Late Error Costs Stompers In Series Opener With Admirals

Matt Hibbert had two hits and two runs driven in on Friday night for the Stompers.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

Taking advantage of a throwing error by Erik Gonsalves with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth, the Vallejo Admirals batted around in the inning and scored five unanswered runs to take their series opener with the Sonoma Stompers at Arnold Field, 8-3.

With the score 3-3 coming into the eighth, the inning became an issue right away after a leadoff walk to Brad Young, who had walked only five times coming into Friday night's game for Vallejo (13-21). From there, Tyler Nordgren reached when his sacrifice bunt attempt was placed perfectly on the right side of the infield, and after Tony Uyeno's successful sacrifice bunt, the wheels fell off for Gonsalves (3-2).

He then hit #9 hitter Aaron Brill with a pitch to load the bases, and then Gadiel Baez singled through the hole on the right side to a drawn-in infield to give Vallejo the lead, 4-3. It was there that the error with Gonsalves occurred, where on a comebacker, he turned to second instinctively thinking of getting a double play instead of coming home, and then when he turned to throw home, he threw it into the dirt and it got past catcher Isaac Wenrich. Two runs came home on the throwing error to give Vallejo a 6-3 lead.

Jon Rand, Jr. came in to try and stop the bleeding, but P.J. Phillips singled to left field on the first pitch he saw to plate Baez and Jaylen Harris, putting the game away for the Admirals, who won for just the second time in 2015 against Sonoma. (21-11).

Matt Walker was able to keep the Admirals off balance for 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks. Offensively for Sonoma, Kristian Gayday hit his second home run of the season and Matt Hibbert added two hits and two RBIs. Mark Hurley scored two times, as well.

The Stompers held the lead twice in the early going thanks to Hibbert's RBI double and Gayday's home run, but Vallejo matched them with runs thanks to a sacrifice fly by former Stomper Glenn Walker and the home run by Young. After giving up the lead to Vallejo in the seventh on a wild pitch, Sonoma never led again.

Sonoma did get some good news after the game, as San Rafael lost at Pittsburg, 4-1, which cut the Stompers Magic Number to clinch the Pacific Association first half championship to three. Sonoma and San Rafael play one more time before the first half ends this upcoming Monday at Albert Park.

The two teams will face off again on Saturday in game two of their three game set, with the first pitch set for 5:05 p.m. Sonoma will be taking donations for Lego Africa that evening, as fans who bring a 1-gallon Ziploc bag full of used Lego pieces to the park will receive a free general admission ticket. The donations will benefit hundreds of students in need at schools across Africa who use them to build cognitive skills.

Tickets begin at just $4 and can be purchased online at StompersBaseball.com or at the Stompers Fan Shop, located at 234 W. Napa St. in beautiful downtown Sonoma. Tickets can also be purchased at the gates at Arnold Field before any home game. For more information, call the Stompers at (707) 938-7277 or email the team at info@stompersbaseball.com.

BOX SCORE

Thursday's Game Postponed Due To Inclement Weather

Sonoma's game against Pittsburg tonight has been postponed. No makeup date has been announced.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Thursday night's regularly scheduled series finale at Arnold Field between the Pittsburg Diamonds and the Sonoma Stompers has been postponed due to inclement weather. No makeup date has been announced yet. Fans who purchased tickets for tonight's game will have them honored for the makeup date once it is announced.

The Stompers will be back on the field tomorrow night to open up a three game series against the Vallejo Admirals. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. with the gates opening at 5 p.m. for our normal Stompers Hour pre-game promotion.

Tickets begin at just $4 and can be purchased online at StompersBaseball.com or at the Stompers Fan Shop, located at 234 W. Napa St. in beautiful downtown Sonoma. Tickets can also be purchased at the gates at Arnold Field before any home game. For more information, call the Stompers at (707) 938-7277 or email the team at info@stompersbaseball.com.

Hurley Hits First Walkoff HR In Team History, Stompers Magic Number Now At 5

Mark Hurley watches his game-winning two-run homer leave Arnold Field Wednesday night. It was the first walk-off homer in the history of the Stompers franchise.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Stomp-Off: Video of Hurley's Homer

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

You could feel the weight being lifted off the collective backs of the Sonoma Stompers when the ball left Mark Hurley's bat in the final inning. Losses in seven out of their last nine games. Four straight losses, including three at home after winning their first 10 games in 2015 at Arnold Field.

