Joel Carranza had a record-setting night as the Stompers tied four team records in a 17-5 blowout win over the Pacifics.
Danielle Putonen/Sonoma Stompers
Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations
It's good to let your bats do the talking when looking to bounce back after a tough loss where tempers were raised. It's even better when you get to do it against your biggest rivals. It's the best when you get to set records while doing it.
A night after the San Rafael Pacifics soundly defeated the Sonoma Stompers, the Stompers roared back with an overall offensive attack that was the best single performance in team history, a 17-5 drubbing of the Pacifics where four team records were tied.
As a team, Sonoma's (5-3 2nd half, 31-14 overall) 17 runs tied the most runs scored in a single game, matching the number scored in their game against the Vallejo Admirals back on June 7 of this season. The 20 hits tied the record set back on July 17 in that crazy 16-5 loss against the Admirals.
In addition to the team records, Joel Carranza had the single most impressive performance by a player in the history of the franchise. The second-year Stomper went 5-for-6 in the game with two home runs and seven RBI, tying Mark Hurley's mark for hits in a single game (July 17 vs. Vallejo) and Isaac Wenrich's mark for RBI (June 7 vs. Vallejo). The night extended his hitting streak to 14 games and put his triple slash mark at .364/.406/.582 for the season with nine home runs.
The entire offense started off hot and didn't really cool down. Against Ryan DeJesus (2-4), the Stompers sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning and had seven hits, bringing home five runs and putting the Stompers ahead basically for good. They scored in each of the first four innings, all against DeJesus, to go up 10-0 before the Pacifics got their first run. Of course, that run was on a Matt Chavez solo homer, his 21st of the season to extend his single-season home run record.
Yet even with the league's best hitter doing what he normally did, the Pacifics offense was shut down by Gregory Paulino (5-2). After allowing 14 runs in his previous two starts at Albert Park, Paulino was terrific in his seven innings on Saturday, allowing only two runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts. The right-hander has struck out 20 batters in his last 21 1/3 innings and has allowed only four runs with 19 baserunners (15 hits, 4 walks).
Elsewhere for the Stompers, Kristian Gayday had a terrific game with a 4-for-5 night that saw him come to the plate in the eight with a chance at a natural cycle. Instead, Gayday dropped a single down the right-field line to just miss out on another historic event for the Stompers. It was Gayday's best night as a Stomper this season.
Gered Mochizuki extended his own hitting streak to 13 games with a 2-for-5 night and Brennan Metzger went 3-for-5 with a walk. Yuki Yasuda added two doubles and Mark Hurley went 2-for-5 with 2 RBI. Both Metzger and Carranza each scored four times.
With the major bounceback win on Saturday, the Stompers will try and take both the series and the week-long stretch against the Pacifics, as Paul Hvozdovic will get the start for Sonoma. First pitch is set for 1:05 with the radio broadcast beginning at 12:50 on StompersBaseball.com and the TuneIn app for mobile devices.