STOMPERS FALL 7-5 IN NAPA AFTER LATE SLOPPY DEFENSE

NAPA, Calif- The Sonoma Stompers started the weekend with a day game in Napa and took a late lead but could not hold on for the win as Napa rallies in the 8th inning to win.

In the top of the 2nd inning the Stompers took the first lead of the game on Miles Williams’ 7th long ball of the year to put the Stompers up 1-0.

Napa answered in the bottom half of the 2nd inning when Nico Toni doubled to open the inning and he later scored on a Sean Jackson sacrifice fly, tying the game 1-1. 

Rob DeAngelis worked a 1-out walk in the top of the 3rd inning and came around to score on Brent Gillespie’s 2-oput single down the right field line as the Stompers led once again, 2-1.

Napa answered the call right back with 3 run of their own in the last of the 3rd inning. Jordan Garr drove in a run with a single and Jake Marshall brought in 2 with another single to give Napa a 4-2 lead.

 The Stompers got a pair of gifts ion the top of the 6th inning. Gillespie reached on a dropped pop up and Bronson Butcher singled to put 2 mean on. With 2-out, Pedro Barrios drove them both home to tie the game 4-4.

Dondrei Hubbard gave the Stompers their 3rd separate lead of the lead with a solo moonshot to left to lead off the top of the 7th inning, 5-4. 

Jacob Cox (1-0) lasted 7 innings while allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, putting together his best start of 2019 and in line for the win.

Connor Leedholm (0-1) came out of the bullpen for the 8th and did not get any help from his defense. 2 hits and 2 errors in the bottom of the 8th led to 3 unearned Silverado runs as they took a 7-5 lead and that is where it stayed.

The Stompers went 1-2-3 in the 9th inning and fell 7-5 to Napa.

 The Stompers are back home Sunday afternoon at 1:05 against the Salina Stockade on Military Appreciation Day.

STOMPERS USE VALLEJO AS LAUNCHING PAD IN 14-6 VICTORY

VALLEJO, Calif- The Sonoma Stompers looked to take out their frustrations on Vallejo after the poor offensive showing on Thursday night against Napa, and they did, slugging their way to a big victory. 

The Stompers were tasked with facing south paw Mike Melendez (4-3) who has had success this year against them. Pedro Barrios and Dondrei Hubbard led of the game with back-to-back singles. Chris Kwitzer walked to load the bases and with 1 out Jacob Barfield walked to drive in the first run of the game. With 2 outs, Miles Williams walked to double the lead 2-0, as the Stompers took advantage on an erratic Melendez in the 1st inning.

Rayson Romero led off the top of the 2nd inning with a single and came in to score when Hubbard reached on an error by second baseman Aaron Brill. Hubbard later scored on a wild pitch, doubling the lead 4-0. 

Hubbard added to the lead in the top of the 4th inning with his Pacific Association leading 12th home run, a 2-run blast to left field to make it 6-0 Stompers.

The home runs were not finished. Dariel Checo came in for Vallejo in the top of the 5th inning and allowed a solo homer to Brent Gillespie (4) to lead off the inning and a 3-run blast to Hubbard (13) his second of the contest to put the Stompers way out in front 10-0.

Vallejo scratched one across in the bottom of the 5th inning, taking advantage of a tired Vijay Patel (4-1) when he walked in the first Admirals run to make it 10-1.

Patel tossed 5 no-hit innings and ended with 1 run against him while waling 6 and striking out 2.

The Stompers got that run back in the top of the 6th inning on a Jacob Barfield laser home run to left, extending the lead 11-1.

 Willie Ethington (3-0) was the first man out of the bull pen for Zack Pace and he did not last long. After 4 walks, a grand slam and 5 runs later, Ethington was pulled for Marshall Shill who finished the inning but the damage was done as Vallejo inched closer 11-6.

In the top of the 8th inning, Miles Williams launched a 2-run opposite field shot to extend the lead to 13-6. 2 hit-by-pitches and walk loaded the bases as Rob DeAngelis walked to drive in another run and make the score 14-6. 