All it took was one swing to put all that behind them.

Hurley's two-run homer off Pittsburg starter Jheyson Manzueta in the bottom of the ninth relieved all of Sonoma's recent ailments and gave the Stompers a 4-3 win over the Diamonds, breaking Pittsburg's six-game win streak and their own four-game losing streak.

Sonoma (21-10) took the lead in the seventh on a two-out, two-run double by Gered Mochizuki on a deep fly ball to center that Kahou Gaspar couldn't corral, giving Sonoma their first lead of the game.

But Pittsburg (14-18) came right back in the top of the eighth. Facing Jerome Godsey, Mike Taylor smashed a lined shot deep and out to left for his 10th home run to tie the game at 2-2. Godsey faced more trouble later in the inning as he loaded the bases and allowed Leo Rodriguez to hit a sacrifice fly to right, giving Pittsburg a 3-2 lead.

Yet the Stompers found something in the late innings that hadn't been there recently. San Rafael came back with two runs in the eighth to pull away from Sonoma back on June 29. The Pacifics had another late-game rally in Sunday's finale of a day/night doubleheader, and Tuesday night, the Diamonds pulled away with six in the ninth inning to spoil a great start by Sean Conroy.

It was the third #StompOff victory of the season for Sonoma, with Hurley being involved in the first one back on June 3 when he raced home on a wild pitch against the very same Pittsburg team in a 10-9, come-from-behind win to complete a sweep in the first series of 2015.

At the plate, Hurley had two hits, two runs scored, and those two RBIs on the game-winning home run. Isaac Wenrich also added two hits to raise his batting average to .301. T.J. Gavlik and Fehlandt Lentini each scored runs, as well.

Mike Jackson, Jr. pitched terrifically but ended up with a no-decision, as the Pittsburgh native had his best start yet as a Stomper. He went seven strong innings allowing six hits, one walk and only one earned run while striking out a season-high nine. The nine strikeouts are the third most by a Stompers starter this season. He now has a 3.16 ERA on the season and has struck out 32 batters in 37 innings.

Ryusuke Kikusawa (1-0) picked up the win in relief, as he retired the last four batters he faced in order to keep Sonoma within one. He entered the game with runners at second and third with two outs in the eighth and got Brandon Williams to fly out to end the Diamonds scoring run.

For Sonoma, it was the type of win they had been seeking for quite some time. The previously mentioned slides had brought them back closer to the pack in the Pacific Association with both San Rafael and Pittsburg playing well enough where the Stompers would have to work harder than ever to clinch their first half title.

With Wednesday's victory, the Stompers are still on pace to clinch the first half championship by week's end, and with some help from San Rafael like they got today, where the Pacifics gave up a lead with two outs in the ninth to reeling Vallejo, the hometown faithful at Arnold Field will have something to cheer about before the homestand ends on Sunday.

For now, the Stompers will enjoy the spoils before getting back to work Thursday evening in the rubber match of their three game series with the Diamonds. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. and Sonoma's Opening Night starter, Matt Walker, is the probable starter.

Tickets begin at just $4 and can be purchased online at StompersBaseball.com or at the Stompers Fan Shop, located at 234 W. Napa St. in beautiful downtown Sonoma. Tickets can also be purchased at the gates at Arnold Field before any home game. For more information, call the Stompers at (707) 938-7277 or email the team at info@stompersbaseball.com.

BOX SCORE

Stompers Lose 7-5 As They Give Up Lead In Final Inning

Sean Conroy was great for eight innings on Tuesday night, striking out six in his eight innings of work. He gave up his only two earned runs of the season in the ninth, taking 26 innings to do so.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

For the first month of the season, Arnold Field was almost like a safe haven for the Sonoma Stompers. They went undefeated in 10 games to start their home schedule, creating the best homefield advantage in the Pacific Association.

Now, the Stompers have lost their last three games at home, and their loss on Tuesday is the most stinging loss of the year so far. With Sean Conroy, the team's best pitcher, starting the ninth with only 80 pitches thrown, an error and a bloop single led to a nightmare of an inning for the Stompers, as Pittsburg scored six runs to come back and defeat Sonoma, 7-5.

