Wenrich's Grand Slam Highlights 7-Run 5th In 10-5 Win Over Pacifics

Isaac Wenrich celebrates his grand slam with Yuki Yasuda that was part of Sonoma's seven-run fifth inning on Tuesday night.

Danielle Putonen/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

Max Beatty had been unhittable for four innings on Tuesday night. Well, maybe not literally unhittable, but the way the Sonoma Stompers looked at the plate against him, he might as well have been unhittable. Save for two hits from Gered Mochizuki in those innings, Sonoma had no answer for the hard-throwing right-hander for the San Rafael Pacifics.

Yet somehow in the fifth, it all came undone for Beatty. Pitches were left up, the Stompers were attacking him earlier in the count, fastballs were being raked all over the field. Then, he came to the plate.

It had been almost a month since Isaac Wenrich had hit a homer. June 25, to be precise, in a game against the Vallejo Admirals. So there he was, with the bases loaded in a 3-2 game where Sonoma had just taken the lead on a Yuki Yasuda two-run double. Beatty was trying to work quickly to keep Sonoma from getting comfortable in the box.

That did not deter Wenrich. On the first pitch, he got a pitch up and on the outer part of the plate that he went with to left field. Arnold Field's notoriously short porch came calling, and with a failing leap to grab it by San Rafael's Johnny Bekakis, the next instant was bedlam.

In one swing, Sonoma had its first grand slam of the season, put a huge dent in an adversary that had shut the team down previously on multiple occasions, and for Wenrich, a near month-long weight off his back.

It was the major highlight of Sonoma's 10-5 victory over the Pacifics on Tuesday, the first game of three between the two teams at Arnold Field this week. In that fifth inning, seven runs came across while 11 batters strode to the plate, tied for the most runs scored in an inning this year with the lucky seven in the second inning of Sonoma's 11-8 win over Pittsburg on June 26.

Before that inning occurred, the pitching matchup was as good as any in the Pacific Association this year, with Beatty (4-2) and Paul Hvozdovic (5-0) getting into their respective strides by the time the fateful inning came around. San Rafael (1-3 2nd half, 20-22) had opened things up in a big way with Jesse Chavez's league-leading 18th homer of the season in the first and an RBI double by Bekakis in the second.

The double left runners at second and third with nobody out, but Hvozdovic retired the next three batters in order to put the Pacifics early run-scoring aspirations at bay. Sonoma (3-1 2nd half, 29-12) then spent their first two times through the order trying to figure Beatty out before going nuts in the fifth with the big inning.

The Pacifics did have a chance in the seventh inning against Hvozdovic, as a Jesse Chavez single loaded the bases with one in an 8-4 game. Representing the tying run, Maikel Jova chopped a ball back to Hvozdovic, who came home to force out Zack Pace. Wenrich's ensuing throw was wild down to first, which allowed Danny Gonzalez to score and make it 8-5.

However, Chavez followed Gonzalez home by running through a stop sign from manager Matt Kavanaugh, and by the time Chavez put on the breaks, he was caught in a run down and eventually tagged out by TJ Gavlik to end the inning and what would end up being San Rafael's last chance to catch the Stompers.

When Matt Hibbert hit his third home run in his last seven games to score the final run of the game, Sonoma's league-leading offense had scored double-digit runs for the 10th time this season, making it easy pickings for Erik Gonsalves to finish off the Pacifics in the final two innings.

Sonoma got multi-hit nights from Mochizuki (3-for-4, BB, R, RBI), Hibbert (2-for-5, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI), Wenrich (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI) and Gavlik (2-for-4, 2 R). Newcomer Brennan Metzger, a former San Francisco Giants farmhand, knocked home a run with his first hit as a Stomper in the seventh.

Hvozdovic went seven innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits with two walks and six strikeouts. He threw 64 of 87 pitches for strikes.

Sonoma will try and make it four out of five to begin the second half on Wednesday night with Mike Jackson, Jr. on the hill. It will be the second night of Sonoma's Women's Week, where female fans get a great discount on tickets in the premium reserved ($12) and grandstand ($10) that includes a glass of wine for each seat purchased.

