Vintage breaks game open in sixth to beat Napa and earn Big Game sweep as Piersig and Bullock lead the way
By Kyle Foster
Follow on Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Good teams find a way to put games away in the end because the talent level always seems to rise.
On Thursday afternoon at Crusher Diamond, this is what Vintage did when they beat Napa High, 10-0, in a mercy-rule-shortened six-inning Big Game.
The game ended in the bottom of the sixth when the Crushers pushed 7 runs across with 10 batters coming to the plate. Kai Gulliksen singled, Lucas Henry walked, and Austin Buffler reached on a bunt single to load the bases. A walk by Freschi brought in Gulliksen and another walk by Porter brought in Henry. A single to left field by Bullock drove in Buffler and Freschi. Following a John Alcayaga walk, the bases were loaded again for Jack Chiu who brought in Porter. The game ended when Gulliksen ground out to bring in Alcayaga.
“I think everybody was pretty loosened up,” Vintage junior 3B/1B John Bullock said of the big sixth-inning rally. “At this point, we knew that the game was kind of in our hands and hit came after hit. Walk came off to walk and it just kind of followed up with it.”
Before this, it was a pitcher’s duel. In the third, the Crushers (12-8 overall, 8-1 VVAL) opened up the scoring with a run. After Ian Fernandez reached on an error, he stole second to set up Bullock who blooped a single into center field for the game’s first run.
Vintage added two more runs in the fifth to go up 3-0. Dario Freschi singled, Fernandez was hit by a pitch, and Blake Porter singled to load the bases for Bullock. He sent a single to right field to bring in Freschi and Fernandez and extend the lead.
Leading the Vintage offense In the game was Bullock. The junior was 3-for-4 with a run scored, stolen base, 3 singles, and a whopping 5 RBIs. This also made the offense go as he always had runners on in front of him.
“He put the bat on the ball,” Vintage head coach Billy Smith said of Bullock’s game. “They weren’t the hardest hit balls, but they found holes. He got a few ribbies so it’s a good day for John Bullock. He’s been in that situation a lot this year and it’s good to see him be able to come through and have a really good day like this.”
He was able to do this despite not making particularly hard contact, but by hitting the ball where it was pitched.
“I mean, I missed an opportunity in the first inning had some guys on, and struck out,” Bullock explained. “But all day, I was just kind of trying to catch barrels. To be honest, a lot of the times, I was swinging for the fence – the wind was blowing out. I just got caught off-guard with some off speeds and was able to have some jam shots find holes for some RBIs and it was oin the right situation.”
Others helping the offensive cause in the game for Vintage were Freschi (2-for-3 stolen base, walk, RBI, 2 runs), Chiu (2-for-4 RBI), Porter (1-for-3 walk, run, RBI), Buffler (1-for-3 run), and Gulliksen (1-for-4 stolen base, run, RBI).
Napa (8-14, 1-11 VVAL) was in the game until the sixth when things got a bit sloppy. Otherwise, they went toe-to-toe with the league leaders this week.
“Just got a little sloppy,” Napa High interim head coach Dustin Green said of how the game ended. “Started walking guys started letting balls drop that should have been outs and they took advantage.”
The Grizzlies had their chances to get on the scoreboard but were unable to scratch a run across.
In the third, Niko Titolo singled and Diego Hernandez singled to put runners on first and second with one out. But Mason Bartlett crushed a line drive to Bullock at third who threw back to first for an inning-ending double play.
They again threatened in the fourth when Drew Herbert reached on an error and Trent Adams walked to again put runners on first and second with one out. The inning ended on a 4-6-3 double play.
Those hitting for Napa in the game were Titolo (1-for-2) and Hernandez (1-for-2).
Getting the win on the bump for Vintage in the game was Noah Piersig. He was once again fantastic in the game as he struck out 7 and walked just 1. The senior right gave up just a pair of hits and threw 72 pitches for his 5th winning decision of the season.
“It was a difference of this game,” Smith said of Piersig’s performance. “He kept us going even on the 1-0 ballgame. He pitched pitches out of a couple of jams and that’s what he’s done and we needed that game today.”
Piersig was able to wrack up a nice amount of strikeouts in the game thanks to a nasty back-foot-breaking ball.
Taking the loss in the game was Trent Adams who pitched way better than the box score, as he gave his team a shot to win the game. The senior righty worked 5 innings where he struck out 7 and walked 4. He gave up 8 hits and was charged with 7 runs (6 earned) on the day.
“He was excellent today,” Green said of Adam’s effort in the loss. “He’s throwing really hard in the zone, mixing speeds. Their batters did not look comfortable for most of that game. He gave us a good shot to win it. 1-0 ballgame for most of the game and it just got a little sloppy there at the end. But he was really, really great today.”
With the win, Vintage broke a two-year stalemate where both teams split the season series. This is the first Big Game sweep since 2021 when Vintage also won both games.
“It’s good. It’s a community thing, and it brings everybody out,” Smith added. “They’re playing against their buddies and it’s good to go 2-0 on them. They’d want to go 2-0 on us as well. We’re not worried about the sweeping. We’re just worried about the next game and we just want to get it to where we want to be and get it to Tuesday.”
Both teams will finish the regular season next week. Before that, Vintage will visit Sonoma Valley on Friday at 7 pm before hosting Casa Grande on Tuesday at 4 pm as they aim to become the first VVAL baseball champion from Napa County in the league’s history. Napa will have a pair of non-league games beginning with a game against Elite-Vallejo on Monday at 4 pm.
In other VVAL games on Thursday, Casa Grande beat Justin-Siena 2-1 and Petaluma beat American Canyon 8-0.
