Stompers drop contest to Crawdads

The Stompers ended their two-game win streak in league play as their offense stalled in an 8-3 loss to the Walnut Creek Crawdads. 

In the first inning, both teams were able to produce early rallies. From the first pitch, the Crawdads were swinging for the fences. A lead-off double and a walk set the stage for a three-run bomb from Brian DuRoff. Stompers pitcher, Daniel Smith, was visibly frustrated with himself, but he would look to settle into the game.

The Stompers looked to quell the frustrations of Smith in the bottom half of the inning. Both Alex Leopard and Alex Gouveia provided back-to-back singles to put the Stompers in business. Colton Lomanto's sacrifice fly knocked in Leopard and put the Stompers on the board. Due to Gouveia's alert base running, he put himself in position for Tucker McEnroe's groundball to allow him to score. After just one inning, the score was 3-2, in favor of the Crawdads.

Daniel Smith would settle in, as he would provide two more innings for the Stompers. Crawdads pitching, however, would surrender a run in the bottom of the third. Leopard would get on base again with a walk to start the rally. After a ground ball from Gouveia and a wild pitch, Leopard found himself at third base. An error from the third baseman resulted in Leopard scoring, and the game was now tied.

The following inning, the Crawdads responded. With Smith out of the game, Hayden Crews was called to the mound. He gave up a four-pitch walk to start the inning, but the devastating blow was a two-shot blast from Taiwan Corio that broke the tie and gave the Crawdads a 5-3 lead. 

Crews walked his third batter to begin the fifth inning, and surrendered a single before he was replaced by Maxx Castellucci. Another walk was awarded to a Crawdad batter, and the bases were loaded. A single and a sacrifice fly pushed the Stompers deficit to 7-3

In the seventh inning, the Crawdads strived to put the game away. Two consecutive singles off of Christian McInerney put runners at second and third with no outs. After a wild pitch, and an error from third baseman Michael Bell, the Crawdads increased the lead to 8-3, and that would be the final score. 

Aside from the early inning fireworks, the Stompers' offense could not generate any offense. Mustering only four hits, a majority of their base runners were walking batters. 

The Stompers will look to move on from this loss when they face the Potters in Lincoln tomorrow night at 6:35 on the Stomper Radio Network.

Stompers fall in well-played game to Riptide

Story written by Stomper intern Sam Basich

Sonoma, CA

Today, the Orange County Riptide (6-5) traveled for the second time in three days to Arnold Field for an attempt at a repeat victory against the Sonoma Stompers (6-9).

The Riptide, unlike the last outing with the Stompers, had a rough start that led to rough games from their three lead off hitters, including an 0-5 performance from lead off hitter, Shane Taylor. However, two consecutive walks would leave two runners stranded for the Riptide in the first. The Stompers would start in similar fashion, stranding one runner in the form of Alex Goveia, who singled for the first of three times in the first inning. 

Ironically, the “wine whiffer” of the night, Brandon Burckel, swung at the first pitch he saw from Stomper starter, Noah Larkin, sending the ball cowering over the bleachers in left field. The Stompers would be unable to answer in the second, leaving two stranded after a rough fielding error by the Riptide.

But Alex Goveia would continue his consistency of reaching base, adding his second single and getting around to 3rd base to give 1st baseman Jack Gallagher an RBI opportunity. Gallagher, however, would let Goveia get dirty, as the speedy second baseman would steal home to tie the game up at one through three innings of play. 

In the 4th, the Riptide unleashed, as a bases loaded, nobody out situation would lead to a sacrifice fly by catcher Nathan Smith, followed by a one out, two-run double to extend the Riptide lead from 2-1 to 4-1. The rally would not be over though, as the Riptide would add one more on a fielder's choice groundout by Taylor. 

Not leaving the inning without a fight, the Stompers would get one run back. Following a lead off double by right fielder Tucker McEnroe, Lomanto would waste no time bringing him across, smoking a double down the line to make it a 5-2 ballgame. 