Marshall Shill, George Faue, Ethan Gibbons and Connor Leedholm tossed 3 2/3 shutout innings to end the ballgame and solidify the Stompers win.

 The Stompers are in Napa on Saturday at 1:05 before returning home in Sunday at 1:05 for Military Appreciation Day.

NAPA SNAPS STOMPERS’ 4-GAME WIN STREAK

SONOMA, Calif- The Sonoma Stompers were unable to stay unbeaten at home this season against the Napa Silverados after the 7-2 loss on Thursday night.

Konner Arnold (4-3) is still trying to pick up where he left off after winning Pitcher of the Month in June. High pitch count led to an early exit for Arnold in Thursday’s game. 

Napa took the lead in the top of he 3rd inning when they collected back-to-back singles by Salas and Conners and then back-to-back doubled by Montelongo and Garr to go out to an early 3-0 lead. 

The Silverados added on in the top of the 5th inning scoring 4 more runs on just one hit, aided by walks.

Arnold was knocked out after 4 1/3 innings. He allowed 5 runs on 5 hits while striking out 7. 

Luke Laurita came out of the bullpen and gave up a single and 2 walks. He was taken out before he recorded an out for right-hander Pat Barnett.

Barnett was flawless, allowing just 1 hit over the last 4 2/3 innings.

The Stompers scored twice in the bottom of the 6th inning. Dondrei Hubbard and Rob DeAngelis hit back-to-back singles to open the inning. Chris Kwitzer and Pedro Barrios then both collected RBI groundouts to make the score 7-2, and it did not change. 

The Stompers dropped Thursday night’s contest and are now 25-9 on the season. The Stompers are on the road Friday night in Vallejo and in Napa for a day game on Saturday. The Stompers are back home Sunday afternoon at 1:05 for Military Appreciation Day. 

ROMERO’S HOME RUN THE DIFFERENCE IN 7-4 WIN OVER SAN RAFAEL

SONOMA, Calif- The Sonoma Stompers had a sloppy game defensively, but production from the bullpen and timely hitting propelled them to a big win over rival San Rafael. 

Nick Barnese (4-0) did not have his best stuff early on as he labored through the first 4 innings.

Raul Navarro opened the ball game with a single and a pair of errors by Jacob Barfield at third base allowed 2 runs to score and give San Rafael an early 2-0 lead. 

The Stompers answered with 2 runs of their own in the bottom half of the 1st inning. Pedro Barrios doubled down the right field line to open the inning and Dondrei Hubbard followed with a walk. Erratic pitching from Brad Bero (1-2) led to 2 runs on wild pitches and passed balls, allowing the Stompers to tie it up 2-2.

Both pitchers settled down for the next 2 innings but the Stompers struck with 3 more in the bottom of the 4th inning when Rayson Romero launched his 2nd home run down the left field line to put the Stompers ahead 5-2. 

San Rafael got back-to-back-to-back 1 out base runners in the top of the 5th inning and Harley Lopez drove in a run on a walk to end the game for Barnese who went 4.1 innings, allowed 4 runs, 2 earned, on 6 hits while striking out 4 and walking 4.

Willie Ethington (3-0) came in and immediately allowed an RBI single to Corey Dempster. On the play Jay Carp also tried to score but he was cut down on at the plate but San Rafael inched closer as the Stompers led just 5-4. 

In the bottom of the 6thinning Rob DeAngelis drove in a run on a bases loaded walk to extend the lead 6-4.

One more run came across for the Stompers in the last of the 7th inning on a Miles Williams RBI single to center to score Barfield and give the Stompers another insurance run, 7-4.

The Stompers used 4 men out of the bullpen and got 4.2 innings of shutout baseball with Ryan Richardson ending the game with his 8th save of the year.

The Stompers are home again on Thursday night for Women In Sports Night at 6:05 against the Napa Silverados.

BARFIELD’S BAT LEADS STOMPERS TO 7-4 WIN OVER VALLEJO

SONOMA, Calif- The Sonoma Stompers concluded their full weeks’ worth of games with their first day-game at Palooza Park at Arnold Field on Sunday afternoon.

