Stompers Re-Sign Home Run Champ Carranza

Joel Carranza returns for his second season after setting the Pacific Association single-season home run record in 2014.

Staff Photo/Sonoma Stompers

Theo Fightmaster, General Manager

The Sonoma Stompers Professional Baseball Club has re-signed the Pacific Association’s single-season Home Run King, Joel Carranza, for the 2015 season. Team President, Eric Gullotta, and General Manager, Theo Fightmaster, announced the signing on Tuesday, Feb. 24.

Carranza led the Stompers and the Pacific Association with a league record 19 home runs, and drove in 64 runs in 2014. In 73 games with Sonoma, the 26-year-old right-handed hitting first baseman hit .270 (77 for 285), with an OPS (on-base-percentage plus slugging) of .862. He also slugged .516 in 2014 by clubbing 31 extra-base hits and walking 31 times. Carranza finished fifth in the 2014 Pacific Association MVP balloting, tallying 11 points in the voting system.

Originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 23rd round of the 2007 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Charles Flanagan High School, in Pembrooke Pines, Fla.

During his four years of professional baseball, Carranza has tallied 45 homers, 201 RBIs, and a .548 slugging percentage.

“I’m super pumped to come back to Sonoma and finish what we started last summer,” Carranza said. “I had a great time with my teammates and this town was so welcoming to me.”

Said team owner Gullotta, “Joel was a big part of our success last year. I can’t wait to see him start crushing baseballs at Arnold Field this summer.”

Stompers Sign Fehlandt Lentini As Player-Manager

Sonoma State Hall of Famer and hometown hero Fehlandt Lentini will join the Sonoma Stompers as a player/manager in 2015.

Staff Photo/Long Island Ducks

Theo Fightmaster, General Manager

The Sonoma Stompers Professional Baseball Club has agreed to terms with Fehlandt Lentini to be the team’s player-manager during the 2015 season. The Stompers General Manager, Theo Fightmaster, and the team’s CEO, Eric Gullotta, announced the move Friday. "With this addition, we're adding an outstanding ball player to our lineup, and a tremendously passionate man to our clubhouse,” Fightmaster said

“Feh has seen, done and achieved so much in this game, and he's ready to begin the next phase of his career. We're thrilled that an opportunity existed within our organization, and privileged we can give Feh the chance to play and manage in front of friends and family – including many who haven't had the chance see him play since high school."

Said Lentini, “I'm at the point in my career where I feel I’m in between playing and coaching. I still have the fire to play, and I'm also excited to share all the knowledge I've accumulated during the course of my career. I'm happy to not only have an opportunity to do both, but to do it where I grew up, and with a group of people I have known for many years. I’m looking forward to bringing some baseball excitement to the Valley.”

Lentini, who moved to Sonoma at the age of 10, and graduated from Sonoma Valley High School in 1995, has 14 seasons of professional baseball experience. Lentini played collegiate baseball at Napa Valley College, and for Coach John Goelz at Sonoma State University.

He was a draft-and-follow selection by the Texas Rangers in the 41st round of the 1996 MLB June Amateur Draft, and was signed out of SSU by the Houston Astros in 2001.

In the 14 seasons of his affiliated, independent and international professional baseball, the outfielder has a career average of .307, 114 home runs, 772 RBIs, and 473 stolen bases. In 2014 with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League, Lentini hit .290, with six homers and 63 RBIs. He was also a perfect 46 for 46 in stolen base attempts.

During his career in independent baseball, the right-handed hitting Lentini owns a career batting average of .319, has belted 42 homers and driven in 259 runs, and has stolen 352 bases – an independent league career record.

During his career, Lentini, 37, has made five all-star teams (Frontier League, 2004, Northern ’06-’08, Golden League, ‘09), won a championship with Maui in 2009 (Golden League), and owns the single-season triples record for the Northern League; a mark he set in 2006 with 13.

“This addition to our organization is a significant step forward for the Stompers,” Gullotta said. “To be able to bring in a guy like Feh, with his experience, talent and passion for the game was the easiest decision I’ve made so far during my tenure. And, on top of all that, with him being a local Sonoman, it’s a home run for this town and the Stompers.”

