Vintage scores early, takes control in fifth with three runs to beat Napa in first Big Game
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thompson (Shamboozled.com)
Follow on Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Scoring early makes the game a lot easier, especially when you’re facing a rival.
On Tuesday afternoon at Mount Field, this is what Vintage did as they beat Napa, 7-1, in the first Big Game of the season.
The Crushers quickly got an early lead after scoring a run over the first three frames to go up 3-0.
“A lot of us were just out on our front foot and we’re rolling over,” Vintage junior center fielder James Burgess said of the slow start offensively early. “So it really took us sitting back and shooting the other way.”
In the first, Vintage (11-8 overall, 7-1 Vine Valley Athletic League) scored the opening run of the game when Dario Freschi doubled and came in one single by James Burgess.
Their second-inning run came when Austin Buffler singled and stole second and then came in on an Ian Fernandez double that went down the left-field line.
In the third, the run came when Burgess singled and swiped second. A single by Kai Gulliksen brought him in.
“You always want to get on the scoreboard first and we’re able to do that and with with with our lineup, we’re just hoping to put pressure on the room as much as possible,” Vintage head coach Billy Smith explained of the importance of scoring first in the game.
The Crushers put the game away when they finally broke out for three runs in the fifth. It all started when John Bullock doubled to the left-center gap and came around to score when Burgess doubled to right-center. A Miles Tenscher single brought in Burgess. On that same play, Tenscher got to second on an error and later scored on a Miles Henry double.
“It was huge,” Burgess said of the importance of the three runs in the fifth. “ It let Joe (Willis) have a little bit of insurance on the mound. We were kind of keeping that close there for a bit and I think we should have pulled away a little earlier.”
Leading the Vintage offense in the game was Burgess (2-for-4 double, RBI, 2 runs, 3 stolen bases), Gulliksen (2-for-4 double, run, RBI), Buffler (1-for-3 run, stolen base), Bullock (1-for-3 double, run, RBI), Freschi (1-for-3), Tenscher (1-for-4 run, 2 RBIs), Henry (1-for-4 double, RBI), Fernandez (1-for-5 double, RBI), and Jack Chiu (1-for-1).
Napa (8-13, 1-10 VVAL) scored their lone run of the game in the third inning. It all started when Niko Titolo walked and advanced to third following a pair of balks. He then came in on a Drew Herbert groundout.
“If we can cut down on strikeouts and just put the ball in play hit the ball on the ground, put the pressure on the defense, get guys on, capitalize on mistakes like the balks today, we’re giving ourselves a chance to win,” Napa High interim head coach Dustin Green said of the lone run where his team scored by just making contact.
Getting the win in the game was Joseph Willis. He worked 4 innings where he struck out 5 and walked 2. The righty also gave up just two hits and an earned run while throwing 64 pitches for his 5th win of the season.
“Again, he was playing against his buddies. A little nervous at first,” Smith said of WIllis outing on the bump. “The mound was a little different for him. So he struggled with that a little bit. But he slowed the game down and started pumping a lot of strikes.”
Taking the loss in the game was Dylan Chatham. He worked 4 innings on the day where he walked 3 and struck out 1. The junior righty was able to be effective by using his defense in the game.
“Dylan has shown so much growth this year, man,” Green said of Chatham’s growth on the mound. “Today, he was mixing speeds well, most importantly, he’s in the zone for us. They put some good swings on the ball. But when it’s all said and done, they, they were able to find some holes and you know, hats off to them. They put together some good at-bats, but we’re really happy with what we saw from Dylan today.”
With the win, Vintage extends their Big Game winning on the road to 5. This means they have won every game of this series on the road since the VVAL started.
“This is a big goal,” Smith said of the streak on their rivals field. “You want to come over to their park and in our town and you want to win on their park.”
The two teams will meet again on Thursday at 4 pm at Vintage in game 2 of the series.
In other VVAL games on Tuesday, Justin-Siena beat Casa Grande 2-1 and Petaluma beat American Canyon 1-0.