Sonoma (20-10) has now lost four straight games for the first time in 2015 and are 9-9 in their last 18 after starting the season 11-1. Conroy (2-1) was pitching fantastically for eight innings, allowing only one run on a double by Andrew Rubalcava, but an error by Danny Baptista at third base started off what became the game-winning rally for the visitors.

Pittsburg (14-17) batted around in the inning, as after chasing Conroy after the bloop single, Paul Hvozdovic came in to try and finish the game off. However, the lefty couldn't get the left-handed hitting Rubalcava, who used the butcher boy play against a drawn in infield to single home the game's tying run.

After that, the Diamonds scored four more times against Hvozdovic to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 7-3 lead, quieting the crowd and turning what could have been a big night for Conroy and the Stompers into a disaster that had to be cleaned up quickly if Sonoma had any thoughts about halting their losing streak.

They had their shot, too, as Diamonds closer Steve Chapter had a bout of wildness in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and the bases already loaded, Chapter hit Yuki Yasuda with a pitch and then walked T.J Gavlik to make it 7-5 and bring Matt Hibbert to the plate, who leads the team in both wOBA and wRC+, two of the more important advanced metrics to gauge offensive performance.

But it wasn't Chapter that Hibbert would face. He instead took on the hard-throwing Clint Manzo, and Manzo took on the challenge and won it, striking out Hibbert to end the game and Sonoma's two-out, last gasp of a rally.

Outside of Kristian Gayday's 0-for-4 night, all of Sonoma's other eight starters had at least one hit, with Fehlandt Lentini, Joel Carranza and Isaac Wenrich all having two-hit games.

For Conroy, it was a tough loss to take. Over his eight innings of work, he was responsible for four runs, but only two were earned. They are the first earned runs Conroy has allowed in 2015. He allowed six hits and walked one while striking out six. However, he's still amongst the best pitchers in the Pacific Association, carrying a 0.69 ERA and a 1.50 FIP in 26 innings of work.

With San Rafael taking care of Vallejo on Tuesday night, the Stompers lead in the Pacific Association standings has been cut to three, and their magic number is still at 7 for the first half championship.

The Stompers will try again tomorrow with Mike Jackson, Jr. taking the hill to try and stop the Stompers four-game skid, as they will host the Diamonds in game two of a three game series. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m., with the gates at Arnold Field opening at 5 p.m.

Tickets begin at just $4 and can be purchased online at StompersBaseball.com or at the Stompers Fan Shop, located at 234 W. Napa St. in beautiful downtown Sonoma. Tickets can also be purchased at the gates at Arnold Field before any home game. For more information, call the Stompers at (707) 938-7277 or email the team at info@stompersbaseball.com.

BOX SCORE

Stompers Swept In Doubleheader, Lead Now Down To 4 Games Over Pacifics

Daniel Baptista had four hits in Sunday's doubleheader, and his .348 batting average is the third best in the Pacific Association.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

When Sonoma saw the San Rafael Pacifics on the schedule seven times this past week, there was this idea that the Stompers would use the week's worth of competition as a catapult towards clinching the Pacific Association's first half championship.

Yet here the Stompers are at the end of the week looking back at a 2-5 record against San Rafael, and after losing both games in Sunday's doubleheader against the Pacifics, Sonoma sits only four games up on San Rafael with 10 games to go in the first half. Sonoma got behind early against San Rafael in the opener at Arnold Field and fell 8-1, while a six-run fourth inning doomed the Stompers in game two at Albert Park, 8-4.

It wasn't what Sonoma (20-9) was looking for, obviously, as they came into the week with a magic number of 11 to clinch the first half. With seven games against San Rafael (16-13), a week over .500 would have put them on the precipice, but the Pacifics offense that has helped the team to 11 wins in their last 16 games came out to play this week.

The opener saw the Pacifics take advantage of a Kristian Gayday error in the first inning that ended up leading to three runs, and in the second inning, Matt Chavez used the elements in play to launch a three-run homer to right-center at Arnold Field on a fly ball that looked routine until the wind took it for a ride right over the fence.

Eric Schwieger (3-1) went the distance for Sonoma in the loss, and the bad luck that befell him with the error and the elements ended up stinging the big left-hander is loss of 2015.