Joseph Broderick (1-0) made his second start of the week on Sunday. He struggled with his command early on as he walked 2 in the first but also struck out a pair and walked away without giving up a run.

The Stompers put up a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early lead. Nick Gotta led off the game with a walk and scored on a wild pitch to open the scoring. Dondrei Hubbard then singled home Rob De Angelis to put the Stompers up by a pair.

In the top of the 3rd inning Vlad Gomez launched a no-doubt 3-run home run to left off of Broderick to give Vallejo a 3-2 lead.

Chris Kwitzer tied the game 3-3 with an RBI double to score Miles Williams in the bottom of the 3rd inning.

Vallejo went ahead once more in the top of the 5th inning on a Matt Eureste RBI double, putting Vallejo ahead 4-3.

Jacob Barfield came off the bench for Gotta halfway through the game and his bat made a tremendous impact when he gave the Stompers a 5-4 lead on a 2-run home run which hooked around the left field foul pole. Pedro Barrios walked later in the inning to drive in De Angelis, giving the Stompers a 6-4 cushion.

Barfield Launched his 2nd home run on the game with one out in the 7th to bring the score to 7-4, which it would stay.

Ethan Gibbons was the 3rd Stompers pitcher out of 6 in the ballgame since Broderick only lasted 2.2 innings, and Gibbons earned the win.

The Stompers end the first half of the season with the league’s best record of 24-8 and possess a 5 game lead over San Rafael for 1st place.

STOMPERS WIN SECOND STRAIGHT IN 8-5 WIN OVER SALINA

SONOMA, Calif- The Sonoma Stompers took on the Salina Stockade on Saturday night with Jacob Cox on the mound in just his 3rd start of the season.

Cox was rudely introduced to the game when Justin Byrd homered (7) to open the game and give Salina the early 1-0 lead.

The Stockade extended their lead to 4-0 in the top of the 2nd inning on yet another Byrd home run, this time a 3-run shot to open the Salina lead up to 4-0. 

The Stompers answered in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases on a hit from Pedro Barrios and walks from Jacob Barfield and Rayson Romero. With a left-hander on the mound, Ben Herrick, Barfield stole home in exciting fashion with 2 outs to crack the goose egg for the Stompers. Then, Nick Gotta singled home Barrios to cut the lead in half 4-2. Romero later scored on a wild pitch to bring the Stompers within 1, 4-3. 

Salina got another run in the top of the 3rd inning after Cosimo Cannella reached on an error and scored on a wild pitch to make the score 5-3. 

Dondrei Hubbard led off the bottom of the 4th inning with a ringing double and he scored on a Barrios RBI single, bringing the Salina lead back to just 1, 5-4. 

The Stompers broke it open in the bottom of the 6th inning when they scored 3 times. Romero led off the inning with a single and scored on an error by catcher Nick Crouse to tie it up 5-5. Chris Kwitzer drove a 2-run double to left-center to bring home Rob DeAngelis and Hubbard to give the Stompers their first lead. 

Kwitzer drove in another insurance run in the bottom of the 8th inning, hitting a sacrifice fly to bring DeAngelis home and put the Stompers ahead by 3, 8-5. 

The score would hole there and the Stompers got 4 shutout innings from the bullpen. 2 innings from Willie Ethington; one inning each from Ethan Gibbons and Ryan Richardson, who collected his 6th save. 

STOMPERS GET TIMELY HITS, BULLPEN SLAMS DOOR IN 4-2 WIN

VALLEJO, Calif- The Sonoma Stompers finished their quick two-game series in Vallejo on Friday night with Vijay Patel taking the mound for the first time against Vallejo since tying the strikeout record the last time he squared off against the Admirals.

Patel (3-1) did not allow a base hit until the bottom of the 4th inning when Nick Akins Sr. top-spinned  a solo home run to straight away left field for the first Vallejo hit and the first run of the game for either side.

