Justin-Siena stays hot on offense, gets great outing from Messenger to beat St. Helena and stay unbeaten
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Shelby Padgett
Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
A potent offense paired with solid pitching is a good combination to win baseball games at any level.
On Thursday afternoon, Justin-Siena showed off this combination as they beat St. Helena 8-1 at Braves Ballpark.
The Braves (3-0) began the game by scoring a pair of runs in the first inning. It all began when Tommy Malloy singled and got to second on a Noah Giovannelli single. A flyout by Jake Fletcher allowed Malloy to tag to third before Giovannelli swiped second to put runners in scoring position. A Drew Sangiacomo sacrifice fly to center brought in Malloy and moved Giovannelli to third on a tag-up. A wild pitch then allowed Giovannelli to come in.
Justin-Siena added another pair of runs in the second. Spencer Nelson singled and then moved to second on a wild pitch before scoring on a Braeden Butler single. A sacrifice bunt by Peter Trovich moved Butler to second and then he swiped third and came into score on a Malloy single.
In the third, the Braves scored twice more to go up 6-0. Sangiacomo reached on an error that got him to second and then scored on a Henry Meyers sacrifice fly to center. Xiano Ortega reached on an error and stole second. He then tagged up on a flyout by Nelson before scoring on a wild pitch.
In the fourth, Justin-Siena tallied one more when Malloy singled and stole second. On the steal, he advanced to third when the throw went into center field. He then scored on a Fletcher sacrifice fly to center.
The Braves scored one more time in the sixth when Butler reached on an infield single and was run for by Cameron Beeker who stole second and third. A Malloy single brought in Beeker.
By scoring in the first four innings of the game, Justin-Siena has scored in 14 straight innings dating back to the 13-0 win over Wood last week. They have also scored in 15 of the 16 innings so far this season.
“We really try to break things down into seven to one-inning games,” Justin-Siena head coach Jeremy Tayson said of the impressive streak on offense to start the year. “So that’s really how we see it and try to keep things manageable.”
Leading the offensive attack in the game was Malloy (3-for-3 2 stolen bases, run scored, RBI), Butler (2-for-2 walk, run, RBI), Giovannelli (2-for-4 stolen base, run), and Nelson (1-for-3 run).
The Saints (2-1) had chances to score in the game but didn’t score their lone run until the seventh. Matthew Larrabee walked and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches before scoring on a passed ball.
Getting the win in the game was junior right-hander Griffin Messenger. He worked 5 solid innings striking out 7 and walking just 1. He also allowed 2 hits on 63 pitches.
“Really, my sinker is my key to success today,” Messenger explained of his outing. “But I got to be selfless here and say that my defense was the key to key to really winning. Any pitches I missed that was hit, they got my back.”
Working with a lead also allowed Messenger to pitch and the tempo he wanted and control the game.
“I can fool around with my pitches,” Messenger said of pitching with a nice lead and how it changes his mentality. “I can trust myself knowing that my team has my back, especially on the offensive side of things and on the defensive side of things. Around here, our team has a great chemistry, and we all have each other’s backs. So that’s how we can be so confident, up on the mound, up at the plate, in our positions, anywhere.”
Working in relief was sophomore Connor Zuehlsdorff who finished the final 2 innings. He struck out 5 and walked 4 while allowing a run on 45 pitches.
“Yeah, Connor certainly has a varsity profile,” Tayson added. “And for him to get his feet wet and have to close out a game was just awesome for him. We welcome adversity for our guys on the field because it forces them to persist and resist through different sorts of challenges and get better for it. So it was awesome for him to to get his feet wet and have to close out a game for us.”
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday. Justin-Siena will visit Windsor at 1 p.m., and St. Helena will host Borean Christian—Walnut Creek at 2 p.m.