Sonoma's offense picked up in the second game. After being down 2-0, the Stompers roared back for two runs in the second and fourth innings to take a lead against San Rafael pitcher Ryan DeJesus (2-2).

But the Pacifics came right back in the bottom half of the inning against Gregory Paulino (2-3) and chased him from the game thanks to a two run double from Adrian Martinez that tied the game. When Erik Gonzalves relieved Paulino with the bases loaded, his first pitch to David Kiriakos was lined right over the head of Gayday at third and down the line for a bases– clearing double, which gave San Rafael all they needed.

All in all, the seven games in six days didn't seem to sit well with the Stompers. Their offense was not as sharp as it had been the previous four weeks and some of that had to do with facing San Rafael's pitching staff, which was the best in the league overall when using advanced stats such as FIP.

Meanwhile, the pitching staff that was the best in the league are preventing runs ended up not having their best week either. In total, Sonoma's pitchers gave up a total of 43 runs this week, bringing their ERA as a team to 4.14. This is something that might've been coming all along for Sonoma, as their FIP coming into Sunday's action sat at 4.24. The team had been outperforming it's FIP for the first month of the season, and it now looks like it's correcting itself

It was a banner week for San Rafael's Matt Chavez as he hit five home runs to increase his league best total to 13. By Sunday's end, Chavez was at the top of all three Triple Crown categories in the Pacific Association.

Daniel Baptista was the highlight of the day offensively for Sonoma, as he led the way with four hits in the doubleheader. Mark Hurley added three hits in both games to push his stats to .301/.373/.403 on the season. The Stompers left fielder has nine hits in his last 19 at-bats.

After the off day on Monday, Sonoma will play their next six games in the friendly confines of Arnold Field. Their first game will take place Tuesday evening when the red-hot Pittsburg Diamonds come to town, winners of their last five in a row. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.

Tickets begin at just $4 and can be purchased online at StompersBaseball.com or at the Stompers Fan Shop located at 234 W. Napa St. in downtown Sonoma. The gates are open one hour before first pitch and fans can purchase tickets there, as well. For more information, call the Stompers at (707) 938-7277 or email the team at info@stompersbaseball.com.

GAME 1 BOX SCORE GAME 2 BOX SCORE

Stompers Fall 6-2, First Home Loss Of 2015

Fehlandt Lentini and the Stompers will play a unique doubleheader on Sunday against San Rafael, with Game 1 taking place at Arnold Field beginning at 1:05 p.m. Game 2 is in San Rafael beginning at 6:05.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

It started out looking like another one of those starts for Matt Walker, where he used deception and command to keep the San Rafael Pacifics off balance. Then the Pacifics offense that had helped the team to eight wins out of their last 13 showed up and proved why they are a team to watch towards the end of the first half of the 2015 Pacific Association campaign.

A two-out, two-run single from Zack Pace and a two-run opposite-field shot by Jeremy Williams where the big blows in San Rafael's 6-2 victory over Sonoma, as the Pacifics handed the Stompers their first loss at Arnold Field in 2015.

Sonoma (20-7) played small ball early and were able to push across a run in the third, followed up by back-to-back two-out doubles by Danny Baptista and Mark Hurley in the fourth to make it 2-0. This seemed like a good start for Walker (2-2), who retired 12 straight at one point.

But it was the fifth inning that turned things around, as Walker walked three batters in a row with two outs and gave up Pace's two-run single to tie the game. Then Williams hit his two-run homer in the sixth to give San Rafael the lead for the first time, and their bullpen came up big in support of Nick DeBarr (2-2).

After seven strong innings from their Opening Night starter, the Pacifics turned to the hard throwing tandem of Cody Bostjancic and Michael Kershner to wrap things up, with Kershner striking out Isaac Wenrich to end the game.

Sonoma's offense was held in check after that second run came home, but they had their chances to tie things up. Wenrich in particular had a chance to remember, as he launched a high fly ball down the right field line with a runner on in the seventh, but it drifted foul instead of becoming a game-tying two-run homer. The team left a total of 11 runners on in the game.

The loss for Sonoma keeps their magic number at 7 with 12 more games to play in the first half, including three more against the Pacifics. Two of those games will happen tomorrow as part of a unique day/night doubleheader where each team will host one of the two games.

