By Stompers Staff
The Sonoma Stompers continued their winning streak with a comfortable 11-3 win over the Menlo Park Legends. The Stompers had a strong nine hits for the dogs that attended “Bark in the Park” night but a lot of the runners that scored were helped by wild pitching and passed balls issued by the Legends. The Sonoma bullpen was elite tonight, with Sean McBroom earning the win in two innings of three strikeouts scoreless baseball.
Stompers’ hitting coach, Paul Maytorena, put it best saying it was “a QAB and LOB night.” These acronyms stand for the ability of Sonoma hitters to get on base with walks and hit by pitches by working favorable counts (Quality At Bats) and the impressive showings by various Stompers pitchers to get out of difficult jams (Menlo Park’s runners Left On Base).
The Legends struck first, scoring two in the top of the second. Sonoma responded in the bottom half of the inning however, where they scored three runs without getting a hit. These runs came from walks, hit by pitches, wild pitches, and errors. The Stomps added three more in the fourth, off of a Trent Abel fielder’s choice and Max Handron single. After the Legends scored another in the fifth, Handron singled again in the sixth to score Sonoma’s seventh run. Jack Vanoncini and Tyler Holley knocked in the next three for Sonoma to make it a 10-3 game. Vanoncini then scored again in the eighth off a passed ball.
Handron’s three hit, three RBI night led the way, with Holley adding two hits and two RBIs. Chase Taylor, Nick Sebastiani, Alijah Ramos and Vanoncini had the other hits on the night. Ramos’ hit by pitch in the second inning resulted in his mind boggling 33 game on base streak to continue. He has been the leadoff hitter as of late, and Zack Pace seems to have settled with the consistent production of Ramos in the one, Abel hitting second, and now Max Handron hitting third.
After McBrooms two innings, Riley Phelan, Sean Flowers and Hawk Hill all dished out scoreless innings, combining for seven strikeouts. The bullpen has been great for Sonoma all year and will look to continue the dominance on Tuesday in the first playoff game.
The Stomps have one more regular season game though, facing the San Francisco Seagulls at home one more time. This game will be a 1:05 start back at Arnold Field, tomorrow (Sunday the 28th). Make sure to come out and support as it may be the last chance to see some Stomper baseball! Also stay up to date across all our social media platforms as the team embarks on the postseason this upcoming Tuesday! You won’t want to miss it!