Vintage uses ground attack to force issue, kick start offense to beat American Canyon
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thompson (Shamboozled.com)
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Running all over the place can change a game. It applies pressure on the defense and can make a day go from bad to worse.
On Thursday afternoon at Crusher Diamond, this is what the Vintage baseball team did as they beat American Canyon, 13-1, in a five-inning mercy rule Vine Valley Athletic League game.
After all, they stole 4 bags and executed a pair of hit-and-runs as well. This made the offense nearly impossible to stop.
“I didn’t want to sit and wait around,” Vintage skipper Billy Smith explained of the pressure on the bases throughout the game. “I wanted to make things happen and make them play catch.”
However, it also helped that Vintage (5-6 overall, 3-1 VVAL) immediately. It all started at the top of the order when Dario Freschi singled and stole second. Freschi then scored on a single by Ian Fernandez. After swiping second and getting to third on an error, Fernandez came in on a wild pitch. Blake Porter and John Bullock each walked and moved up a base on a wild pitch before scoring on a James Burgess single.
“Well, our bats really got going Tuesday in AC and we carried that momentum at the plate into today’s game,” Vintage senior Noah Piersig said of the fast start on offense. “In today’s game, it got started with Dario just ripping a single and the rest of the guys just did their part and we’ve really been executing.”
In the third, the Crushers scored once more. Bullock was hit by a pitch and Piersig singled to get Bullock to third. When Jack Chiu grounded into a double play, Bullock scored.
Vintage put the game away by assuring it would be a short contest with an eight spot in the fourth. In that inning, they sent 11 men to the plate. Everything started with a Burgess walk Austin Buffler singled and an error allowed Burgess to score while also getting Buffler to second. A Freschi single brought in Buffler. Fernandez singled to put runners at the corners. Blake Porter’s sacrifice fly to right field brought home Freschi. Following a Bullock double to center, there were runners at second and third for Piersig who singled to score Fernandez. Then, a double down the right field line by Chiu scored Bullock and moved Piersig to third. Both of them scored on a single by Burgess. When Joseph Willis reached on an error to get to second and another before being thrown out ag third, Burgess scored to end the onslaught.
Leading the Vintage offensive attack in the game was Burgess (2-for-2 walk, 2 runs scored, 4 RBIs), Bullock (1-for-1 double, walk, 3 runs), Fernandez (2-for-3 2 runs, stolen base, RBI), Freschi (2-for-3 2 runs, stolen base, RBI), Piersig (2-for-3 run, RBI), Buffler (1-for-2 run, stolen base), and Chiu (1-for-3 double, run, RBI).
American Canyon (6-7, 0-2 VVAL) scored their lone run of the game in the first inning. Jaedon Mendoza was hit by a pitch and moved to third when Mason Harris reached on an error. Following a Kamari Antoncich single to load the bases, a single by Andre Lopez brought in Mendoza.
“We came out kind of flat at the top of the first on Tuesday,” American Canyon head coach and manager Matt Brown said of the emphasis to start fast early. “So that was kind of a focus for us is to come out strong. So being able to score first, that was one of our objectives.”
The Wolves also had chances to score where they were unable to get a hit that could have changed the momentum. In the game, American Canyon was 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
“Vintage has a great defensive team, first of all, and I think we only struck out twice this game,” Brown said of the tough time scoring with ducks on the pond. “I have to go back and look but guys putting the ball in play, and they weren’t dropping.”
In the second, Archer Hilsabeck walked and got to second on a single by Dylan Brown. However, the inning ended one at-bat later.
They had another chance in the fourth when Sovann Som reached on an infield single and got to second on an error.
Leading the Wolves at the plate in the game were Harris (2-for-2), Lopez (1-for-2 RBI), Som (1-for-2), Noah Johnson (1-for-2), Antoncich (1-for-3), and Dylan Brown (1-for-3).
Getting the win in the game was Piersig. He hurled 4 innings where he threw just 67 pitches. Piersig also struck out 2 and walked 1 on the way to getting his second winning decision of the season.
“He competes and we’re going to run him every time he gets to throw,” Smith said of Piersig. “We’re going to run him and he competes and we know that we got a guy that’s gonna throw a lot of strikes and go right after hitters and he’s done that every game.”
Piersig was able to keep hitters off balance all day thanks to a strong breaking ball. He also allowed one unearned run.
“I came out a little trouble in the first but managed to get out of it with the double play,” Piersig explained of his day on the hill. “I had a good defense behind me today and trust from my coaches, which definitely helped. But yeah, the curveball was working. I got a couple of guys fooled on that.”
Both teams will continue league play next week. American Canyon will host Casa Grande on Tuesday and Vintage will host Sonoma Valley on Thursday. Both games start at 4 pm.
In other VVAL games on Thursday, Justin-Siena beat Petaluma 2-0 and Sonoma Valley beat Napa 7-2.
