(James W. Toy III / Sonoma Stompers)
VALLEJO, Calif. – Facing the Vallejo Admirals for the first time since the Pacific Association Championship game in 2017, the Sonoma Stompers topped the Admirals 5-4, coming from behind to win the game in the ninth inning.
Sonoma jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first as Daniel Comstock and Kenny Meimerstorf each drove in a run, Marcus Bradley and Daniel Baptista respectively.
After soon falling behind, the Stompers inched back, scoring runs in each the fifth and sixth innings.
In the fifth, Bradley singled and stole one of Sonoma’s four bases in the fifth inning, the scored when Comstock reached on an error. Kenny Meimerstorf singled in the fifth and was brought home by Rob DeAngelis with a two-out single that tied the game at four runs.
The contest stayed tied until the ninth when Bradley contributed once again, singling in Rayson Romero to give the Stompers a 5-4 lead.
Bradley and Romero combined to go 5-8 in the game, scoring three of Sonoma’s five runs on the night.
Vallejo was unable to score after the fourth inning in large part because of reliever Vijay Patel. The first year Stomper walked the first batter he faced when taking over for Juan Espinosa in the fifth inning, then retired the next 12 Admirals he faced, striking out a single-game best six over his outing.
“First pitch strikes allowed me to get ahead and and let me dictate the AB from there,” Patel said. “Today felt really good, I made a lot of small adjustments, which helped me. Coming out here and competing felt really good.”
With the lead secure heading to the bottom of the ninth, Jacob Cox entered the game and locked down his league-leading seventh save of the season, striking out two in his perfect inning.
The Stompers and Admirals square off against Wednesday evening once again in Vallejo, with first pitch slated for 6:30 p.m.