Vintage gets great game from top of order to beat American Canyon, pick up first VVAL win in crazy weather game
By Kyle Foster
Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When the top of the lineup is producing, it will be a good day. After all, these are the guys you want to produce runs, and when they do that, it seems to make its way through the whole lineup.
On Tuesday afternoon at Crusher Field, host Vintage did this as they beat American Canyon, 12-2, in a Vine Valley Athletic League contest.
The Crushers (5-5 overall, 1-1 VVAL) began the game by scoring four times to take an early lead. It all began when Blake Porter doubled to the right-center gap and then moved to third on a single by Riley Marek. A sacrifice fly to center field brought in Porter and allowed Marek to tag to second base. Runners were on first and second after Bo Lode was hit by a pitch. Then, Hayden Hulquist sent a double down the right field line, which brought in Marek and got Lode to third. A Sam Mautner single then brought home Lode and Hulquist.
Vintage added two more in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead. The rally started when Porter hit a double off the right field fence, got to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on a Marek single. When John Bullock reached on an error and was given second, Marek scored after the ball was dead and he was awarded the extra base.
The Crushers then tallied three more in the fifth. Diego Hernandez walked and then moved to second base when Lucas Henry walked to put runners at first and second with one out. Another Porter double brought in Hernandez and got Henry to third. Marek’s single then brought in Henry. A Bullock sacrifice fly to center brought in Porter.
In the sixth inning, Vintage scored three more times to end the game. Holquist walked and then scored on a double to right center by Mautner. A Sawyer Carmichel single brought home Mautner. Carmichael then advanced to third on a wild pitch and passed ball before scoring on a Marek single.
It was a great day at the plate for Porter, who led the offense with three doubles, a walk, and an RBI on the way to a nice 3-for-4 day at the plate. He was also batting in the leadoff spot after Dario Freschi was unavailable due to an injury.
“I changed my stance so I’m fully open, and it’s quicker for me to get to the ball,” Porter said of his great day at the plate. “And I’ve been working with Michael Crandell, and Billy’s BP has definitely been helping as well, seeing live (batting practice) almost every single day, and just swinging it and staying hot. That’s the main thing that we’ve been doing.”
Porter hadn’t batted leadoff in a while. But his ability to always have a good approach and great athleticism made him the obvious choice to slide up to the leadoff spot.
“I hit leadoff like when I was 14U and I’ve been doing it for a long time,” Porter added. “So just the movement, I just had to adjust really quick and just get back to myself and stay within myself.”
Also having a nice day in the two spot was Marek who was 4-for-5 with a stolen base, 2 runs scored, and 3 RBIs in the game.
“Every at-bat I know he’s going to make contact and he put the ball in play,” Vintage head coach Billy Smith said of Marek. “We needed to fill a spot, and he was that guy to fill in for Porter (in the two spot).”
Others helping the offense were Mautner (3-for-4 double, run, 3 RBIs), Carmichael (2-for-4 run, RBI, double), Bullock (1-for-2 2 RBIs), and Hulquist (1-for-3 walk, double, run, RBI).
Getting the win in the game on the bump for the Crushers was Bullock. He worked 5 strong innings where he walked 4 and struck out 2. The senior righty also gave up 1 run on just 2 hits with 72 pitches. This also moved his season record to 3-1.
“He just throws strikes and he competes,” Smith explained. “Especially in a day like that today, he was perfect for this situation. He was just gonna fill up the cup and let the chips fall where they fall.”
As for American Canyon (5-7, 0-1 VVAL), they scored their first run of the game in the fifth when Sovann Som walked and got to second on a groundout before scoring on a single by Dylan Brown. In that at-bat, Brown worked the count and fouled off numerous pitches before getting the key hit with two outs.
“It was a great battle,” American Canyon head coach Matt Brown said of his son Dylan’s key at-bat to get the Wolves on the board. “He struck out on a high pitch the at-bat before, and so I think he kind of figured on what the strategy was for him. He just battled, fouled a lot of pitches off, and was able to punch one through.”
In the sixth, Noah Johnson reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second before scoring when Kaden Roberts reached on an error.
Leading the Wolves offense in the game was Mason Harris (1-for-2) and Brown (1-for-3, RBI).
The teams will meet again on Thursday at 4 pm in American Canyon.