Vallejo got one more in the bottom of the 5th inning on a Vlad Gomez 2-out RBI double to extend the Admiral lead 2-0.

With Patel on the hook and likely coming out of the game, his offense got him right back into the game in the  top of the 6th inning. Rob DeAngelis led off with a double down the left field line to start things off. With one out Chris Kwitzer launched his 4th home run of the season to dead-center field to tie the game 2-2.

Patel went back out and finished with 6 innings, allowing just 2 runs, 1 earned, on 6 hits while striking out 9.

The Stompers took their first lead of the game in the top of the 7th inning when Rayson Romero hit a sky-scraping home run to left, his 1st of the season, giving the Stompers a 3-2 lead. A pair of walks to Nick Gotta and Miles Williams out pressure on the Admirals defense. DeAngelis hit a grounder to Fornaci at second base who threw it away, allowing Gotta to score and giving the Stompers an insurance run, 4-2. 

Willie Ethington, Connor Leedholm and Ryan Richardson all faced the minimum to slam the door and give Richardson his 5th save in 5 attempts.

The Stompers improve to 22-8 on the season and remain 3.5 games ahead of San Rafael.

The Stompers are home Saturday night at 6:05 for Autism Awareness Night and once again on Sunday afternoon at 1:05.

STOMPERS CANNOT COMPLETE COMEBACK, FALL 7-6 IN VALLEJO LATE

VALLEJO, Calif- The Sonoma Stompers started the first of a 2-game series in Vallejo on Thursday night. After falling behind early, the Stompers attempted to make a comeback in the 9th but came up just short. 

Konner Arnold (4-2) started for the Stompers and got two quick out to open the bottom of the 1st inning but Vlad Gomez back-spun an 0-1 pitch out to right field to open the scoring 1-0.

The Stompers answered with a solo home run in the top of the 2nd inning on Jacob Barfield’s 7th home run of the year to right-center field, tying it up 1-1.

Solo home runs continued to rain in the top of the 3rd inning when Rob DeAngelis and Dondrei Hubbard went back-to-back to straight away right field, taking the lead 3-1. 

Vallejo shortstop inched the Admirals closer in the bottom of the 3rd inning with a sacrifice fly to center field to out Vallejo within one, 3-2.

The Admirals took the lead in the bottom of the 4th inning on a Graylin Derke 2-run bloop single to take a 4-3 lead. 

For the third inning in a row the Admirals scored when they put up another run in the bottom of the 5th inning on a Matt Eureste solo blast to right, making it 5-3. 

Zach Files tacked on another Vallejo run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 7th inning with a sacrifice fly to bring the Admirals lead to 6-3.

With runner at first and second with one out, Chris Kwitzer pinch-hit for Rayson Romero in the top of the 8th inning and lined an RBI single into right field to score Pedro Barrios and cut into the lead 6-4. 

Vallejo extended the lead back to 3 runs on a Chris Fornaci RBI single down the right field line to score Derke and make the lead 7-4.

The Stompers tried to come all the way back in the top of the 9th, working 3 back and a hit batsman against closer Jake Ehret to drive in a run to make it 7-5 and knock Ehret out of the game. Harold Myles then came on for Vallejo and with nobody out and the bases loaded and got Bronson Butcher to pop out to shortstop for the first out. Kwitzer then hit a deep fly ball to center field for a sacrifice fly to knock in another run to make it 7-6 but that was all the Stompers could muster, falling one run short. 

The Stompers are back in Vallejo in Friday night at 6:35 before returning home to end the weekend.

STOMPERS CRUISE TO 7-1 VICTORY OVER SALINA

SONOMA, Calif- The Sonoma Stompers avenged their 4th of July loss to Salina on Wednesday night behind the right arm of Nick Barnese (4-0).

Salina got on the board first in the top of the 3rd inning when leadoff batter Justin Byrd took Barnese deep the other way, giving the Stockade a 1-0 lead. 

The Stompers offense sputtered the first time through against Neil Lang (2-2), but gained traction in the bottom of the 4th inning. 

