some people might think he’s an unconventional leadoff hitter just by looking at him,” Tayson said of Giovannelli. “But the other part of it is he’s a good hitter. He’s one of our better base runners and the jolt he gives us, he’s team first, and that was the assignment we’ve given him and he dove in and made good things happen.”
The Braves ended the game in the fifth where they scored 9 times to walk off as winners. In that inning, they sent 11 men to the plate. It all started when Meyers walked, Giusto singled, and Denkin singled to load the bases. Following a bunt by Braeden Butler where Meyers was out at the plate, the bases remained loaded for Ben Sebastiani who singled and brought in Giusto. A Jason Gray single brought in Denkin and Butler. Then, Giovannelli walked and Everet Johnson was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Fletcher who brought everyone in on a triple. Meyers then walked again and stole second for Giusto who brought them in on a game-ending single.
In the contest, Fletcher was 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a triple, 2 runs scored, and 4 RBIs.
“I was trying to stay composed,” Fletcher explained of his day where he got two legs of the cycle. “ I was all amped up. Just hit a home run. We were needing a clutch situation here. I was just trying to calm my nerves (and) breathe through it. I hit that one to the fence and I was thinking double out of the box.”
All this comes after he put the offense on his back in the Braves’ 2-0 win over Sonoma Valley on Tuesday.
“I was feeling really good this week coming out,” he said. “I was excited. First League openers, like I was all hyped. I’ve been working a lot this past week with coaches and all my swing first swings with the new bat too. Broke my last one.”
Others hitting for the Braves in the game were Denkin (2-for-3 walk, double, home run, 2 runs, 4 RBIs), Gray (2-for-3 double, run, RBI), Giusto (2-for-4 2 runs), Giovannelli (1-for-3 walk, home run, RBI, 2 runs), Sebastiani (1-for-3 run, RBI), and Meyers (1-for-1 3 walks, 2 runs, stolen base, home run, RBI).
Sonoma Valley (4-4, 0-2 VVAL) jumped out to a 4-1 lead thanks to a big second inning where they scored 4 times with 9 batters coming to the plate. It all started when Hudson Giarritta, Anthony DeTorres, and Max Harrison all singled to load the sacks. On a wild pitch, Giarritta scored and everyone else moved up a base. Then, Elias Colmenares singled to bring in DeTorres and move Harrison to third. A single by Beau Jurasek brought in Harrison and got Colmenares to third. Following an Austin Hughes single, the bases were again loaded for Nicolas Sebastiani who walked and brought in Colmenares.
The Dragons scored their final run of the game to get within a run at 6-5 in the fifth when Giarritta tripled to right center and scored on a single by DeTorres.
Getting the win on the bump was Griffin Messenger. Over 3 ⅓ innings of work, he walked 3 and struck out 2. He also allowed one earned run on 58 pitches. This was his longest outing since he’s come back from an internal bracing procedure on his right elbow. It was also the second winning decision of the season for the sophomore righty.
“Griffin even if he didn’t have his best stuff, he competed and that’s what baseball is man,” Tayson said of Messenger’s effort. “You don’t ever feel at your best. So when you’re being challenged, how do I respond? And he responded by keeping us in the game long enough for us to break it open.”
Both teams are scheduled to play non-league games on Saturday before jumping back into VVAL play next Tuesday. On Saturday, Justin-Siena is supposed to host Lick-Wilmerding of San Francisco at 1 pm and Sonoma Valley is supposed to visit Campolindo in Moraga at 2 pm. Both could be impacted by weather. In league play next week, Justin-Siena will visit Petaluma on Tuesday, and Sonoma Valley will visit Napa at 4 p.m.
In other VVAL games on Thursday, Vintage beat Petaluma 4-1 and Casa Grande beat Napa 10-0.