Game one is set for a 1:05 first pitch, as the big lefty Eric Schwieger will take the mound for Sonoma in the rubber match of the three game set at Arnold Field. Game two will start at 6:05 at Albert Park in San Rafael, where a starter has not yet been named for the Stompers. Tickets purchased for the first game at Arnold Field will also be accepted for the second game at Albert Park.

BOX SCORE

Stompers Magic Number For First Half Title Now 7 After 3-2 Win

Mike Jackson's six strong innings helped the Stompers to their 20th win of 2015 and kept the team undefeated at Arnold Field.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

Ho-hum games aren't something seen on the regular in the Pacific Association, as any game with less than 10 total runs scored is looked at as some type of anomaly. It was one of those anomalies on Thursday night, and for the Stompers, it was an anomaly they were happy to be a part of.

Thanks to a strong start from Mike Jackson and shutdown relief work from Paul Hvozdovic and Sean Conroy, the Sonoma Stompers got ever closer to the Pacific Association 1st half championship with a 3-2 victory over the defending champion San Rafael Pacifics.

Sonoma (20-6) is the first team to 20 wins in the Pacific Association and has a magic number of 7 for the 1st half title. They also remain undefeated at home, as they are now 10-0 at Arnold Field so far in 2015.

Sonoma got out to an early lead thanks to an RBI single by Gered Mochizuki and a sacrifice fly by Kristian Gayday in the first, and after Sergio Miranda's sac fly in the second, Sonoma got all the runs they'd need on the evening.

Much of their success had to do because of  mishaps by San Rafael (13-13). In the bottom of the second inning, Maikel Jova's error on a fly ball allowed Fehlandt Lentini to reach and keep the inning alive for Miranda's sac fly. In the top of the third, with two runs already in for San Rafael, Jova came home from third on a sharp grounder to Danny Baptista at first and was easily thrown out, keeping the Pacifics from tying the game.

Then, with the tying runs on later in the game, San Rafael learned the hard way about giving away outs with the sacrifice bunt. After Adrian Martinez's leadoff double in the fourth, a sac bunt from David Kiriakos moved him over to third base, but Zack Pace bounced out to the pitcher and a groundout by Johnny Bekakis ended the threat.

An even more egregious move was made in the sixth, when runners were at first and second with nobody out, but Kiriakos grounded out to short against a drawn in infield for the second out and Pace flew out to end the inning.

Those were the best opportunities San Rafael would get against Jackson (3-1), who pitched around some bad batted ball luck and found the strike zone a lot in his six innings, allowing eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

Hvozdovic got a scare against Matt Chavez in the seventh when the league's leading home run hitter crushed a ball, but Chavez hit it to the wrong part of the yard, as Lentini ran it down in center just shy of the fence. After a scoreless eighth, Conroy shut the door in the ninth for his fifth save, giving him 17 innings with a 0.00 ERA.

Joel Carranza's hot streak continued, as well, as he went 2-for-3 for his fourth consecutive multi-hit game and his seventh over his last 10 games. He's now hitting .350/.400/.550 this season, leading the team in all three triple slash categories and amongst the top 5 in the Pacific Association in each category, as well.

Sonoma will come back home on Saturday evening for the first time ever on Independence Day, as the Stompers will host the Pacifics in game two of their three game series. Before the game, the Stompers will march in the nationally renowned 4th of July parade at 10 a.m.

The first pitch is set for 5:05 p.m., with the gates opening at Arnold Field beginning at 4 p.m. Parking will be tough to come by at the normal parking lot between the field and Depot Park, so fans are encouraged to park in the parking lot behind the Veteran's Memorial Building, with entrances on both 1st Street West and 1st Street East.

Tickets are available online at StompersBaseball.com and at the gate once it opens. For more information on ticket sales, please call the Stompers at (707) 938-7277 or email the team at info@StompersBaseball.com.

BOX SCORE

Stompers Avoid Sweep In Big Way With 16-7 Drubbing Of Pacifics

Gered Mochizuki got back on track with a three-hit performance on Thursday, one of four Stompers players with three hits on the evening.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

It was one of the most interesting and entertaining games of the season, featuring 23 runs, a position player pitching, a new franchise record for hits in a single game by the Stompers and an ejection that Ray Serrano himself would be proud of.