After back to back lead off singles in the 5th, the Riptide would fail to bring the runners across, after a huge defensive stand by the Stompers. The momentum gained on the defensive side would carry over to the bottom half of the fifth, with center fielder Alex Leopard walking, then Alex Goveia adding his third and final hit of the night, pushing Leopard to third base. Mikey Bell was able to bring Leopard in to score, grounding into a fielder's choice. This would make it a 5-3 ballgame after five innings of play.

The 6th inning went by in a flash, with multiple runners left on base by both the Riptide and the Stompers, with continued strikeout troubles for both teams. The Stompers threw a lineup of left pitchers at the Riptide, getting three-and-two-thirds  innings from Noah Larkin, a bit of work from Daniel Morehead, a couple innings from Jack Cazin, Christian McInerney and Zach Garcia as well. 

The seventh would bring both hope and dismay to Stompers fans, with the Stompers surrendering one more run to the Riptide, coming in the form of a two out fielding error by Gallagher. 

The hope would strike again, with Alex Leopard going from first to third on an infield groundout by Alex Goveia, sliding into third. Leopard wouldn’t need to slide again, stealing home plate with ease, pouncing on a passed ball thrown by Riptide pitcher Thomas Di Landri. The struggles of Gallagher would continue, as a groundout would leave another runner stranded for the Stompers heading into the final two innings of play. The score, 6-4 Riptide.

The 8th inning began in disappointment for the Stompers, ending in the same depressing fashion. A lead off error double by Riptide right fielder Nathan Manning would cease to threaten the Stompers, as a tremendous strike em’ out, throw em’ out double play by pitcher Zach Garcia and catcher Colton Lomanto would yet again bring a new life to the Stomper offense in the bottom half of the 8th. 

Another huge hit would come off the bay of Tucker McEnroe to start the 8th, ending in a tough baserunning error as McEnroe attempted to run home on a Colton Lomanto single. This would be the last sign of life for the Stompers, with the Riptide shutting the door on any run scoring opportunities in the ninth.. 

Tune in Monday as the Stompers travel to Fairfield to take on the Solano Mudcats, a team they have battled with in multiple outings. The Riptide continue their road trip Sunday with a game against the Walnut Creek Crawdads, looking to continue racking on wins before they head back south.

Charpiot's two homer game is not enough for Stompers

Story written by Stompers intern Ryan Giacomini

Friday, the Sonoma Stompers hosted the Arroyo Seco Saints from Pasadena, California. 

The Saints would strike first in the top of the second inning and the Stompers would never be able to regain the lead. The final score was 7-4 in favor of the Saints. 

Cooper Harris would get it going for the Saints with an RBI double in the second and then Matthew Wong would hit a two-run home run in the third inning to make the score 5-0 after three.

In the fifth, the Stompers would cut the lead down to three thanks to a Connor Charpiot two-run home run. 

The Saints would get those two runs back in the seventh and eighth inning and make the score 7-2 going into the ninth inning.

With two outs in the ninth, the Stompers had almost lost all hope but Charpiot would hit another two-run home run to cut the lead to just three runs. Although the good fight, the Stompers would end up falling short.

Charpiot would finish an explosive 2-4 with two home runs and all four Stomper RBIs.

Tomorrow the Stompers take on the Orange County Riptide at 6:05. Tomorrow is Autism Awareness night at Arnold Field. Tickets for tomorrow's game can be purchased at stompersbaseball.com.

Stompers notch win over Crawdads

Story written by Stompers intern Isaac Sullivan

Sonoma, CA

Stompers pick up the win as they improve to 6-8 overall on the season and 3-7 in CCL play. A great start for this week's four game homestand as the Stompers hope to win their way out of last place in their division. 

Continuing an early pattern this summer, the Stompers built an early lead. Jackson Castillo ignited the offense with a lead-off single in the first inning, and after Alex Gouveia walked, Dakota Duffalo was able to bring in both runners for an early 2-0 lead.

