After huge rallies in first and third innings, Justin-Siena rolls past Napa to get back on track in league play
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thompson (Shamboozled.com)
Follow on Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Every once in a while a good comfortable win is needed. It helps a team go back and just play the game.
On Tuesday afternoon at Braves Diamond, this is what Justin-Siena did as they rolled by Napa High, 17-1, in a Vine Valley Athletic League contest.
The Braves (11-5 overall, 4-3 VVAL) opened up the game by scoring 7 runs in the first to take control of the contest. In that inning, they sent 13 batters to the plate. Everet Johnson doubled to right-center and was followed by Jake Fletcher getting hit by a pitch and Sam Denkin walking to load the bases. A single by Henry Meyers brought in Johnson and Fletcher. Jason Gray was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Ben Sebastiani who roped a three-RBI triple to right-center to bring in Denkin, Meyers, and Gray. A wild pitch brought in Sebastiani. After reaching on wild pitch on a strikeout, Drew Sangicomo scored when Fletcher was hit by a pitch.
“Yeah, proud of our guys for turning the page,” Justin-Siena head coach Jeremy Tayson said of the fast start his team had. “We talk a lot about not making things more than it is and you know, we played the game of baseball today came out hungry, made a couple (of) changes in our lineup construction and that paid off I think the guys enjoyed kind of the shuffling.”
Justin-Siena scored two more runs in the second. Meyers tripled to right-center and scored on a wild pitch. Sebastiani singled and stole second and third before scoring on a double to right field by Drew Sangiacomo.
The game got out of hand in the third when the Braves added on seven more runs to all but put the game away. Johnson singled and later scored on a single by Giusto. Then Denkin was hit by a pitch and Meyers walked to load the bases for Gray who doubled to bring in Denkin and Clin Wisely who ran for Giusto. A groundout by Sebastiani brought in Tommy Malloy who ran for Meyers. Sangiacomo singled to bring in Gray. A Johnson single brought in Braeden Butler who ran for Sangiacomo. The last run scored when Johnson scored on a wild pitch.
In the fourth, the Braves scored once more when Fletcher walked and was run for by Griffin Messenger. A single by Sumner Eakins then brought in Messenger after he advanced to third on a single by Spencer Nelson and Malloy reached on a fielder’s choice.
Leading the Braves offensive attack in the game were Meyers (2-for-2 triple, walk, 2 RBIs, 2 runs), Eakins (1-for-1 RBI), Nelson (1-for-1), Sangiacomo (2-for-3 double, run, 3 RBIs), Johnson (2-for-3 double, stolen base, RBI, 2 runs), Sebastiani (2-for-4 triple, 2 stolen bases, 2 runs, 4 RBIs), Gray (1-for-2 double, 2 runs, 2 RBIs), and Giusto (1-for-3 RBI).
“The emphasis today offensively was (to) be aggressive in the zone,” Tayson explained. “And if the ball is in play, we’re running hard. We’re running hard. So our guys really bought into that and obviously, the results were good today.”
Napa (6-12, 0-9 VVAL) scored their lone run of the game in the fourth. Trent Adams singled and got to third following a pair of wild pitches. He then came in when Francisco Robinson reached on an error.
“After we got through those first two innings, our offense started to click a little bit more,” Napa interim head coach Dustin Green explained of the lone run in the fourth. “We started to get a little momentum, (and) took much better at-bats.”
Getting the win on the hill for Justin-Siena was Giusto. The senior right-hander worked 3 frames where he struck out 8 and walked 1. He gave up just one hit and threw 49 pitches.
“My main focus today was really just throwing strikes and letting my defense do what they could do,” Giusto explained of his focus coming in. “But I mean, they didn’t really need to do much today when I was pitching. I’d say had a pretty good day out there, but it’s nice.”
He was able to fan 8 of the 11 batters he faced by having a nasty curveball that kept hitters off balance to get his third winning decision of the season.
“It’s like probably one of my most dominant pitches,” Giusto said of the bender. “I don’t throw that the hardest, but I have a movement on my side, I can say. My changeup, curveball, (and) all my breaking ball pitches were really working today, which is nice. So I could set those up with my fastball.”
Nelson worked the final two innings of the game. He struck out 2 and allowed a pair of hits. He also gave up an unearned run while throwing 34 pitches.
“Spencer is a really live arm he’s got three or four plus pitches,” Tayson pointed out. “He’s getting thrown into the fire right here being eligible right when VVAL starts, which is good because it’s forcing him to get better in a competitive environment that this league is and today he gave us two solid innings and had a nice base hit to boot so good day for him.”
The teams will meet again for game 2 of the series on Thursday at 4 pm at Mount Field on the Napa High campus. The win by Justin-Siena also snaps a two-game losing streak where Napa had beaten them on the road.
In the other VVAL games on Tuesday, American Canyon beat Sonoma Valley 8-4 and Petaluma beat Casa Grande 9-5.
