After two days of struggling to score runs, NVBC 17s open up offense to beat Community Projects of Napa Crushers in pool play finale
By Kyle Foster
Follow on Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Yountville-Sometimes playing in a game where there’s nothing on the line is a good way to get back to where you need to be.
On Saturday afternoon at Cleve Borman Field, the Napa Valley Baseball Club 17U team beat the Community Projects of Napa Crushers, 12-2, in each team’s final game of pool play in the Bull Buckner Memorial 4th of July Invitational.
Napa Valley Baseball Club (14-7) began the game by scoring four runs right away. It started when Riley Marek singled and stole second, which was followed by Spencer Nelson being walked, and Sam Mauntner being hit by a pitch to load the sacks. A wild pitch allowed Marek to score and Marek to advance to second. Mountner was pinch run for by Sam Beeker who moved to second when a walk to Trace Madigan loaded the bases. A Jake Newman walk brought in Nelson. A single by Caiden Taylor brought in Madigan and Beeker.
“It takes the weight off of you a little bit,” NVBC 17U head coach Gary Newman said of scoring first and what it did for his squad in the game. “We’ve struggled the last few games to put runs on the board. So with the opportunity today to get four early, it just gives them a breath of fresh air and we were able to build from there.”
The NVBC 17s added another four spot in the second to take command of the game. It began when Tommy Malloy walked got to second on a Marek single before getting to third on a wild pitch and scoring on a Nelson single. A groundout by Mauntner brought in Marek and moved Nelson to third before he scored on a wild pitch. After reaching on a fielder’s choice and getting to third on an error, Madigan scored on a single by Newman.
In the third, NVBC added another when Malloy walked and stole second before getting to third on a wild pitch and later scoring on a Marek sacrifice fly.
The game ended in the fifth when NVBC scored three more times. Collin Taylor walked and got to second on a single by Clint Wilsey. A Nelson single brought in Taylor. Cole Joy’s bunt single moved Wilsey to third before he scored on an error, which got Nelson to third. The game ended when J.J. Groff singled home Nelson.
It was a good game for the top of the Napa Valley Baseball Club order. But the leader in that was Spencer Nelson who was 2-for-3 with a walk, 2 RBIs, and 3 runs scored.
Others hitting well for NVBC 17U were Marek (2-for-2 RBI, 2 runs), and Newman (1-for-2 walk, 2 RBIs.
“We didn’t pop the ball up 20 times like we were previously,” Newman explained. “For a few days, we were hitting (the) bottom half and the ball popping up and making easy outs for the. But today we hit the ball on the ground and it found holes and got through and we were moving runners and running bases better. So we were able to put some runs up on the board with seven hits.”
The Community Projects of Napa Crushers scored their only two runs of the game in the second inning. It began when Paul Heil walked and scored when Sumner Eakins roped a triple to center field to bring in Heil. Then a single by Ollin Negrete brought in Eakins.
One of the reasons why they did this was the fact that they were looking for a first-pitch strike.
“I’d say after the first inning we told the guys to be a little bit more of an aggressive approach,” Napa Crushers head coach Andy Griffin said. “Because we were already down the four runs, we got to get runners on. Usually, we like to see what we’re up against pitching-wise and see if they’re throwing strikes.”
Leading the Community Projects Crushers batting attack in the game were Eakins (1-for-3 triple, run, RBI), Negrete (1-for-2 RBI), and Heil (0-for-1 run, 2 walks).
Both teams didn’t qualify for Sunday’s semifinals. Coming in, this game was just about getting a win in the tournament. For NVBC, it was nice to wake the offense up with more games coming up and the offense being quiet for the majority of the tournament.
As for the Crushers, it was a hard tournament due to the fact they had an ever-changing roster each day.
“It just seems sometimes our team, we can play a great couple innings,” Griffin explained. “We can hold teams if we can. When we play right, and I just explained to the guys that we have to play a pretty tight, flawless game and then when we make mistakes, they seem to pile up.”
The teams will meet again at Borman Field on Tuesday at 5:30 pm. It will be a fast rematch and their final meeting of the summer.