The Crawdads, however, responded in the following inning. After Stompers pitcher, Daniel Smith, gave up a pair of walks, Crawdads' shortstop Matt King was able to single in both runs to tie the game.

In the fourth inning, the Stompers would retake the lead. Davis Cop led off the inning with a thunderous solo blast, his first homerun of the summer. Connor Charpiot walked, Rees Kent singled, and Justin Durflinger's ground ball allowed Charpiot to add an insurance run that gave the Stompers a 4-2 lead.

The following inning, Gouveia started the frame with a single, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Noah Rabin singled and Gouveia crossed the plate as Rabin advanced to second due to an errant entry throw from the Crawdads' right fielder. Cop would strike again at the plate with a single that allowed Rabin to grow the lead to 6-2.

The sixth inning would be a struggle with the Crawdads looking to tie the game. After three consecutive singles, the Crawdads had the bases loaded with no outs. A walk given to the following batter forced in a run, and pitcher Daniel Morehead was called to clean up the mess. Morehead would not allow a hit, but the Crawdads still found a way to cut the deficit to 6-5. 

For the remaining innings, the game would become dominated by excellent pitching. No more runs crossed the plate, and the Stompers held on to the 6-5 lead. 

The Stomper will face the Orange County Riptide tomorrow night, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05.

Stompers Fall Short, Despite Rally in the Middle Innings

Story written by Stompers intern Ryan Giacomini

Sonoma, CA

Yesterday, the Sonoma Stompers traveled to Healdsburg to take on the Healdsburg Prune Packers, the second matchup between these teams this season. 

In this game, the Prune Packers would get home quickly as they would score 7 runs in the first two innings. Three of those runs were from Braydon Runion who hit a three-run home run. Runion would finish the game with 4 total runs batted in.

The Stompers would fight and claw their way back as they would score five of the next six runs in the game. Jackson Castillo would hit a solo homerun in that stretch, to continue his great season, and Lomanto would amass three RBI’s on two hits.

After the top half of the 6th, the Stompers had brought the deficit from seven to now just three but in the bottom half of the six, the Prune Packers would score 5 more runs, two of which came from walks with the bases loaded.

From there, we would have three straight scoreless innings from both teams. Dakota Duffalo pinch hit for the Stompers in the ninth, his first at bat since his hamstring injury last week, and made solid contact with the ball for a basehit.

The final would be 13-5 in favor of the Healdsburg Prune Packers. The Stompers record falls to 5-8 and the Prune Packers are now 9-2.

The Stompers have four straight home games, starting today, June 22, and Saturday will be Autism Awarness Night at Arnold Field. The Stompers will host the Orange County Riptide on Thursday and Saturday, as well as the Arroyo Seco Saints on Friday. Tickets for the home stand can be found here.

Stompers week recap

Story written by Stompers Intern Ryan Giacomini

The Sonoma Stompers grabbed a pair of wins against the Lincoln Potters on Wednesday and Friday. Following the week of action, now makes the Stompers 5-7, with still plenty of games to play.

The first game of the week came on Tuesday against the Walnut Creek Crawdads. The Stompers would fall by just one run with the final being 4-3. In this game, second baseman Max Handron would continue mashing the ball as he would hit a three-run home run, his first home run of the season.

On Wednesday, the Stompers would travel to Lincoln to take on the Potters where they would pick up their first win of the week and their first win in conference play. Handron again would get two RBIs and shortstop Alex Gouviea would also get two RBIs in the 8-4 Stompers victory.

The Stompers then had their first home game of the week on Thursday against the West County Kings. In this game, the Stompers would take an early lead but the Kings would score six in the 8th inning to seal the deal. 

Friday, Pride Night at Arnold Field, the Stompers would host the Lincoln Potters in the second game of their two game home stretch. Mikey Bell would have two RBIs in this game, one coming in the 7th inning and the other coming in the 8th inning to give the Stompers the 8-4 victory over the Potters.

