Mark Hurley lead the Stompers in hits, and RBIs in the Stompers 8-7 loss to the Admirals Tuesday. Hurley was 3 for 4 with two doubles 3 driven in.
James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers
Geoff Safford, Media Relations Assistant
The Stompers and Admirals opened a three game set Tuesday with a lot of drama at Wilson Park. The Stompers had the tying, and lead runners in scoring position with the Stompers hottest hitter Joel Carranza at the plate in the top of the ninth with two outs. With the crowd on the edge of their seat, Carranza could not square up a pitch from Josh Evans and flew out to center field and Sonoma came up just short in Game One loosing 8-7.
The Admirals used a strategy that has worked so many times for the Stompers against them Tuesday by scoring runs in bunches. After the Stompers jumped out to a three run advantage in the first inning, the Admirals roared back with a huge rally in the bottom of the second inning. The Admirals first three hitters reached despite the ball not leaving the infield. Aaron Brill then delivered a crushing blow with a bases clearing triple to tie the game at three. The Admirals tacked on two more in the inning and lead 5-3 going into the third.
After the Stompers cut the lead to one in the top of the seventh, the Admirals had an answer with another big inning. The rally started in a similar way that the second inning rally did as the first two runners reached on a walk, and bunt single. Tim Williams then launched his seventh home run of the season into left center field off of Ryan Richardson to give the Admirals a four run advantage.
The Stompers were able to make thing interesting in the ninth, but they let a few opportunities get away as well. The Stompers out hit the Admirals finishing with thirteen, and stranded fourteen runners on base. Four Stomper hitters finished with multiple hits with Mark Hurley leading the way with three. Hurley had one of his best nights in recent memory and finished 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, and three driven in.
The good news for both the Stompers (39-28, 16-12 second half), and the Admirals (28-39, 13-15 second half) was that the Pacifics (37-30, 16-12 second half) lost the Diamonds Tuesday. Sonoma remained tied with San Rafael in the second half standing, and the Admirals crept a little closer to both teams ahead of them. Taylor Thurber is scheduled to pitch Wednesday night, and has faired well against the Admirals. Thurber pitched a complete game the last time he faced Vallejo in a 14-1 win over the Admirals on July 17.
Tickets for upcoming Stompers home games are available on StompersBaseball.com. Fan merchandise, and tickets are also available inside The Fan Shop located at 234 West Napa Street in downtown Sonoma. For more information about the team, contact the Stompers front office at info@stompersbaseball.com.