Story written by Stompers intern Sam Basich
On Wednesday July 6, coming off of a brutal 9-1 loss on Monday against the Novato Knicks, The Sonoma Stompers (8-17) hosted the CCL powerhouse Healdsburg Prune Packers (18-4).
Zach Garcia the tall, hard-throwing left hander started on the mound for the Stompers, and after giving up one run on a fielder's choice hit by Packer left fielder Blake Burke, he was pretty much flawless. Letting a couple of runners reach base in multiple innings, that would be the sole small flaw along with the one run in Garcia’s night. Garcia was a strikeout machine, striking out seven Prune Packer batters and getting the count in his favor with almost every batter he faced in his 5 inning outing. The Prune Packers entered this game with eight batters hitting over .320, a stat that Garcia clearly shrugged off prior to taking the mound.
Brady Routon would also pitch a fantastic few innings for the Stompers, throwing a one run two innings, getting the Prune Packers to pop out with impeccable pitching placement.
For the Packers, Caden Noah, pitcher from the university of Texas, graced the mound at Arnold Field to begin the ballgame.
His outing did not share the same characteristics as Garcia, pitching only one-and-two-thirds innings before getting the plug pulled on his night. The first inning wasn’t bad for Noah, able to escape giving up multiple runs forcing the Stompers to strand two. However the Stompers did tie up the ballgame, on a ground out into a fielder's choice by third baseman Mikey Bell. In the second, Jack Gallagher picked up an RBI, also by way of the fielder's choice, but kept reading as that was far from his only RBI of the night.
Noah Rennard then came on to pitch for the Packers, and that’s when everything started to go right for the Stompers, on the other side of a lopsided game after the rough game just two nights prior. Rennard came on with runners on 2nd and 3rd for Sonoma, bringing designated hitter Davis Cop to the plate. Cop laid down the law, singling to center field and picking up an RBI in the process. The very next batter, Mikey Bell, hit a bloop single down the line, bringing Cop around to score making it a 4-1 ballgame after just three innings of play.
In the fourth, Jack Gallagher was able to pick up right where he left off hitting the ball, scorching a double down the line. This cleared the bases, and replicated the insurance brought the inning before, leaving the score at 7-1 after four.
With Garcia’s dealing being furthered, the Stompers would come up again in the fifth to extend their lead even further. This they were able to do, three straight walks loaded the bases for the hot hitting Alex Gouveia. Gouveia came through in a big way, scoring two on a double to left-center. Two batters later, Connor Charpiot brought in one more on a deep sacrifice fly. So the Stompers lead was up to 10-1, staying that way up until the seventh.
In the seventh, the Packers tried to put a rally together, only able to come away with one run after a single by CF Jake Holcroft, which was one of his three hits on the evening. A baserunning mistake by pinch hitter Sam Brown would leave the Packers stranding a couple as we headed to the 8th.
The last run for the Packers and of the ballgame came when the Packers took home plate on a passed ball by Stomper reliever Garret James. Despite the bases being loaded, the Packers would find no way to bring any more across, stranding three more in the 8th.
Fantastic pitching by Zach Garcia and tactical hitting by Alex Gouveia and Jack Gallagher had the Stompers looking like a completely different team on Wednesday picking up their ninth win of the season..
After playing the Packers tomorrow, this time at their place, Friday, Saturday and Sunday the Stompers are back at Arnold Field for back to back matchups with the Solano Mudcats and a game against the West Coast Kings.