(James W. Toy III/Sonoma Stompers)
BOX SCORE
VALLEJO, Calif. – Making his first start for the Sonoma Stompers, Kenny Mathews continued a trend of strong starting pitching for Sonoma, picking up his second win of the year as the Stompers topped the Vallejo Admirals 11-5.
Mathews pitched six strong innings, allowing just one run on two hits and one walk. The left-hander struck out eight and retired the final 10 Admirals hitters he faced.
“Mitch [Ho] caught a great game,” Mathews said. “When you and the catcher are on the same page, it makes it a lot easier to maneuver a lineup. We were getting ahead, we had real good fastball command today and worked the inner part of the zone real well. And we were putting away hitters when we had the chance to, so it was a good effort by everyone.
It took a few innings for the Stomper offense to pick up, but Kevin Farley started the scoring with an RBI single in the fourth inning.
Once the game entered the fifth, Sonoma took over and didn’t look back, with four hits plating three runs for a lead. Daniel Comstock brought home one run on a double and Kenny Meimerstorf plated two on a single.
Saturday’s contest unraveled in the seventh innings with the two teams scoring 11 runs combined over the seventh and eighth.
Miles Williams, Comstock and Meimerstorf connected for back-to-back-to-back home runs in inning seven, forcing Vallejo’s starter out of the game. Farley added another round-tripper a few batters later, his fourth of the season and the team’s fourth of the inning and game, tying a single-game record for team home runs in 2018.
Three more hits gave the Stompers three additional runs in the eighth inning and 15 hits in the game, tying their single-game record for hits this season.
Seven Sonoma hitters had a hit in Vallejo, with five collecting two. Williams became the first Stomper to record more than three in one game, as he had four.
“I’m keeping it as simple as possible,” Williams said. “It’s contagious when your teammates are doing well and I’m just seeing a lot of pitches.”
Comstock had three hits and Meimerstorf, Kam Stewart and Farley each connected for two.
The two teams will see each other again at Wilson Park Sunday afternoon, with a 1:05 p.m first pitch.