Massive rally in sixth leads Vintage past Napa for Big Game sweep to move back into fourth spot in league standings
By Kyle Foster
Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
So much of baseball is just battling because eventually you’ll break through. It’s also not supposed to be easy.
On Thursday afternoon at Mount Field, this is what Vintage did as they beat Napa, 8-1, to earn a Big Game sweep and move into 4th place in the Vine Valley Athletic League standings.
Vintage (11-10 overall, 5-5 VVAL) finally had the offense come to life in the sixth inning, where they scored 8 times. It began when John Bullock singled and Sam Mautner walked and was run for by James Neidhoefer. When Riley Marek reached on an error, Bullock scored with Neidhoefer getting to third on the bad throw and Marek to second. After Parker Dahl loaded the sacks with a walk, a single by Diego Hernandez brought in Neidhoefer and Marek. That was followed by a walk to Lucas Henry to load the bases again for Blake Porter, who reached on an infield single and brought in Dahl. Dario Freschi’s single brought in Hernandez and Henry. A groundout by Bullock brought in Porter. Lastly, a double by Sawyer Carmichael brought in Freschi.
Leading the Crushers’ offense in the game were Freschi (2-for-4, triple, run, RBI), Porter (2-for-4, stolen base, run, RBI), Hernandez (1-for-2, walk, run, 2 RBIs), Dahl (1-for-2, stolen base, run), Carmichael (1-for-3, walk, run), and Bullock (1-for-4, run, RBI).
Getting the win in the game was Soren DeYoung. The senior righty worked 2 innings, where he allowed a hit and struck out 2. He threw 25 pitches on the way to getting his 6th win of the year.
Making a spot start and keeping his squad in the game was Travis Larsen. Even though the junior righty came away with a no-decision, he struck out 4 and walked 3. Larsen also gave up a hit and an unearned run while throwing 79 pitches over 4 innings.
He was able to be so effective by getting the fastball over for a strike right away. From there, it’s easy to manage a count when you’re ahead.
“I was really just trying to get my fastball in there,” Larsen explained. “It just has good movement, so it’s tough for them to hit it, and I couldn’t really find early, but in the later innings, I started to find a lot more.”
He also went out there with a mentality to keep his team in the game despite the early lack of run support.
“That’s the whole goal,” Larsen added. “Just keep the team in the game and give them opportunities to score.”
Coming into the game, Larsen had primarily been used as a relief arm. This was his first time starting a game. On top of that, the game plan was for him to work 3 innings and then go from there. He worked 4, which only made things easier.
“We were gonna think three, but we kept him in when he wanted to go in (for the fourth),” Vintage head coach Billy Smith said. “We were thinking he goes three, Soren (DeYoung) goes two, and then Miles (Henry) would go two.”
Napa (6-18, 1-11 VVAL) began the game by getting a run across in the second. It all began when Matt Hutchinson walked and advanced to second on a walk to Jake Newman. Mason Bartlett’s single brought in Hutchinson.
Leading the Grizzly offense in the game were Niko Titolo (1-for-3) and Bartlett (1-for-4, RBI).
Taking the loss despite a really solid effort was Jack Herlax. The sophomore righty worked 5 ⅓ innings, striking out 5 and walking 4 on 107 pitches. He also gave up 5 hits and 5 runs, with 4 of them being earned.
“Herlax has sort of a Tim Lincecum, Pedro Martinez type quality, where he’s not a guy that has a lot of physical stature on the mound, but you start seeing what he could do when he’s throwing a fastball with a lot of life,” Napa High head coach Jason Chatham explained of Herlax’s effort in the game. “He’s got a slider that is absolutely nasty, and he gets out there and he competes. He’s a sophomore, and he has a lot of room to grow on the mound. And the thing is, he’s already starting at such a high place right now. He just pitched extremely well in big game, and if we hadn’t came up against our pitch count limit, he’d still be on the mound right now.”
Before the game, Napa also honored its four seniors in what was their final game. Those honored were Bartlett, Newman, Collin Taylor, and Mitchell Dahlberg.
“I think that the best way that we could look at the senior group is what happened in our senior game introductions,” Chatham said. “When you listen to what they had to say for their quotes, when you looked at their GPAs, when you looked at their plans for their life, they walk out of Napa High School as men that have a mission with their own lives. They live with purpose. They live with intentionality. They have high GPAs and high aspirations. They’re good people in the community. That’s all you could ever expect, and that’s all you could ever want from somebody, and they did that. And I’m really proud of them.”
Napa’s season is also now complete. As for Vintage, they will end the regular season with a series with Casa Grande beginning on Tuesday at 4 pm. Before the game next Thursday, they will also honor their seniors.
This is also the second straight year Vintage has swept the Big Game season series.
In other VVAL games on Thursday, Casa Grande beat Justin-Siena 10-4, and Petaluma beat American Canyon 18-1.