On Saturday, the Stompers would take on the Potters again, but this time in Lincoln. The Stompers had very little success offensively as they lost 9-1. Tucker McEnroe would have the only Stomper RBI for the game, his fifth on the season.

On Sunday, the Stompers would play another away game but this time in Fairfield as they would take on the Solano Mudcats. This game was very back and forth as the Mudcats would score two runs in the first and three in the second but the Stompers would respond back with seven of their own in the top half of the fourth inning. Both Jackson Castillo and Davis Cop would have 2 RBI doubles for the Stompers. Unfortunately, the Stompers fell just short after the Mudcats walked it off in the bottom of the 9th, 11-10.

Although the rough week, the Stompers look to pick up some more wins this week as they play six games, four of which are at home. Their next game is against the Healdsburg Prune Packers in Healdsburg on Tuesday. First pitch is 6:05pm.

Previewing the week ahead

Story written by Stompers Intern Brett Ghisletta

The Sonoma Stompers are coming off of a five game week in which they won two of the contests and lost three. Their most recent game was an 11-10 loss against the Solano Mudcats. In yet another offensively dominated game, the Stompers failed to capitalize, as they led 10-8 in the bottom of the ninth and lost control of the lead late.

Max Handron and Noah Rabin have been showing up offensively for the Stompers in the first three weeks of play, as they hold .436 and .357 batting averages and a combined 27 hits. 

The Stompers have five more games this upcoming week, with the final four being at home. Their only road game will take place on Tuesday, in which the Stompers will head to Healdsburg to take on the reigning CCL champion Prune Packers. The Stompers and Packers have faced off once so far this season, in an electric game which saw 26 total runs and a 14-12 Healdsburg victory. They currently hold a 7-2 league record which leads the CCL.

Wednesday night, the Stompers will begin their four game home stand against the Walnut Creek Crawdads. The Crawdads are 3-4 in league play but 6-5 overall, with four players batting over .300 and 100 total hits as a team. The Crawdads defeated the Stompers in their only contest so far this season.

The Orange County Riptide from the CCL South Division head north to take on the Stompers on both Thursday and Saturday, these two teams being at the bottom of their respective divisions. The Riptide hope to earn their first win in over a week, as they have currently lost four in a row. Saturday is Autism Awareness Night at the ballpark. It is presented by Sweetwater Spectrum! Support a great cause and support the Stompers as they take on the Orange County Riptide! 

The Stompers will host another CCL South team, as the Arroyo Seco Saints will make the trip to wine country for a Friday night game. The Stompers pitching staff will have their hands full, as the Saints currently have six players batting over .300 and their plate discipline has led to 47 walks. The Saints sit in second to last place (5th) in the CCL South Division. 

Purchase your tickets today for the home stand! See your Stompers in action at the ballpark or tune into Sonoma TV Comcast Channel 27 or the Stompers YouTube page.

Stompers grab good win over Lincoln Potters

Story written by Stompers Intern Sam Basich 

SONOMA, CA 

Last night, the Lincoln Potters (10-5) traveled for a second time in a one week span to Arnold Field to face the Sonoma Stompers (4-5).

The Stompers got off to what looked to be a very lackluster start, as pitcher Orlando Leon surrendered a lead off homer to Potter left fielder JT Waldon. Leon was able to get out of the inning, keeping the Potters to one.

Luckily, the Stompers were able to score a run of their own to even the score, as after Alex Gouveia reached on an error, it would eventually place him at third base for the Stomper designated hitter, Noah Rabin. Rabin wouldn’t have to do any work to get the run across though, as Goveia took matters into his own hands, stealing home plate on a passed ball. 

The next couple of innings were spotlighted by a strikeout display by both Stomper starter, Orlando Leon, and Potter starter, Bryan Green. Both pitchers would eventually leave the game with six strikeouts a piece respectively, Leon doing this in just three innings of play, despite giving up the lead off bomb. 