During the offseason, Lentini will serve as Special Assistant to the President, working on youth skills clinics, community outreach, and assisting in the baseball operations.

Lentini, who attended St. Francis Solano Catholic School with Gullotta, resides in the Valley during the offseason. His sister Madeline is a sophomore at Sonoma High, and his mother Debi Lentini both live in Sonoma. Lentini was inducted in the Sonoma State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010. Described by the SSU Media Relations department:

"A two-year star for the Sonoma State baseball team, Lentini got his career underway in 1998, batting .309 and stealing 15 bases.  Following a two-year absence from the team, Lentini returned in 2001 and really made a name for himself. Turning in perhaps the greatest single season in school history, Lentini established school records for batting average (.427), hits (117), doubles (23), triples (10), and runs (89) that still stand to this day.  SSU's all-time leader in career batting average (.385), Lentini was a First Team All-American in '01.  He was also the West Region and CCAA Player of the Year during his remarkable senior campaign.  Following the 2001 season, Lentini was signed by the Houston Astros, an organization he played with for several years before taking his career to the independent leagues, where he still plays."

Ray Serrano, who managed the Stompers to a 42-36 record during the team’s inaugural season in 2014 has accepted a full-time position with the Atlanta Braves, where he will serve as the organization’s catching instructor.

Stompers Sign International Battery Out Of California Winter League

The Sonoma Stompers added a handful of new players to the 2015 roster, as they signed Japanese right-handed pitcher Ryuske Kikusawa, and Puerto Rican catcher, Billy Gonzalez. Stompers Vice President and General Manager, Theo Fightmaster, announced the acquisitions Thursday. Kikusawa, 23, earned a spring training invitation with the Tokyo Giants before his impressive performance in the California Winter League. The 6-foot righty features a good fastball, 86-88 MPH and a stellar split finger pitch. In the California Winter League, Kikusawa is 2-1 with a better than 7-1 strikeout to walk ratio, and an ERA of 1.87.

Gonzalez, 23, from Ponce Puerto Rico, caught for the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League in 2014. The 5-foot, 11-inch right-handed hitting backstop appeared in 21 games and showed great promise defensively and with the bat.

‘These two young men are promising athletes, and fantastic kids,” Fightmaster said. “They will cherish the opportunity to play for Sonoma, and Sonoma will enjoy watching them.”

Gonzalez is expected to share catching duties with 2014 Pacific Association Gold Glove catcher, Andrew Parker. Parker is signed on to rejoin the Stompers this summer.

“This gives us, in my opinion, two of the best defensive catchers in the league,” Fightmaster said. “We can keep them both fresh, and that will keep our pitchers comfortable.”

The Stompers also signed third baseman, and utility infielder Danny Martinez on Wednesday. Martinez, 23, of St. Petersburg, Fla. Stands 6-foot, and bats and throws right-handed. His crisp defensive play, lightening-quick hands and strong arm impressed Stompers management during a tryout in Palm Springs.

Also on Wednesday, Yuki Yasuda, a 24-year old second baseman, also agreed to terms with the Stompers. Yasuda hit .321 in 2014 while playing for the Douglas Diablos of the Pecos League. The second baseman and utility infielder drove in 22 runs, stole eight bases, scored 14 runs and reached base at a .390 clip.  Yasuda hit .344 in limited action with the Houston Applos during the 2014 Pecos Spring League.

Diamond Notes: Stompers Sign Martinez And Yasuda

Theo Fightmaster, General Manager

Wednesday was the kind of day that makes my job so great. After spotting a handful of talented players on Tuesday, we were prepared to offer contracts to a couple of young ballplayers.

The first was a 23-year-old kid by the name of Daniel Martinez. Martinez is from St. Petersburg, Fla., and grew up a Yankees fan, rooting and idolizing Derek Jeter. His mother, Maria — another diehard Yankees fan — was with him, rooting on her son for the past week in Palm Springs.

We saw Daniel make some slick plays at third base yesterday. He’s got a strong and accurate arm, and incredible hands. Though he loves Jeter, his smoothness and swagger on the infield is more reminiscent of Robinson Cano.