On top of all that, there was a win in there somewhere for the Stompers, as Sonoma snapped a three game losing streak with a 16-7 romp over the San Rafael Pacifics at Albert Park on Thursday night.

Sonoma (19-6) had been reeling a bit after losing three straight for the first time in 2015, and with the wrong end of a sweep staring them in the face against a San Rafael (13-12) team looking to close the gap between the top two teams in the league, a win on Thursday night would keep the Pacifics at bay before the two teams head to Sonoma for another three-game series.

That's the message Sonoma seemed to carry with them from the very start against Wander Beras (1-1), who was coming off a tremendous debut with the Pacifics last week where he struck out 10 batters in only 5 1/3 innings. The hard throwing lefty was hit hard from the get go, and after a four run first inning, Sonoma decided a second one of those would do just fine.

Even after a Matt Chavez solo blast in the bottom half of the first, when San Rafael came back to the plate in the bottom half of the second, it was 8-1 and the rout was on.

The Stompers broke the franchise record for hits with 19 on the evening and were a run shy of tying that particular franchise record, as well. Gered Mochizuki, Joel Carranza, Isaac Wenrich and Mark Hurley all had three-hit nights, with Mochizuki's three hits breaking an 0-for-11 skid in the series.

Yet even with all the offense on the evening helping Sonoma to their first win of the season at Albert Park, this game will most likely be remembered for what happened in the top of the fifth inning. After Sergio Miranda grounded out to shortstop, Sonoma manager Fehlandt Lentini was arguing with the umpire about a 3-1 pitch in Miranda's at bat that was called a strike, yet looked outside to Miranda, Lentini, and many members of the Stompers dugout.

As Mochizuki stepped to the plate, Lentini was thrown out by the home plate umpire and proceeded to run out onto the field and get in the face of both umpires. He ended up kicking dirt on the home plate umpire while trying to cover up home plate and then followed that up by scooping up dirt and piling it on top of the plate.

While there's not a truly quantifiable measure for how a team responds when their manager gets ejected, the dugout at least responded as if they were behind their manager, and during the next inning, they sent 11 batters to the plate as part of a six run rally that put the game away.

Lentini's ejection almost got overshadowed by a surprise pitching appearance by longtime Pacifics outfielder Zack Pace in the eighth inning, who was trying to keep the bullpen arms fresh for four games in the next three days. The outfielder barely crossed 60 MPH on the gun, but he allowed only one hit in his two innings of work.

On the Stompers side, Jeff Conley had a rough outing, allowing seven runs in his four innings of work, but Erik Gonsalves (3-1) was there to pick him up and keep the Pacifics at bay, throwing four shutout innings in relief. He allowed five hits and walked two, but didn't run into much trouble. Sean Conroy pitched a scoreless ninth in his first appearance since his historic start a week ago on Pride Night.

The Stompers lost their first three game series of 2015, but with the win on Thursday, they are now six games up on the Pacifics with 14 to play in the first half of the season. Sonoma's magic number to clinch the first half championship is now at 9. The two teams will travel to Sonoma on Friday evening for the first of three games at Arnold Field. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.

Tickets are available online at StompersBaseball.com and at the Stompers Fan Shop located at 234 West Napa Street. Fans can also buy tickets at the gate beginning one hour before first pitch. For more information, call 707-938-7277 or email the Stompers at info@stompersbaseball.com

BOX SCORE

Sonoma Loses Third Straight Game, 7-1

Fehlandt Lentini hit his fifth home run of the season on Wednesday, tying Joel Carranza for the team lead in that category.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

Only two games into their weeklong series against the defending Pacific Association champion San Rafael Pacifics, the Sonoma Stompers now realize that they are in for quite the test as the first half of the 2015 season winds down.

After San Rafael came back on Tuesday night to snatch a win away from Sonoma, the Pacifics were dominant from the start, as they handed the Stompers their worst loss of 2015 on Wednesday night, 7-1.

In his first appearance since his dominant 4-hit shutout a week prior, Gregory Paulino (2-2) was hit early and hit hard. The Pacifics attacked Paulino early in the count and got two huge hits to plate three runs, with an RBI triple by David Kiriakos getting followed by an inside-the-park home run from Matt Chavez to right-center on a ball that took an odd carom off the fence and past Fehlandt Lentini.