BOX SCORE

Moneyball – Sonoma Style

Ben Lindbergh, left, and Sam Miller, right, check over the Sonoma Stompers lineup for statistics that could help bring them a league championship.

Christian Keller/Sonoma Index-Tribune

Originally Published: Sonoma Index-Tribune

Christian Keller, Index-Tribune Staff Writer

You probably won’t see Brad Pitt, or even Jonah Hill for that matter, at a Sonoma Stompers baseball game this season. But there’s a good chance you will spot one of two young men in the stands, the press box, or the bullpen, mining the game for elusive bits of information that are adding up to a championship season.

The 2011 movie “Moneyball” popularized the arcane science of sabermetrics. Now Ben Lindbergh, 28, and Sam Miller, 35, have been applying sabermetrics to Stompers ball since the beginning of the season as operations managers for the independent league team – the first such analytically-focused personnel to work with a team at this level, as far as anyone knows.

Saber-what? No, it’s not a sharp-edged sword for slicing through the plethora of factoids any single game generates, but a deeper dive into those stats to come up with some measures that add to our understanding of the role individual players have in forming a winning team, or a winning season.

That Miller and Lindbergh are avid baseball fans goes without saying – Lindbergh was an All-Star second base softball player, Miller more into the Fantasy Baseball side of things. But obviously, somewhere along the line they became fervent statistics geeks.

“The Bill James definition of sabermetrics is the search for objective knowledge about baseball,” said Lindbergh when we spoke with both him and Miller by phone last week. He’s referring to the widely recognized founder of the field, whose 1977 self-published “The Bill James Baseball Abstract” started the trend toward high-level baseball statistical analysis. His annual book spawned the present-day “Baseball Prospectus” book series and website, for which both Miller and Lindbergh have served as editors-in-chief.

Named from the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR), sabermetrics downplays such well-known statistics as batting average, runs-batted-in and even on-base percentage in favor of more esoteric measures such as WAR (wins above replacement player) or BABIP (batting average on balls in play).

“I tend to think of it as using information in a rational way to understand games and make better decisions,” said Miller from his home in San Carlos. He commutes up for game days, and since the Pacific Association independent league the Stompers play in has only four teams, there are only two games at any given time, meaning one of the two analysts are at every game.

In addition to their writing and editing for Baseball Prospectus, Miller and Lindbergh also have a podcast called Effectively Wild, usually analyzing major league players and their statistics. A year ago in their podcast they wondered if a small independent league team might be interested in applying sabermetrics to its operations.

Tim Livingston, director of media relations and broadcaster of the Stompers games (and fill-in contributor to the I-T), heard the show, talked to team general manager Theo Fightmaster about it, and they decided to give the pair a shot. They were hired as “additions to the club’s baseball operations department,” though Lindbergh points out that’s a department that doesn’t exist in most independent league teams.

Though they are not compensated, they also landed a book contract with Henry Holt to write about their season with the Stompers, whose working title is “Baseball Sandbox.”

They even got an interview on NPR’s “The Morning Edition” about the gig. “We’re hoping it’s the perfect place to kind of be a testing ground for some things that might not work as well in the majors,” said Lindbergh in that radio interview.

So far, it seems to be going quite well. The Stompers have a 28-12 record going into the second half of the season, after earning the first-half championship. If they win the second half as well, they will be crowned league champs; if another team wins there will be a single-game playoff on Aug. 31.

“The team has been incredibly exciting to watch, just from the standpoint of really dominating the league,” said Miller. Though he and Lindbergh shy away from taking full credit, they do believe their contribution is playing a part.

Since they came aboard preceding the season, their analysis helped shape the roster, the team that now takes the field three or four times a week and wins games. “We were as nervous and anxious as anyone when these guys showed up that we picked from a spreadsheet,” said Lindbergh to NPR. “But luckily, they’ve all showed up and actually looked like baseball players, which we were very relieved to see.”

As the season has progressed, Miller and Lindbergh and a squad of volunteers have diligently tracked every pitch, hit, play and run, both offensively and defensively. The pitches are recorded with the same technology many teams use, a two-camera computerized system called PITCHf/x that records speed, trajectories and location for each pitch.

