Story written by Stompers intern Sam Basich
Sonoma, CA
Serving as the prequel to our Fourth of July event, Sunday night, the Lincoln Potters (18-11) trekked down to Arnold Field to face the Sonoma Stompers (8-15).
So far this season, the Stompers have matched up decently with the Potters, going 2-3 in their five matchups this far.
This one looked to be a low scoring pitching battle, as great innings came from both Stomper starter Noah Larkin, striking out 2 in his first inning on the mound and Potter starter Nick Dugan, who was able to do the same to the scorching hot center fielder Alex Leopard as well as Stomper catcher Colton Lomanto.
In the second inning, the Potters racked up their second double of the game, with Chase Weissenborn hitting a ground rule double over the left-center field wall. Stomper catcher Colton Lomanto would halt the Potter fun, tossing a strike to Mikey Bell at third and catching Weissenborn trying for third on a stolen base.
Despite holding the Stomper first three to little action in their first at bats, this would not last into their second at bats, with shortstop Alex Goveia bringing right fielder Tucker McEnroe in to score on a hard hit single past the gap between shortstop and third base. This came after a walk by McEnroe and a single by Bell to begin the inning. This left the Potters with a 4-1 lead through three.
The fourth was off to a rough start and stayed that way for the Stomper defense, with Potter 1st baseman JT Waldon starting the inning with a single after doubling in his first at bat. Following a couple more Potter baserunners after a walk and a single, the bases were loaded with one out, putting starter Noah Larkin in a tough spot. Second baseman Garen Canfield silenced Stompers fans, smacking a grand slam over the left center field wall, delivering the Potters a commanding 4-1 lead, one they never looked back from. The Stompers would fail to bring any runs back, digging themselves into a hole entering the fifth inning of play.
Colton Lomanto caught a second Potter base runner stealing for the second out of the top half of the fifth inning. But the ever dangerous Potter 1st baseman JT Waldon would add a triple to his double and single already in the ballgame, getting into scoring position with two out in the inning. After an awful Stomper communication error on a pop fly barely in fair territory, Waldon would come in to score, making the score 5-1 after 5 innings of play.
The Stompers would fight, with a series of singles in the fifth, only to have their dreams of inching a run closer destroyed by a great play in the form of a double play turned pretty much single handedly by Potter pitcher Nick Dugan, continuing his amazing game.
The score would stay at 5-1, with both squads unable to find green despite putting the ball in play in the 6th.
The Potters put the icing on the cake in the 7th, loading the bases with nobody out for the third baseman Trey Furrey. Furrey capitalized on this opportunity, nearly clearing the bases and bringing two more runners in to score and making the score 7-1. But the Potters weren’t done, adding one more in the inning after a ground out into a fielder's choice brought JT Waldon in to score (who also would add their 9th run with an rbi single), extending the Potter lead to 7 runs at 8-1. The Stompers again were unable to answer in the bottom half of the inning.
Finally, in the 8th inning the Stompers would score their second run of the ballgame, as a single to left center by Colton Lomanto brought in Alex Goveia to make the score 9-2 Potters. Looking to keep the rally going, a chopper by Stomper 2nd baseman Josh Medina brought the third run across, as Colton Lomanto came in to score. The ballgame was now 9-3 with runners at the corners and nobody out. Tucker McEnroe was then able to bring the runner at third home, grounding out into a fielder's choice with one out in the inning, bringing the Stompers within 5. The fun would end here though, with Mikey Bell’s groundout concluding the inning.
9-4 is where the Ballgame would conclude. A four hit night by JT Waldon and stellar pitching by Nick Dugan kept the Potters comfortably in the lead for the greater part of this ballgame.
The Potters take this win back home with them to play tomorrow night against the Walnut Creek Crawdads at Mcbean Stadium in Lincoln.
Tune in tonight for a 4th of July Special night at Arnold Field, with fireworks, food and loads of fun as the Stompers look to bounce back in their first matchup of the Summer with the Novato Knicks at 5 pm.