It was more than enough for San Rafael (13-11), who got a terrific pitching performance from Max Beatty. A week after his own stellar outing against Pittsburg that ended up in a loss, Beatty came out and held the best offense in the league to only six hits. Only one hit ended up hurting him on the evening, as Lentini hit a solo homer in the third for Sonoma's (18-6) only run.

Sonoma has now lost three straight games for the first time this season and has seen their lead in the Pacific Association shrink down to five games over San Rafael. The Stompers are 0-3 at Albert Park this season and have been outscored by 11 runs in those games against the Pacifics. To put that in perspective, the Stompers are outscoring their opponents by 71 runs in the other 21 games, which includes a three game sweep over the Pacifics at Arnold Field nearly three weeks ago.

Offensively, it was another great game for Joel Carranza, who went 2-for-4 and is now 5-for-9 in the series. He has five multi-hit performances over his last eight games. Lentini's fifth homer of 2015 ties him with Carranza for the team lead.

Sonoma will have quite the test on Thursday evening as southpaw Wander Beras will make his second start of the season for San Rafael. The hard-throwing southpaw struck out 10 batters in only 5 1/3 innings during his debut against Vallejo on June 26. Sonoma will counter with their own southpaw in Jeff Conley. The first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with the radio broadcast beginning at 6:50 p.m. on StompersBaseball.com and the TuneIn app.

BOX SCORE

Stompers Lose Tough Game To Pacifics, 5-4

Joel Carranza continues his hot streak with his fourth multi-hit game in his last seven. He is now hitting .311/.351/.533 in 2015.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

While they haven't faced much adversity so far in 2015, the Sonoma Stompers are now realizing that the rest of the Pacific Association is not going to let them run away with a first half championship.

The Pittsburg Diamonds played the Stompers very tough over the weekend, and with the Diamonds currently occupying last place, Sonoma knew that their games this week against the second place San Rafael Pacifics would be even tougher, especially with San Rafael winning each of their last three series coming in.

On Tuesday night, the Pacifics showed why they might be the biggest threat to the Stompers hold on the top spot in the league, as the heart of their order led an eighth inning rally that put San Rafael past Sonoma in the opener of the two teams' very important week, 5-4.

In the first of what would be seven games in six days, San Rafael (12-11) sent 3-4-5 hitters Matt Chavez, Maikel Jova and Jeremy Williams to the plate against Jon Rand, Jr. (1-1) in the eighth with the Pacifics down by one run. The trio went single, double, single to start off the inning, plating the tying run and putting Jova 90 feet away as the potential go-ahead run.

Rand forced a fielder's choice that kept Jova at third for the first out and gave way to Erik Gonsalves. Looking for a double play ball, Gonsalves got the ground ball, but it found the hole on the right side off the bat of Danny Gonzalez, as the single brought home Jova for what turned out to be the winning run.

Once Michael Kershner pitched his scoreless frame in the ninth for his second save of the year, Sonoma (18-5) saw their lead in the Pacific Association standings cut down to six games. Both teams have 16 games to go before the end of the first half, and the Stompers are still in control of the league by a hefty margin, but with six more games to go against San Rafael this week, a good run against their rivals from Marin would help solidify their standing.

The offense performed well in defeat with 12 hits on the evening. All but two hitters in the lineup had base hits, with Joel Carranza (3-for-4, 2B), Fehlandt Lentini (3-for-5, 2 RBI) and Matt Hibbert (2-for-4) leading the way.

On the hill, Eric Schwieger started the game and was very good over 6 2/3 innings, allowing only eight baserunners (6 H, 2 BB) and three earned runs while striking out five. He gave way to Rand in the seventh, with Rand striking out pinch-hitter Tyger Pedersen to end what was shaping up to be a big Pacifics rally in the inning.

The Stompers will be back at it tomorrow night in San Rafael for game two of their three games on the road. Gregory Paulino has the start for Sonoma in his first appearance since his four-hitter on June 24 where he tied a franchise record with 12 strikeouts against the Vallejo Admirals. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with the radio broadcast beginning at 6:50 on StompersBaseball.com and the TuneIn app.

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