They also videotape the pitcher’s mound and the batter’s box for the full game, then edit the footage to show players how they throw, how they hit, to highlight strengths and weaknesses in their play. The players themselves seem to be open to the information they’re getting – not only about their own game play, but also about how to face opposing pitchers.

“A major league player would get an advance scouting report on a pitcher so they know what he likes to do, or what he’s likely to do, or what his strengths and weakness are,” said Lindbergh. His and Miller’s reports are giving these independent league players the same level of information players in the Bigs get.

Miller and Lindbergh both emphasize the quality of the team’s players, and their own role as part of the management team as a whole. “We do a lot of talking with the other decision makers in the organization about the best way to run the team,” said Miller.

One member of the organization casually mentioned that one of the most valuable players on the team was outfielder Matt Hibbert. With a .304 batting average, 42 hits, 2 home runs and 17 runs batted in, he’s clearly a good player – but his value emerges when you begin to look at some of the other statistics.

In short, he gets on base a lot. He has drawn 23 walks and been hit by a pitch 13 times, both statistics that don’t show in his batting average. “And he’s stolen some bases,” added Lindbergh. “He’s well-rounded and good at everything.”

“I think another player that you might not notice in the stats is Isaac Wenrich,” said Miller. “His batting average is pretty good though it’s not at the top. However sabermetricians are able to more fully appreciate the effect that a good defensive catcher can have on a team.”

Miller points to Wenrich’s ability to “get more strikes from his pitcher because of the way he catches the ball, “ and his skills at calling pitch sequences, keeping an eye on pitching mechanics and coaching pitchers through a game – it all adds up to his total value. Along with the team’s other catcher, Andrew Parker, Miller concludes, “I would say we have the two best catchers in the league, it’s not even close.”

For the two “sabermetricians” it’s been an exciting season so far, and an enjoyable one – especially for Lindbergh, who is spending the summer a long way from his Manhattan home. “I think we lucked out doing it here. Because of the personnel that’s in place and the people that we work with, but also because it’s Sonoma, a nice place to spend the summer. And there’s a nice supportive community around the team.”

The team plays at Arnold Field tonight, against last year’s league champions the San Rafael Pacifics. First pitch is 6 p.m. And, according to the numbers, the Sonoma Stompers are favored.

Is MLB Ready For Gay Player? First Open Pro Sean Conroy Discusses Concerns

Sonoma Stompers pitcher Sean Conroy, the first openly gay professional baseball player, throws during a minor league baseball game against Vallejo Admirals on Pride Night in Sonoma, Calif., on June 25.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers, AP

Originally Published: USA Today

Scott Gleeson, USA Today Sports

Sean Conroy dreams of playing in the major leagues someday.

However, the right-handed pitcher for the Sonoma Stompers, an independent professional team in Northern California wine country, knows there could be challenges if he ever makes it to the next level.

Conroy became the first openly gay pro baseball player last month when he publicly came out shortly before pitching a shutout victory on the team's gay pride night.

"Wherever I go next, whether that's in the MLB or with another team, I'm going to be nervous," Conroy told USA TODAY Sports. "Every time I've come out to a team, I've been able to feel out the situation first and kind of make sure there were no outliers who would react poorly. Anywhere I go, I'm going to have a reputation as a gay player because I've made national news. I'll have to be more prepared on my first day."

Conroy, 23, came out to his general manager Theo Fightmaster, his coaches and the 22-man roster not long after he arrived at the beginning of the summer after he was recruited by the Stompers from upstate New York.

"It's kind of a respect thing," Conroy said. "I told my teammates I was gay because as we were becoming friends, I didn't want to feel like I was hiding or have to lie when they start to comment on girls. If a teammate tells me about how he met a girl at a bar, I tell him about how I met this guy at a bar. I try to keep it one-to-one as much as possible."

Conroy told his family he was gay at age 16 and was open about his sexual orientation with his teammates in high school, summer league and college at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an NCAA Division III program in Troy, N.Y.

"The coming out process is an everyday thing when you meet new people," Conroy said. "It's who I am, but when I'm at the field, I'm at the office. First and foremost, I'm a baseball player. ... I'm pretty comfortable in my own skin, but it's a growing process for me every day, trying to be a better person."

