Masa Miyadera went 3 for 3, tripling in the ninth inning of Friday’s 13-3 Sonoma Stompers loss to the Vallejo Admirals at Wilson Park.
VALLEJO, Calif.–The Sonoma Stompers, presented by Virginia Dare Winery, were downed 13-8 by the Vallejo Admirals in the first of a critical three-game set.
Sonoma loaded the bases to lead off each of the first two frames, but the effort yielded just one run–not enough to keep the Admirals at bay. Vallejo sailed three, four and five-run innings to a two-game lead in the Pacific Association with five games left to play.
Stompers starter Juan Espinosa allowed three runs in four innings, pitching through two errors and six walks. Right-hander Logan Gillaspie was a bright spot on the mound, retiring the Vallejo batters in order after entering for Zach Wendorf in the sixth. Just one batter before, Chevy Clarke hit a bases-clearing double to give the Admirals a 9-3 lead.
Dominic Topoozian also shined, bouncing back from a rough outing in San Rafael in which he allowed four earned in three innings. On Friday, Topoozian struck out three in one and a third.
With Topoozian quieting the Admirals, Sonoma made noise in the later innings.
Trailing 13-3 in the eighth, the Stompers strung together four runs with just one hit in the frame–a single from Daniel Baptista. The Stompers used a ground ball and a pair of bases-loaded walks to score the other three, rattling five walks and a hit by pitch out of Admirals reliever Andin Diaz in the inning.
Masa Miyadera went 3 for 3 with two walks on the night, the only Stomper to record a multi-hit game. Miyadera lead off the ninth with a triple and came around to score, but the five late-inning runs weren’t enough to weather the storm.
With the Pittsburg Diamonds losing to the last-place San Rafael Pacifics 4-0 on Friday, the race for the second half title is down to Vallejo and Sonoma. If the Admirals sweep the Stompers with wins on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1:05 p.m., they are two games closer to clinching the second half.
Tickets for a possible championship game and Stompers merchandise are available now either online or at the fan shop at 234 W Napa Street in downtown Sonoma. For more information, please contact the front office at 707-938-7277, or email info@stompersbaseball.com.