By Stompers Staff
The Sonoma Stompers put together an impressive performance in the CCL North Wildcard game, beating the San Luis Obispo Blues, 7-2. Sonoma won their first CCL playoff game off the back of a huge five run third inning and a dominant pitching performance of Destin Allen-Fox. He threw five innings, and struck out two. The third inning was highlighted by a DJ Scott grand slam that electrified the Sonoma effort.
Max Handron was also huge at the plate, going two for five with two RBIs. Scott had two hits on the night as well. Trent Abel added two more for the Stompers, crossing the plate twice as well. Chase Taylor with two, and Tyler Holley and Jack Vanoncini both with one rounded out the Sonoma offense. Hawk Hill and Dylan Goff relieved Allen-Fox and dominated as well, holding the Blues to only one. The Sonoma pitching staff struck out a total of fifteen Blues’ batters tonight, an elite performance.
Allen-Fox was dominant early, setting the tone for the Stompers. His first two innings went scoreless, as he struck out an impressive five batters in the process. His offense bolstered the effort as well in the third, starting with Vanoncini getting one base via a catcher’s interference. Taylor and Abel then singled, loading the bases for Sonoma. Handron then stepped up and slapped a single to score the first run of the game. The next batter, DJ Scott, made it a crooked number in the third, where we launched a grand slam to make it a 5-0 game.
The Sonoma starter continued his excellence, holding the Blues hitless in the next two innings, as he struck out four more. The Blues final struck in the fifth though, after Zack Pace sent Allen-Fox out for his fifth inning. After the SLO leadoff batter got a hit, the Sonoma ace got two outs. But, Ethan Royal then smacked a ball out to center that went over Paul Contreras’ head for a triple, scoring the first for the Blues. Allen-Fox got the last out with a fly out, ending his night with his longest start of five innings, one run, three hits, and ten strikeouts.
Hill relieved Allen-Fox in the sixth. A walk and errant throw on a stolen base moved the SLO runner to third. A bloop single then scored that runner, pulling the Blues closer, making it 5-2. A double play and strikeout got Hill out of the inning. Chase Taylor started the seventh with a single, but nothing came of it after a couple sacrifices. Hill then shut the Blues down in the bottom half, fired up after two strikeouts. He was a loud voice and leader in the dugout tonight, firing up his bullpen mates after his two innings.
DJ Scott led-off and got on base for a second time in the eighth, finally facing a new Blues arm. After advancing to second and third on two balks, Tyler Holley smacked a ball up the middle to score Scott with two outs, extending the Stompers lead to four. Dylan Goff entered in the bottom half for Sonoma and did his job, allowing only one hit and no runs. The Stompers added an insurance run in the ninth after Trent Abel singled and advanced to second via an error. Handron then delivered again, where he singled to score Abel. Goff shut the Blues down in the ninth to secure the electric win.
Sonoma now makes the lengthy trip to Walnut Creek from SLO, to face the Crawdads in the divisional round. It will take place at Monte Vista High School at 4:00, with a trip to the CCL Championship on the line. Make sure to tune in to our live radio broadcast at this link: https://sonoma-stompers.mixlr.com/!