Conroy, who considers himself a private person, expected to be a pioneer in some regard, but said the spotlight has been bigger than expected.

"I didn't anticipate it entirely," he said. "I didn't expect it to be a big deal. After I found out from an MLB historian (John Thorn) that I was making history, then it kind of hit me."

Conroy said he's surprised he is the only active gay professional player to come out and said of potential closeted MLB players following his example, "I would guess it takes a certain kind of person to be able to handle having such a private part of your life in the public eye, in addition to being a professional athlete. ...I would say I look up to all (professional athletes) who have come out. It's not an easy thing to do."

"I've never held a conversation with an MLB player, let alone a gay one," Conroy said. "It's difficult to know if anyone else will come out. And it's hard to gauge how people would react if I was on their team."

Conroy said he's heard plenty of homophobic language over his career, but noted that one of the main reasons he's open to his teammates is to educate them.

"People think twice about it when they know there's a gay guy on the team," Conroy said. "They'll apologize or say, 'sorry, not in that way.' It's a teaching point in some regards. I would say that my teammates have grown up with the equality side of things, but it's different when none of them have had that gay teammate interaction. The face to face meeting is so much different than what you see on the news."

Conroy expressed gratitude for the way the team has embraced himself and the LGBT community. Players have been encouraging and wore rainbow-striped socks on pride night.

"I definitely feel lucky that I've been put in this opportunity here," Conroy added. "I could see other teams having less understanding environments and coaches. It's definitely important to feel welcomed on the team, to give yourself the best chance to perform at the highest peak."

While the majors is not a completely far-fetched goal for Conroy, his professional lifestyle is strikingly different. The Stompers are part of the Pacific Association of Baseball Clubs. Players live with host families during the 78-game June-to-August season, earn $650 a month on average, and supply their own cleats, batting gloves and elbow guards.

"I just love playing baseball," Conroy said. "It's my first year out of college. I'm trying to have a career at the highest level. If I ever get that chance, I'll be ready."

Even if some in the major league fraternity aren't.

Stompers Take First Series Of Second Half With 11-2 Blowout

Gregory Paulino was again dominant against Vallejo, throwing 7 1/3 innings in Sonoma's 11-2 win over the Admirals.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

The Sonoma Stompers won their 15th game out of 18 this season against the Vallejo Admirals with an 11-2 blowout victory at Wilson Park on Sunday afternoon. Sonoma won five of six games this week on the road and seven of nine including last weekend's home series against the Admirals.

It was more of the same from Sonoma (2-1 2nd half, 28-12), who continued to pound away against the worst pitching staff in the league. Right from the start, the Stompers offense was ready against Scott Weinschenk (1-4), who had experienced his struggles in the first half of the 2015 season and was hoping something might change with the second half reset.

Instead, Sonoma exploded for seven runs in the first three innings against Weinschenk to put Vallejo on their heels. A five run second inning was highlighted by Taylor Eads' two-run double to right-center, and once Yuki Yasuda and Gered Mochizuki hit their sacrifice flies, the Stompers had more than enough runs for a day's work.

For Gregory Paulino (4-3), it was like a recall to a week previous, when his stellar eight-inning performance at Arnold Field helped clinch the first half championship for the Stompers on July 12. In this start, he continued his dominance over the Admirals, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts. It was his fifth quality start in eight chances in 2015, and against Vallejo, he has allowed only 2 earned runs in 25 1/3 innings.

Offensively, Eads was again the star. He went 3-for-3, with all three hits being doubles. He also drove in three runs, with one coming on a sacrifice fly to deep left with the bases loaded in the third that just missed being Sonoma's first grand slam of the season. He also drew a walk, meaning he's reached base in nine of his last 10 plate appearances.

Adding to Sonoma's 14 hit attack was the similarly hot Mark Hurley, who had yet another multi-hit day going 2-for-5. He now has nine multi-hit games in his last 13 and is on a 15-game hitting streak. Isaac Wenrich, T.J. Gavlik and Joel Carranza also added two hits each.

