(James W. Toy III / Sonoma Stompers)
SONOMA, Calif. – The red-hot Sonoma Stompers once again didn’t let deficits put them down, as they came back from twice to top the Vallejo Admirals 7-5 and help Juan Espinosa pick up his first win of the season.
Making his eighth start of 2018, Espinosa pitched six strong innings, allowing three earned runs on one walk and six strikeouts.
He pitched with a lead almost immediately after Marcus Bradley scored on a wild pitch in the first inning.
Despite Vallejo taking the lead in the top of the fifth, Sonoma countered quickly in the bottom of the frame with two runs to even the score at three. Celebrating his 26th birthday, Miles Williams crushed his team-leading 14th home run of the season to right field, scoring Rayson Romero, who turned 23 Wednesday.
“I’m seeing good pitches, trying to touch the baseball,” Williams said. “It’s contagious when your teammates are constantly taking great AB’s, it helps you with your hitting plan too."
Romero did not record an official at-bat in the game, instead drawing three walks and bringing in a run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
“Early on in the game, I was up with nobody on, so I was trying to get my pitch that I could drive,” Romero said. “If it was out of the zone, I was trying to get on base. Later in the game, Kevin [Farley] hit that double, runners on second and third and the first pitch, I could get the job done with it.”
After the birthday boys brought the score back even, the Admirals took another lead in the sixth, a lead the Stompers just as quickly countered, with Kam Stewart driving in Daniel Comstock, then scoring on a wild pitch to put the Stompers ahead again in the bottom half.
Two more insurance runs in the eighth proved helpful as Vallejo scored a run in the ninth that otherwise would have tied the game. Instead, Jacob Cox locked down his 14th save of thee season and the Stompers held on to win 7-5.
With two consecutive sweeps under their belt, Sonoma looks to make it three in a row and increase its five-game win streak with the Pittsburg Diamonds coming to Sonoma Thursday and Friday.