Vintage comes from behind in the late innings of game to beat American Canyon in pitcher’s duel on Senior Day
By Kyle Foster
Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
There are some games where escaping with a win is a big deal. You’re not going to play great every game, so a win is a win at the end of the day.
On Wednesday afternoon, Vintage did this as they were able to come from behind to grind out a victory over American Canyon, 4-1, in a Vine Valley Athletic League contest.
The Crushers (16-6 overall, 8-3 VVAL) had to come from behind to win the contest. They were able to tie things up in the fifth when they scored the first run of the game. It all began when Angie Rubalcava walked and then got to third on a pair of sacrifice bunts in consecutive at-bats by Malina Viruet and Desiree Griffith. Ella Gomez’s double into the left-center gap then brought in Rubalcava.
Vintage tallied three more in the sixth to win the game. It all began when Sydney Morton singled and swiped second. That was followed by a single by Aby Sims and Aliyah McDonald to load the bases. A sacrifice fly to center by Rubalcava brought in Morton and had Sims tag to third. Following a Viruet walk to load the bases. A bases-loaded single by Griffith brought in Sims and McDonald.
Throughout the game, the Crushers had many other opportunities to score but were unable to cash in. They left 11 runners on base in the contest and had numerous chances to score early in the game.
In the game, Gomez was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. She ignited multiple run-scoring opportunities in the game as well.
“Ella had a great game, diving over at second base, starting a couple of rallies for us,” Vintage head coach Megan Lopez said. “It’s pretty darn cool that we can have people that we can count on, or when we use the flex in the lineup, that can produce.”
Others helping the Vintage offensive effort in the game were McDonald (3-for-4, run), Sims (2-for-3, walk, run), Morton (2-for-3, stolen base, run), and Griffith (1-for-3, 2 RBIs).
Before the game, the Crushers honored their four seniors as part of Senior Day. Those honored were Sims, Rubalcava, Ryan Chaddock, and Audrey Manley. All four have been in the program for all four years Lopez has been at the helm.
“These seniors, they came in with me,” Lopez pointed out. “So it’s been four years of watching them come in when they’re 14-year-olds, and now they’re 17 and 18, and seeing them progress and develop from little teenagers adolescents to these strong, independent women, and we’re sending them out into the world. I hope that they’ve learned a little bit about softball, but I hope that they learn more about life. We talk about leaving this program better than we found it, and I couldn’t be more proud of the four girls that are going to be graduating soon.”
American Canyon (11-11, 7-5 VVAL) took the lead in the game by taking advantage of a free rally in the fourth. Jayden de los Santos and Jordan de los Santos walked, and Aalayah Ramos was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A bunt by Alayah Harris brought in pinch-runner Madison Del Castillo for the Wolves’ lone run of the game.
To get that run, it took using small ball and coming in with a mindset that every run could be key.
“I think that going into it, we knew that runs were going to be at a premium,” American Canyon first-year head coach Jaime Ramirez said of the small ball used to get on the board early. “So we knew we were going to have to do everything that it is that we could just to move the runners over to bases and get runners across the, you know, across the plate for scores.”
Getting the win in the circle for Vintage was Rubalcava. The senior was once again dominant as she hurled a complete game, striking out 9 and walking 4. For the second consecutive game, she threw a no-hitter and allowed an earned run on 115 pitches. She whittled her ERA down to 1.42 and improved her record to 10-4 on the season.
Taking the loss despite pitching very well for the Wolves was Jordan de los Santos. The sophomore right-hander walked 5 and struck out 2 in the game. She also allowed 10 hits and 4 earned runs. While allowing that many hits, she was able to make pitches when she had to in the game and keep her team in it throughout the 6 innings of work.
“Jordan, she’s nails,” Ramirez added. “She’s really been battling for us. She started the year off injured. It’s taken her the season to kind of get herself available and going and stuff like that. So, just super proud of her every time that she’s pitched. It just feels like it’s gotten better and better as the years went on.”
De los Santos also did a good job of missing barrels, a trait that is often overlooked. Most of the contact that was made was not on the barrel.
“We went into it knowing that we wanted to pitch, pitch the batters away, and then change speeds,” Ramirez explained of the pitching philosophy coming into the game. “So I think that she was having a lot of success, kind of changing speeds, pitching away and away and away. The batters were getting a little anxious. When she would change speeds, they were just chasing anything that they thought was kind of fat over the plate they were chasing, and a lot of that time it was off-speed. So she did great. She gave us a chance to win. We’ve got to do more offensively to help her.”
American Canyon will have the league bye on Friday, but will host Redwood-Larkspur that day at 4 pm. As for Vintage, they will have another key VVAL game to see who the home team will be in next week’s league tournament opener when they host Petaluma on Friday at 4 pm. Both teams enter the contest at 8-3 in league play and will face each other in next week’s VVAL tournament semifinal for the second straight year after ending the season against each other.
In other VVAL games on Wednesday, Petaluma beat Justin-Siena 19-2, and Sonoma Valley beat Napa 16-6.