Sonoma will have the off day on Monday before returning home for a three game series against the San Rafael Pacifics beginning Tuesday. The Tuesday night matchup will be the beginning of Women's Wine Week at the ballpark, where female fans ages 21 and older will receive a glass of wine along with a discounted price on both premium reserved ($12 - $23 value) and grandstand ($10 - $18 value) seats.

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 Pull Away Late For 8-5 Win Over Admirals

Yuki Yasuda had the go-ahead RBI single in Sonoma's 8-5 victory over Vallejo Saturday night.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

The Sonoma Stompers scored a run in each of the last four innings to help them to their first win of the second half, defeating the Vallejo Admirals, 8-5 on Saturday night at Wilson Park.

After Friday's strange loss in the second half opener, Sonoma (1-1, 27-12) was hoping to bounce back behind Eric Schwieger (5-1), and it looked a lot like many of Sonoma's recent victories against Vallejo in the early going. A three-run first inning and an extra run in the third gave Sonoma a 4-0 lead.

Yet Vallejo (1-1, 14-27) did what they did in Tuesday's game, where they saw an early lead and chipped away at it. Unlike the Tuesday game, they didn't do it in one or two run bursts, as the fifth inning saw one swing of the bat from Joshua Wong to tie the ballgame. His three-run homer off Schwieger made it 4-4 and turned a nine inning game into a four inning game.

That's when the Stompers buckled down and took advantage of their opportunities. In each of the next four innings, they scored single runs, with Yuki Yasuda's RBI single that plated Taylor Eads in the sixth giving Sonoma the lead back for good.

In fact, it was Eads who came through with the most impressive night at the plate for Sonoma, as the rookie went to the plate five times and reach all five times. A night after Mark Hurley went 5-for-5, Eads went 2-for-2 with three walks and scored three times, all from the nine spot in the order. He also stole three bases.

The final of those stolen bases occurred on an odd play. Devon Ramirez (1-5) tried to pick Eads off at first, but his throw went into the dirt and past PJ Phillips, which allowed Eads to go all the way to third. However, simultaneously, Ramirez was called for a balk. The rule as stated is on any balk, the ball is live, which gives the team that the balk was committed against the choice of taking the balk or the result of the play. Since Eads would have only been at second on the balk, the Stompers declined and Eads had his third stolen base.

Sonoma's 13-hit night included yet another multi-hit night from Hurley, who went 2-for-5 for his eighth multi-hit game in his last 12. He now has a 14-game hitting streak, the longest streak of any Stompers player in 2015. Danny Baptista had his second consecutive three-hit night and Gered Mochizuki had two hits, as well. All nine players for the Stompers reached base.

Schwieger didn't have as strong a start as he did on Saturday against Vallejo, but he was good enough to pick up the win. He allowed four runs on nine hits, but was able to escape some jams. His biggest escape came in the sixth, as the Admirals had the tying run at third with one out.

The big lefty from Grand Island, NE settled down and struck out Gadiel Baez for the second out before getting former teammate Glenn Walker to fly out to left on the very next pitch, ending the last great scoring chance for Vallejo that evening. Santos Saldivar allowed one run in his two innings of work, but gave way to Sean Conroy in the final inning. Conroy got three groundouts to seal up his seventh save.

The Stompers will end their weeklong trek to Vallejo with a Sunday matinee at Wilson Park. The first pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. with the radio broadcast beginning at 12:50 on StompersBaseball.com and the TuneIn mobile app.

BOX SCORE

Even With 20 Hits, Stompers Take Worst Loss Of 2015, 16-5

Mark Hurley set a franchise record for hits in a single game with his 5-for-5 performance on Friday night.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

In the strange world of independent baseball, there's always something waiting just around the corner that could make it stranger.

Take for example Friday night's second half opener between the Sonoma Stompers and the Vallejo Admirals. Simultaneously, it was a night both to remember and forget for the Stompers, as they took their worst loss of the season against the Admirals, 16-5. Yet at the same time, the team set a new franchise record with 20 hits on the evening.

The 20 hits eclipses the old record of 19 that was set on July 2 against San Rafael, when Sonoma exploded offensively in a 16-7 blowout win. The 11-run loss overtook Sonoma's 8-1 loss to the Pacifics back on July 5.

