American Canyon uses third inning rally to take lead, adds on in fourth, fifth, and seventh to stun Justin-Siena, and punch ticket to league tournament
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Shelby Padgett
Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Sometimes when you show up at the yard, some wild things happen. This can especially be true when it’s a game 7 win-or-go-home moment for a team.
In Thursday afternoon’s regular-season finale at Braves Ballpark, American Canyon kept their season alive as they stunned Justin-Siena, 7-2, to keep their season alive.
With the victory, American Canyon also extends its season. Thanks to Casa Grande beating Vintage 3-1, they will be the No. 4 seed in next week’s league tournament over at Arnold Field in Sonoma. It also makes the Wolves playoff eligible.
“More than that, we needed this win to be eligible for playoffs,” American Canyon head coach Matt Brown explained. “So yesterday, we had a meeting at practice, and we talked about the fact that this isn’t the last practice. This is the first practice before opening day and (the) opening day of our postseason.”
This has been a wild year for American Canyon, too. But despite all the ups and downs, they were able to battle their way to a 7-5 mark in league play.
“This might be the toughest team that I’ve ever been on,” American Canyon senior Dylan Brown pointed out. “ I mean, you saw earlier our third baseman (Lopez) got hit in the face, he’s dripping blood, and five minutes later, he’s out of the trainer’s office, and he has at least one hit, maybe two, and he’s base running really well, and it’s things like that. We take losses hard, and we want to win.”
For the second year in a row, American Canyon has also beaten Justin-Siena on the road. Both times, it’s locked them into the league tournament. This also marks four straight years where the Wolves have won their final league game of the season, showing that they always finish strong.
“It’s funny that you say that, because I don’t ever feel comfortable here, you know, and I think Justin does, I know they’ve had some comeback wins this year and some walk-offs, and they play really well at their field,” the coach continued. “So I’m probably more nervous playing on their field than our players are, but they have a beautiful facility. I think our guys like playing here, and they played hard today.”
American Canyon (11-13, 7-5 VVAL) had the momentum throughout the game by scoring three times in the third. It all began when Brown singled and then stole second before going to third on a sacrifice bunt by Sovann Som. After Cole Gholar reached on a fielder’s choice, he stole second and drew the throw to second to plate Brown. A Royce Hall double to right-center brought home Gholar. Then, a single by Andre Lopez brought in Hall.
In the fourth, the Wolves added another when Noah Johnson, Matias Garcia, and Som all singled to load the bases. Gholar reached on an error, which brought in Johnson.
They tallied another in the fifth when Mason Harris singled and swiped second. He scored on a Garcia double to right-center.
American Canyon kept adding on in the seventh by scoring two when Hall singled and Lopez walked. They both moved up a base on a groundout and then scored on a single by Garcia.
It also helped that American Canyon came into the contest with a good approach and were hunting fastballs all day.
“We pumped up the pitching machine yesterday,” Brown explained of what his team did to prep for the game. “Tuesday, Griffin Messenger threw a hell of a game, and he throws hard. So we know they have good pitching, and we geared up for it yesterday at practice. That’s all we worked on, is being able to hit velocity.”
Others helping the Wolves’ offensive attack in the game were Garcia (3-for-4, double, 3 RBIs), Lopez (2-for-3, walk, run, RBI), Johnson (2-for-4, run), Hall (2-for-4, double, RBI, 2 runs), Som (1-for-2), and Harris (1-for-4).
Getting the win on the bump for American Canyon was Brown who did this by striking out 6 and walking 4 over a complete game effort. The senior right-hander also gave up 4 hits and 2 runs in the game, 1 of which was earned on 101 pitches. He did all of this by becoming a pitcher this season.
“So it’s kind of ironic because I’m not really a pitcher,” the younger Brown said. “ I mean, my whole life, I played shortstop, and I’ve caught, and both of our best pitchers got hurt this year, and so I’ve kind of stepped into that.”
He did all of this by consistently using his defense and missing barrels all game. He also pitched out of situations when needed during this great effort.
“He’s competed on the mound all year,” the coach said of his son’s effort in the game. “Our two starting pitchers that we were hoping to have this year, neither of them have thrown, and we needed somebody to step up.”
On top of all of that, Brown had a good day at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a walk and a pair of stolen bases.
As for Justin-Siena (18-6, 9-3 VVAL), they scored the game’s first run to take a lead in the first when Tommy Malloy singled and got to second on a wild pitch. He then got to third on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Sangiacomo and then scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Jake Fletcher.
The Braves scored again in the seventh with another run when Malloy singled and then scored on a double into the left-center gap by Drew Sangiacomo.
In the game, Justin-Siena had many other chances to change the trajectory of the game. Yet, they didn’t get these runs in and left a whopping 13 runners on base in the contest.
Leading the Braves offense in the game were Malloy (2-for-4, 2 runs), Henry Meyers (1-for-2, walk), Sangiacomo (1-for-3, double, RBI), and Fletcher (1-for-3, RBI).
Though this is a tough loss, there is a lot Justin-Siena can take from this since they have a lot of ball left to play this season. They still get a VVAL banner as part of a three-way tie with Casa Grande and Petaluma, and they will play in next week’s league tournament. Petaluma beat Sonoma Valley 12-4 to force the three-way tie atop the league standings.
“First of all, you tip your cap to American Canyon,” Justin-Sena head coach Jeremy Tayson explained. “They earned their way into the VVal playoff, and that’s quite evident. They beat the three teams in front of them, and just absolutely showed up and played their game of baseball today.
“One, we still finish with a VVAL banner, period,” Tayson continued. “Two, there’s always more work to do, and if you go about it the right way, good things can happen for you and we’re certainly working on the things that we got to work on, and we got a lot of baseball in front of us, and that’s exciting.”
Before the game, Justin-Siena honored its seniors as part of Senior Day. Those nine players honored before the contest were Malloy, Sangiacomo, Meyers, Fletcher, Noah Giovannelli, Spencer Nelson, Clint Wilsey, Cameron Beeker, and Joaquin Villegas. This group has been monumental as they have been part of the ascent back to program highs in their four years.
“This group of seniors has been part of an elevated period of baseball here at Justin-Siena,” Tayson said of the senior class’s impact. “We’ve competed for a championship or won one every single year they’ve been on campus. So, to honor them and their achievements to this point, it was definitely really special. It’s always a nice time of year to just pause and recognize that for them and their families.”