Nick Gotta led off the inning with a base hit back up the middle, the first of the game for the Stompers. Miles Williams followed with an opposite-field blast, hit 5thhomer of the season, putting the Stompers up 2-1. But the offense did not cease there.

Rob DeAngelis and Dondrei Hubbard collected back-to-back singles and Brent Gillespie drove them both home with a laser double down the right field line, increasing the lead 4-1. Later in the inning, Pedro Barrios hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Gillespie and cap off the 5-run inning which put the Stompers ahead 5-1.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, Daniel Molinari and Barrios notched back-to-back hits and were both moved up on a groundout by Rayson Romero. With one out, Michael Pope balked to bring Molinari home to make it 6-1. 

Barnese impressed once again with 6, 1-run innings while allowing just 5 hits and striking out 7. Well on his way to his 4th win of the season.

The Stompers tacked on one more for good measure in the bottom of the 7th on a Hubbard single to score Gotta and make it 7-1. 

Pat Barnett, Willie Ethington, and Ethan Gibbons tossed 3 shutout innings to close the game out and give the Stompers the win to improve their record to 21-7, 3.5 games ahead of San Rafael. 

The Stompers are in Vallejo Thursday and Friday but will be back home Saturday for Autism Awareness Night at 6:05 and on Sunday for the first home day-game of the season at 1:05.

Tickets can be purchased at stompersbaseball.com.

STOMPERS GET AHEAD EARLY AND STAY AHEAD OF SAN RAFAEL 8-4

SONOMA, Calif- The first place Sonoma Stompers went toe-to-toe with second place San Rafael on Tuesday night and early runs proved to be the difference.

After Stompers pitcher Henry Omana was called up on Tuesday, new starter Joseph Broderick (1-0) made the trip up to Palooza Park at Arnold Field, a place he called home in 2018, to start on the hill for Manager Zack Pace. 

Broderick got a rude awakening to the Pacific Association in 2019 as Raul Navarro homered on the first pitch of the game to give San Rafael an early 1-0 lead. Broderick went on to retire the next 7 hitters in a row. 

The Stompers responded in the bottom of the 1st inning when Nick Gotta worked his league-leading 36thwalk of the season against San Rafael right-hander Chip White (2-2). Miles Williams singled and Rob DeAngelis walked to load the bases for Dondrei Hubbard who flied out to right field, but not deep enough to score the run.Brent Gillespie drove in a run when he reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in Gotta and tie the game 1-1. 

After a pair of walks in the bottom of the 2nd inning put 2 men on, Williams mashed his 4th home run of the season over the scoreboard in left-center field to give the Stompers a 4-1 lead which they would not give back. 

The offense continued in the bottom of the 3rd inning, this time all with 2 outs. Pedro Barrios walked and Bronson Butcher singled to put 2 men on. Rayson Romero then collected his first RBI of the season on a double down the left field line to score Barrios and increase the lead 5-1. Still with 2 out, Gotta looped a 2-run double down the left field line to make it 7-1 after 3 innings. 

San Rafael got one more in the top of the 6thinning on Navarro’s 2nd home run of the game to make the score 7-2. 

In the top of the 7th Broderick allowed 2 more runs when Navarro laced a single into right-center, inching San Rafael even closer 7-4.

In his first start with the club in 2019, Broderick lasted 7 innings while allowing 4 runs on 9 hits and striking out 7, well on his way to a win. 

Luke Laurita came in to start the top of the 8th inning but after 2 men got on, Pace went to the bullpen to bring on Connor Leedholm. 

Leedholm got Lunardelli to strikeout, Escobar to pop out, and Annone to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning without allowing a run. 

The Stompers tacked on one more in the last of the 8thinning on a Gotta RBI single to score Romero and send the game to the 9th 8-4. 

Ryan Richardson came on in a non-save situation and stuck out the side to end the ballgame and give the Stompers a record of 20-7.

The Stompers are back home Wednesday night against the Salina Stockade. It’s Wine Night and tickets are going fast. Purchase yours at stompersbaseball.com.