Bullock’s big day at the plate, Nelson’s dominant performance on mound lead Napa Valley Baseball Club 19U past San Bruno and into Sunday semifinals at Bill Buckner Memorial 4th of July tournment

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By Kyle Foster

kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews

YOUNTVILLE-When you’re in a win-or-go-home game, you hope that team shows up. It’s even better when they handle their business as they should. 

On Saturday morning at Cleve Borman Field, this is what the Napa Valley Baseball Club 19U did as they beat San Bruno V.F.W., 10-4, in the final day of pool play in the 47th annual Bill Buckner Memorial 4th of July tournament. 

The NVBC 19U (16-7) jumped out to an early lead in the first when Tommy Malloy reached on a catcher’s interference and stole second and then tagged up to third on a flyout by Riley Marek. A single by John Bullock brought in Malloy. 

But in the second, the 19s blew the game wide open with a 6-spot to go up 7-1. It all began when Drew Sangiacomo singled and was run for by Peter Trovitch. A single by Braeden Butler moved Trovitch to third. On a Hayden Hulquist sacrifice bunt with an errant throw into right field, Trovitch scored, Butler got to third, and Hulquist moved to second. Malloy reached on another catcher’s interference to load the bases with just one out. Marek was hit by a pitch to bring in Butler. Bullock’s groundout brought in Hulquist and moved Marek to second and Malloy to third. Then, Henry Meyers ripped a double into the right-center gap to bring in Marek and Malloy. A Spencer Nelson single then brought Meyers to end the scoring in the frame. 

“The guys at the plate were confident today,” Napa Valley Baseball Club 19U manager Gary Newman said of the offensive onslaught. “They saw good pitches to hit and took advantage of it. When you put the ball in play, good things happen.” 

In the fourth, NVBC tacked on another when Marek singled and swiped second before scoring on a single by Bullock. 

The bottom of the sixth saw the Napa Valley Baseball Club 19s put the game away when Sawyer Carmichael walked and stole second. He came in when Bullock yanked a two-run homer over the fence in right field for his first homer of the summer. 

“I’ve been trying to hit something hard that way for a while now,” Bullock said of his home run. “I’ve had some backside doubles and whatnot, but it’s hard to leave the yard backside, and I finally got one out front, and that one wasn’t coming back.” 

This was something Bullock had been trying to do for a while. He’s been playing at Borman Field since he was 13, which is why the home run meant more. 

“I’ve played a Borman since I was 13 years old, and it’s always been a dream of mine to get one over these fences, over that ivy,” he added. “So, to finally put one of the trees is pretty cool.” 

Bullock had a great day at the plate in the game as he was 3-for-4 with a home run, a run scored, and 5 RBIs to lead the offense. He missed a home run earlier in the game, which showed that he was seeing the ball well all game long.   

“Just sitting fastball, and where I get it, I feel like my hand-eye coordination allows me to drive it, and I put in a lot of work outside of here,” Bullock explained of his big game at the plate. “So this is just kind of where it shows, and being able to have my approach mentally and execute through that has worked very well for me for a while now.” 

Others helping with the offense in the game were Meyers (1-for-3, double, run, 2 RBIs), Nelson (1-for-4, RBI), and Marek (1-for-3, RBI, 2 runs). 

San Bruno V.F.W. opened up the game with a run in the first inning. The rally began when Andres Bomez singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by DJ Sanchez. 

They also scored a run in the third. This came when Joe Tressetti was hit by a pitch and scored on a fielder’s choice by Hugo Guzman. 

The visitors added a pair in the sixth. Those runs came when Guzman singled and Sanchez walked. Both of them scored on a double into the left-center gap by Jamison Barnes. 

Getting the win in the game for the NVBC 19s was Nelson. He worked 6 innings, striking out 7 and walking 1. He gave up just 4 hits and 4 runs, of which 3 were earned, on 90 pitches. 

“When he’s going like he was today, he’s tough on everybody,” Newman added. “He’s got three good pitches and, on batters, he changes it up so he understands the game, and he’s a really smart kid. So when he has it going like he did today, it makes it tough on them.” 

Bullock worked the final frame, striking out 2 and walking 2 while throwing 27 pitches and giving up 1 hit. 

With the win, the NVBC 19U will advance to Sunday’s semifinals, where they will face the pool 1 winner, who is the Napa Valley Baseball Club 17U, at 9:30 am. But they had to win this game to get to Sunday, which is why this win is so big. This will be the first time the NVBC 17s and 19s have met in the tournament since 2022. 

The other semifinal will feature the California Rays, who won pool 2 against pool 1 runner-up San Francisco Cardinals. This game will start at 12:15 pm. The championship game will take place at 3 pm, with one guaranteed team from NVBC in the finale. Before the game, former KTVU Sports Anchor and Napa redshirt Mark Ibanez will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. 

Other results from day 3 of pool play

In the opening game of the day, San Bruno beat the Solano Mudcats 5-3. Both of those teams are eliminated from playing on Sunday. 

The Napa Valley Baseball Club 17U team beat Bercovich 11-10. The NVBC 17s won their pool thanks to beating the SF Cardinals and allowing fewer runs than them in pool play. 

In the last game of the day, Bercovich beat Community Projects of Crushers 19U 4-1. This result eliminated the Crushers from Sunday contention. Bercovich is also eliminated. 

This was a nice tournament for the Crushers as they were in every game, despite a 1-2 mark in pool play. All of their games were close. In their losses, the combined margin of runs they lost was in those games was 5 runs. 

The price for admission into the tournament is $5, and the snack bar is open all day long. The speed limit at the Veterans Home is 15 MPH.