Napa Valley Baseball Club 19s put on show with bats, pitch well all day to claim 47th annual Bill Buckner Memorial 4th of July tournament title with wins over NVBC 17s and California Rays

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Kyle Foster

kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews

YOUNTVILLE-When you get the offense going and pitch to near perfection, you’re going to be hard to beat. 

On Sunday, this is what the Napa Valley Baseball Club 19U did as they weren’t to be denied the title of the 47th annual Bill Buckner Memorial 4th of July tournament as they rolled past the California Rays, 8-0, in the championship game at Cleve Borman Field. 

NVBC (18-7) scored the opening run of the game when Tommy Malloy tripled to right-center and scored on an errant throw over the cutoff man. 

In the third, NVBC scored two more when Malloy walked. When Riley Marek singled and moved to third on an error in center that brought in Malloy, who was already running on the play. Marek later scored on a balk.

To begin the third, Drew Sangiacomo singled and was run for by Cameron Beeker. When Braeden Butler reached on an error, and Noah Giovannelli walked, the bases were loaded. Sawyer Carmichael reached on a fielder’s choice to bring in Beeker and advance Butler to third. Malloy’s double into the right-center gap brought in Butler and Carmichael. 

The sixth saw the NVBC 19s score their final runs of the game when they tacked on two more. Giovannelli doubled and got to third when Carmichael reached on an error. When Malloy reached on an error at first, Giovannelli and Carmichael scored. 

Leading the NVBC batting attack in the game was Marek, who was 3-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored. He was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after he got out once all weekend long. 

“This award means a lot,” Marek said. “We’ve got some studs on this team. So, for this to be the most valuable player, it means the world. I mean, coming out here, this field is just a beautiful place to play baseball, and getting an award like this is just an honor.” 

Others contributing in the game were Malloy (2-for-3 double, triple, 2 runs, 4 RBIs), Giovannelli (1-for-2, walk, double, run), Meyers (1-for-4, double), and Sangiacomo (1-for-4). 

“Hunt fastball 100%,” Marek said of the approach the team had throughout the day. “If it’s your pitch, drive it.” 

Getting the win on the mound for NVBC was Meyers. He threw his first-ever complete game and allowed just 1 hit. He struck out 6 and walked 3 on 89 pitches. 

Meyers was able to do this by getting ahead in the count from the start with the fastball, which is why he was named the Most Valuable Pitcher of the tournament. 

“I’ve been a closer, and finally, I was a starter, and I mean, that was due to usually accuracy, so the big thing was first pitch strike,” Meyers said of his pitching performance and was was key. “We’ve got to get it one way or another, and if it’s not first pitch, you hang out, you get second pitch no matter what.”

With the victory, the NVBC 19s have won the 4th of July tournament title in back-to-back years. It’s very important to them, especially since they are the co-hosts of the event. 

The California Rays advanced to the title game after beating the San Francisco Cardinals 10-0 in the second semifinal. 

NVBC 19s 12, NVBC 17s 0 in 5 innings

In the first semifinal of the day, it was all Napa Valley Baseball Club 19U as they cruised to the win in five innings due to the mercy rule.

The NVBC 19U opened up the scoring when they put up four runs in the top of the third. It all began when Noah Giovannelli ripped a double down the right field line and got to third on a single by Malloy. Marek’s single brought in Giovanelli. Marek later got to third following John Bullock reaching on a fielder’s choice and being run for by Beeker, and Nelson walked to load the bases. A Drew Sangiacomo single brought in Marek. Then a Braeden Butler single brought home Beeker. When Sam Mautner made an error, bringing in Nelson.

In the fourth, the NVBC 19s put the game away with a huge six-run frame. The rally began when Malloy doubled to right-center and got to third on a Marek single. When Marek swiped second, Malloy scored. Then, Meyers cranked a 2-run homer to left field for his third homer of the summer. Sangiacomo singled and was run for by Beeker, who got to second on a Butler single. Beeker and Butler both scored when Mautner doubled into the left-center gap. The last run of the inning came when Giovannelli singled in Mautner. 

“It’s always fun playing with these guys. It’s always fun playing here at this beautiful field,” Meyers pointed out. “I’ve been hitting solid. This is summer, but I want to keep going, try and get ready for college, and keep hitting home runs.” 

The last two runs of the game came in the fifth when Beeker singled and Bullock was hit by a pitch. Carmichael’s double to right field brought in Beeker and Bullock.  

Leading the offense in the semifinal for NVBC were Marek (2-for-2, RBI, 2 stolen bases, 2 runs), Giovannelli (2-for-3, run, RBI), Malloy (2-for-4, double, run,  2 stolen bases), Sangiacomo (2-for-4, RBI), Butler (2-for-4, RBI), Meyers (1-for-3, run, 2-run home run, 2 RBIs), Mautner (1-for-3, double, run, 2 RBIs), Bullock (1-for-3), Carmichael (1-for-1, double, 2 stolen bases, 2 RBIs), and Beeker (1-for-1, 3 runs). 

“The whole team offensively is swinging it well,” Newman explained of the huge day with the bats. “Defensively is where we’ve struggled here and there. But we can put some runs up, but we just need to play clean baseball.” 

Getting the win on the bump in the first game of the day for the champions was Sangiacomo. He worked all 5 innings, where he struck out 3 and walked 1. He gave up just 1 hit while being very efficient with 52 pitches in the game. 

“Drew is probably one of the better athletes on the team, and he can do a lot,” Newman added.” He didn’t pitch a bunch for their team (during the spring) because they had some really good pitching. But he can pitch. He can do anything. He catches, he pitches, he hits well. You could put him anywhere in the infield, and he could play those spots. He’s played first, second, third, and short. So he’s a fun kid to have on the team.” 

Getting the lone hit in the game for the Napa Valley Baseball Club 17U team was Grant Huss. 

Despite the result of that game, this was a very successful tournament for NVBC’s 17U (15-4). They accomplished their goal of winning the pool and getting to Sunday. 

But even though the game wasn’t close between the two NVBC teams, it was a lot of fun for all involved. 

“I think it meant everything,” Napa Valley Baseball Club 17U manager John Hurd said of the semifinal matchup and what it meant to his team. “Since the beginning of the season, they’ve been asking, ‘Can we play the 19s?’ Not necessarily in this tournament, but just in another game.  And I knew that there was a shot that we might play them in the Buckner, and we set that as a goal, and we accomplished that goal. They were definitely super excited to achieve that goal and get the game.” 

It was also good for the program as a whole to be able to show off its two teams in the event and get one in the championship. 

“It’s one of those deals where the older team should win, right?” Newman said of the game with the 17U squad. “But that doesn’t always happen with baseball. So for these guys, once they got it going, it’s like a weight off their chest, right? Because the last thing they want to do is lose the younger team. So it’s huge for them.”