It was such a thrill for me to offer Daniel his first professional contract. We discussed the team, the league, told him and his mother about Sonoma, and made a dream come true. To quote the great basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, “How cool is that?”

Daniel played in a wood-bat league last summer, where he hit .296, with three homers, five triples and 11 doubles. He also stole 23 bases. I’m confident he can lock down a starting job on our infield and be a part of the Stompers success until other teams realize what he can do at the next level.

Daniel came to us highly recommended by Tim Johnson — a former manager for the Toronto Blue Jays — currently Daniel’s infield instructor down here in the California Winter League.

It was with similar enthusiasm that we signed a young Japanese utility infielder by the name of Yuki Yasuda. With this signing, the Stompers lead the Pacific Association with the most players named Yuki in league history. Yuki is from Japan, and is very good friends with Yuki Sakama, our ace left-handed reliever in 2014. Sakama and Yasuda spoke over the phone Tuesday night, and Sakama was kind enough to give the Stompers the highest of recommendations.

Yasuda is 24, stands 5-foot, 10-inches tall, and play a mean second base. He can also spray the ball to all fields with that patented Japanese approach at the plate that puts an emphasis on solid contact, and hitting the ball where it’s pitched.

Yasuda has three years of pro experience under his belt, having played the last three seasons in the Pecos League. In 2014 he hit .321 with 22 RBIs, got on base at a .390 clip and stole eight bases. He committed only three errors all season.

Diamond Notes: California Winter League Day 1

Theo Fightmaster, General Manager

There’s a lot that goes into a nebulous job description such as General Manager. In the world of pro sports, it carries a fair amount of political capital and prestige. But, in reality, at the independent level the GM is as concerned with the condiment station at the concession stand as he is with the second baseman's OBP. But there are times like these, thankfully.

This week Ray Serrano (the Stompers 2014 manager), our CFO, Derek Rampone, and myself  (Theo Fightmaster, the Stompers GM) traveled to Palm Springs to scout players at the California Winter League. This week is all about the baseball, something I’m incredibly passionate about.

After Monday’s 8-hour drive from Sonoma County to Palm Springs — where Ray and I discussed 1990’s gangsta rap, our favorite performances from Sunday night’s Grammys, and how driving past Harris Ranch makes us consider alternative lifestyles, like vegetarianism — Tuesday was pure baseball.

We strolled into Palm Springs Stadium about 9:30 a.m., and it was already a balmy 81 degrees. The stadium is a quaint little ballpark, built in 1941 in the shadows of the Santa Rosa Mountains. The stadium was originally constructed to serve as an area polo grounds. In the late 1960’s former Los Angeles Angels owner Gene Autry was awarded expansion from Major League Baseball and made Palm Springs the team’s spring training home. Since then it’s been used for countless affiliated teams, independent teams, college and high school playoffs, and for the past six years, the California Winter League.

The league is made up of 10 teams, with about 18-20 players on each club. These young men play for a little more than a month down here, competing for league supremacy, their teammates and, of course, the hopes of a pro contract.

Ray, who is like the Puerto Rican Bob Hope, seems to have friends wherever he goes. He was taking photos with old teammates, catching up with old friends, coaches and opponents. Today, he also ran into an old manager, Tim Johnson — who also managed the Toronto Blue Jays in 1998, as well as countless other teams and holding other titles. Tim turned us onto a handful of infielders, introduced us to some other well-connected coaches, and pointed out a pitcher who was converting from the outfield — and happened to throw an easy 92 MPH. The old whicker-hat wearing scouts had the radar gun fixed on the 6-foot, 4-inch right hander.

The talent here covers a wide swath. There are some guys who definitely can play, like one catcher from Puerto Rico, who is coming off a championship in the Caribbean World Series. There are also a number of guys who probably struggled to get on the field for the high school teams. This is why a guy like Ray, and his connections to Tim Johnson, James Frisbee, and countless others is so valuable; they help us weed out the wheat from the chaff.

Well, that’s about all for now. It’s almost dinnertime, and Derek, Ray and I need to set up a game plan for tomorrow. There’s a lot of talent out there, and only 99 days until the Stompers report to Spring Training.