SONOMA, Calif- The Sonoma Stompers hosted the Vallejo Admirals on Monday night, a make-up game, as well as the final game of the regular season. The offense did not disappoint, putting 19 runs on the board in a one-sided victory to close out the year.
Vallejo did strike first in the ballgame in the top of the 1st inning. against Ethan Gibbons (3-4), Vallejo designated hitter O’Koyae Dickson walked and Montrell Marshall doubled with 2 out to put 2 men in scoring position. Vlad Gomez singled them both home to give the Admirals and early 2-0 lead.
The Stompers offense exploded in the bottom of the 2nd inning against Vallejo starter Harold Myles (1-0). Brent Gillespie opened the inning with a base hit. Miles Williams was hit by a pitch and Chris Kwitzer walked to load the bases. Bronson Butcher then drew an RBI walk to put the Stompers on the board 2-1. Rob DeAngelis then collected an RBI hit to tie the game 2-2. With 1 out, Nick Gotta hit a sacrifice fly to center to give the Stompers their first lead, 3-2. Jacob Barfield followed with a walk to load the bases again and Pedro Barrios was hit to bring in another run, making it 4-2. In Gillespie’s second plate appearance in the inning he walked to bring in a run and the fin al run of the inning scored on a wild pitch, capping off the 6-run 3rd inning to give the Stompers a 6-2 lead.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning Bitcher worked his second walk of the game and DeAngelis immediately reached on catcher’s interference. With first and second, Rayson Romero lined a base hit into right-center to score Butcher as DeAngelis went to third, extending the lead 7-2. With runners at the corners and 1 out, Myles picked over to first base and the throw got passed Marshall, allowing DeAngelis to score and Romero to go all the way to third. Romero later scored on a passes ball as the Stompers led 9-2 after 3 innings of play.
Gibbons only went 4 innings on 52 pitches while allowing just the 2 runs on 4 hits as he walked 1 and struck out 3.
Konner Arnold (6-5) entered the game in the top of the 5th and Chevy Clarke rudely welcomed him with a solo homer, cutting into the lead 9-3. Later in the inning Tillman Pugh went deep to make it 9-4.
The Stompers countered in the bottom half of the 5th inning with runs of their own. Gotta led off the inning with his 83rd walk of the season and with 1 out Barrios doubled to left center to put runners at second and third. Matt Hibbert, pinch hitting in Gillespie’s spot, tripled to left-center to clear the bases and extend the lead out to 11-4. With 2 outs Kwitzer tripled to right-center to bring Hibbert home and make it a 12-4 game. Kwitzer came in on an RBI single from DeAngelis, finishing the 4-run 5thto make the lead 13-4.
Vallejo scored once in the top of the 6th on a Matt Eureste RBI hit to cut into the lead, 13-5. They also scored once more in the top of the 7th on a Ryan Cooper RBI walk to make it 13-6.
The Admirals, trailing by a bunch, sent outfielder Jacob Wark to the mound in the bottom of the 8th to save the bullpen for the playoffs as he made his first appearance of the season. Romero welcomed him with a no-doubt blast to left field, Romero’s 4thto make it 14-6. With 1 out Barfield walked, Barrios singled and Hibbert was plunked to load the bases. On a 1-0 pitch, Williams launched a no-doubt home run into the trees, his 15th, growing the lead to 18-6. The Stompers loaded the bases again in the inning, all on walks, and Gotta took his 84thwalk of the season to make it 19-6. With that walk, Gotta ties his manager Zack Pace for the most walks in a single season in the Pacific Association in 16 less games.
The Stompers host game 1 of the Pacific Association Championship Series on Friday night at 6:05.