After leaving two stranded in the third, the Stompers would take the lead and never look back. A series of walks would leave the bases loaded for Alex Goveia, when this time, he wouldn’t have to do any dirty work. Green walked a run home that would leave the Stompers with a 2-1 lead following the Max Handron strikeout which left the bases loaded to end the inning. 

The Potters, looking to nod the game up at two, pinch-hitted Chase Weissenborn, who would go on to double to left-center only to get left hanging on base after a three strikeout inning by Stomper pitcher, Mason Hilton. 

The theme of the game, similar to last week, would become clear in the sixth inning, as two runners would be left stranded yet again for the Stompers.

However, this narrative failed to hold true for long, with the Stompers getting nice and loose during the seventh inning stretch to break the game wide open. The rally would begin with a Max Handron walk, followed up by back-to-back singles by Noah Rabin and Tucker Mcenroe to load the bases for Jack Gallagher with nobody out. Gallagher would bring the first run in with a sacrifice fly, sending runners to second and third for the third baseman Mikey Bell. Yet another passed ball would score Rabin, and Bell would finish the job with a base hit to bring across McEnroe, making it a 5-1 Stomper lead. The damage would be done despite a single by Conner Blough due to base running complications, leaving three Stompers stranded for a second time in the ballgame.

Another promising Potter lead off double, this time off the bat of  Brandon Motherall, would go awry, as back-to-back strikeouts by Dan Pruitt and Reece Ragitz would leave another run on the base paths for the Potters. 

The Stompers would capitalize on their base runners however, bringing across another insurance run in the form of Mikey Bell’s second rbi single after two singles to start the inning by Max Handron and Noah Rabin. This would make it a 6-1 ballgame heading into the final half-inning of play.

The Potters would do everything in their power to muster a comeback, with two on and nobody out after two singles to start the inning. Chase Weissenbourn, who came in to pinch hit earlier in the game, tripled to right-center, making the score 6-3. The Potters would strike once more to scare Stomper fans out of their seats on Pride night at Arnold Field, as Brandon Motherall would add another hit to his night as well as an RBI. The game ended in a 6-4 final, with pitcher Christian Mcinerney pitching the final 3 innings and racking up a few strikeouts himself.

Six runs on six hits for the Stompers would deliver them their second CCL win, and bring their overall record to an even 5-5. 

Be sure to tune in tomorrow, when these two teams do the same thing on a different day, this time at McBean stadium in Lincoln. The Stompers will look to take a 3-1 series lead over the Potters for the season. Broadcast will be on the Stomper radio network.

Stompers drop a non-league game to the West Coast Kings

Story written by Stompers intern Isaac Sullivan

An inconsistent offense partnered with a pair of errors and several wild pitches resulted in an 11-5 loss to the West Coast Kings. 

The Stompers were able to build an early 2-0 lead in the first inning after Rees Kent singled in the pair of runs. In the second inning, Connor Blough hit a moonshot to extend the Stompers lead to 3-0.

Stompers pitchers Garrett James and Hayden Crews each pitched two innings, and through the first four frames, they allowed a total of one hit. Daniel Morehead allowed the Kings to score their first runs of the game in the sixth inning, as the Stompers lead was now 3-2.

The lead remained intact until a disastrous eighth inning for the Stompers occurred. A solo shot from the Kings tied the game at three. A combination of errors, a hit batter, and several walks allowed the Kings to run around the bases. After the top of the eighth was finally over, the Stompers found themselves down 8-3. 

The Stompers, however, refused to sit back without a fight as Davis Cop led the bottom of the eighth with a single. After two wild pitches, Cop found himself at third base, and Colton Lomanto’s ground out cut the deficit to 8-4. 

The Kings continued to be aggressive as they racked up single after single, and after the top of the final frame, the Kings pushed their lead to 11-4.

The Stompers would respond with one more run, but the Kings walked away with a commanding 11-5 victory. 

The Stompers will be back for tonight's game against the Lincoln Potters at 6:05pm.

Stompers earn first CCL win to snap four game slide

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.