(James W. Toy III / Sonoma Stompers)
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Looking to win three consecutive games for the first time in 2018, the Sonoma Stompers traveled to Albert Park to take on the San Rafael Pacifics, but a big sixth inning propelled the Pacifics to a 4-2 win Thursday night.
The first half of the game saw a pitcher’s duel between San Rafael’s Fernando Baez and Sonoma’s Patrick Conroy, with neither team scoring after four innings.
The Stompers got on the board first in the top of the fifth when Eddie Mora-Loera drove in Kam Stewart but after San Rafael scored three in the bottom of the sixth, the Stompers were unable to climb back on top for the rest of the game.
Robert Maislin relieved Conroy during the bottom of the sixth, delivering 1 ⅔ innings of quality relief before giving way to Ryan Richardson to pitch the eighth.
Sonoma countered the Pacifics’ run in the bottom of the eighth with a run of their own in the top of the ninth on a Miles Williams RBI single that plated Daniel Comstock, but the comeback fell short as that was all they could muster in the ninth.
The team begins a five-game homestand Friday night against the Martinez Clippers with a 6:05 p.m. first pitch scheduled in the team’s annual Pride Night.