LINCOLN, CA
The Sonoma Stompers snapped their four game losing streak Wednesday night with an 8-4 win over the Lincoln Potters at McBean Stadium.
Three runs in the top of the fourth inning proved to be the difference in the game. Max Handron walked to lead off the inning, then Noah Rabin singled. Tucker McEnroe singled home Handron to tie the game at one apiece.
Davis Cop then singled home Rabin to give the Stompers a 2-1 lead. Jack Gallagher then drove in his first run of the season with a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 3-1.
Stompers got a gutsy outing out of starting pitcher Daniel Smith. He went 3.2 innings allowing four hits, walked one and struck out seven. He gave way to Noah Larkin who got out of the inning on one pitch as the Potters ran into an out at home.
The game would stay at 3-1 until the top of the 7th inning. Jackson Castillo began the inning with an infield single and advanced to third on a throwing error by the Potters’ catcher Troy Shields. After Alex Gouveia walked, Handron grounded into a double play, but it scored Castillo to extend the lead to 4-1.
The Stompers had the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the eighth, but that changed when Mikey Bell grounded into a 5-2-3 double play. Back-to-back walks from Connor Blough and Castillo extended the lead to 5-1. A two-run single from Gouveia gave the Stompers much needed breathing room at 7-1. Handron added on with an RBI single of his own to make it a seven run lead at 8-1.
Larkin would get the win, tossing a scoreless inning out of the pen, recording a strikeout along the way. Brady Routon went two innings, striking out three and walking one batter.
New signee Ian Sullivan would record the final three outs in the ninth while giving up a run and striking out a batter.
The Stompers return home Thursday night, hosting the West Coast Kings at 6:05pm.