By Stompers Staff
Despite the effort from the Sonoma Stompers’ pitching, the offense could not convert when it mattered, going 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position, leading to a 3-1 loss to the San Luis Obispo Blues. Destin Allen-Fox got the start for the Stomps and compiled eight strikeouts in four innings of work, giving up two runs, but ended up with the loss. The Blues’ pitching featured three pitchers that fanned 11 Stompers batters, with Eddie Tierney earning the win and reliever Marko Siplia with a save.
Stomper’s pitching kept them in the game, where the two Dylan’s, Burke and Goff, came out of the bullpen to relieve Allen-Fox and held the Blues to only one run. Little aid came from the offense however, except for Ben Giovanetti’s two doubles, Kaiden Dossa’s two infield singles and Tyler Holley single. Most of Sonoma’s runners came from walks and hits by pitches. Only one run resulted from these, which came off of a high throw from the Blues’ third baseman that allowed Tyler Holley to slide in safely in the eighth.
Sonoma manager Zack Pace spoke on the struggles at the plate saying that “it’s something we work on everyday…trying to work that situation, runner on third base, infield back.” He described the thought process of hitting towards the middle of the field, comparing it to a “two strike approach” as well. The Stompers were not able to put that to use however, as Pace remarked that his team simply “did not do a great job of that today,” referring to the inability to score runners from second and third in innings three and four, as well as a runner from third in the seventh.
Overall, a quiet day on the hitting side for both clubs, resulting in the Stompers’ team average dipping to .226 in CCL play. Allen-Fox’s solid four innings helped improve his strikeout numbers in conference, amounting to a total of 16 in only eight innings pitched, and he currently sports a 3.38 ERA. Goff’s dominant three innings kept his ERA at 0.00 in conference, cementing himself as a strong relief option for Sonoma.
The Stomps look to end the 3 game skid on Wednesday, facing the Blues away this time, in San Luis Obispo. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 pm. If you’re unable to make the trip, a radio broadcast will be up on our Mixlr, which can be found following this link: https://sonoma-stompers.mixlr.com/. Make sure to tune in!