To begin to explain how a team could have 20 hits and score only five times, one can look at the idea of hit sequencing. Hit sequencing is how and when a team's hits come together. They normally come in bunches or spread out, sometimes not at all. However, a team really can't control how their hits are sequenced together. This is the basis for the term known as "cluster luck," which is a measure that shows how lucky or unlucky a team has been in sequencing their hits together.

To get 20 hits and only have five runs is a case of extremely bad luck. While the Admirals offense had 17 hits to produce their 16 runs, Sonoma (0-1 2nd half, 26-12 overall) couldn't string together hits in the correct order to produce their runs. Twice in the game did Sonoma have runners at 2nd and 3rd with nobody out and they didn't score. The run expectancy in that scenario is normally 1.92 runs on average. And it happened twice.

There's no previous record for a team scoring five runs or fewer with 20 hits in a regulation game. It has never happened before according to the Baseball-Reference Play Index (Which fans can subscribe to for $30/year using the coupon code, "BP"). If one were to include extra inning games, it has happened 20 times, but it has never happened in any nine-inning Major League game in the modern era.

Suffice to say, there might have been other games in professional baseball scattered around the last century where record keeping wasn't done as well and could claim something similar, but it's truly a unique baseball event. Regardless of that, the Stompers made two kinds of history on Friday night, continuing a 2015 season that has been full of historic events both good and bad. Thankfully for Sonoma, it's been mostly good.

In addition to the team history, individual history was made in the game when Mark Hurley went 5-for-5, becoming the first Stompers hitter ever to have five hits in a game. He extended his hitting streak to 13 games, the longest of any player this season for Sonoma, and raised his triple slash line to .347/.411/.490. He now leads the team in hitting and has seven multi-hit games in his last 11.

Also hitting well for the Stompers were Yuki Yasuda, Isaac Wenrich and Danny Baptista, who all went 3-for-5. Matt Hibbert added two hits, including his second leadoff home run of the season. Both homers have come during this week's play in Vallejo. All nine Stompers starters had at least one hit.

While the first half champs aren't off to the best start in 2015, Sonoma will get an opportunity to fight back on Saturday when they take on the Admirals in game two of their weekend series. Eric Schwieger will get the start for the Stompers. First pitch is set for 5:05 p.m., with the radio broadcast beginning at 4:50 p.m. on StompersBaseball.com and the TuneIn app for mobile devices.

BOX SCORE

Stompers End First Half With Sweep Of Admirals

Taylor Eads smacks his first hit as a professional to give Sonoma the lead in Thursday's 10-4 win over Vallejo.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations 

The final game of the first half for the Sonoma Stompers was not all that dissimilar to the games that helped them to a first half championship. Great starting pitching, an offense that is tough from top to bottom, and defense that makes the tough plays look easy.

In Thursday's 10-4 win over Vallejo (13-26), Sonoma (26-11) finished off the first half with their fifth consecutive win and their 13th victory over the Admirals in their 15 matchups this season. They had 10 hits and had yet another inning where they batted around, taking advantage of eight walks on the evening.

The star of the show for the Stompers was their newest addition. Taylor Eads, who was 0-for-5 in his first two games as a professional, finally got a batting average in a big way on Thursday. He went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs and a walk, including the go-ahead RBI single in the fourth and a two-run ground rule double in the fifth, which is where the big inning occurred.

Five runs came in during that crucial inning, as the Stompers offense got to David Dinelli (3-3) the third time through the order and chased him from the game. Coming into the game, Dinelli had a 6.91 FIP when batters faced him for the third time, nearly three runs higher than the second time through and almost five runs higher than his initial go-around the order.

With it also being the fourth time Sonoma has seen Dinelli this year, the Stompers picked the right time to strike against the former Astros farmhand, and took advantage of Dinelli's wildness to keep the inning going, as three free passes kept the baserunners plentiful.

After giving up the double to Eads, Dinelli was not happy with his performance and ended up getting ejected from the game because of his actions as he left the field and entered the dugout. It was a night full of frustrations for the Admirals, as all three outfielders were pulled from the game at some point.

Brad Young was pulled after striking out in the second while both Jaylen Harris and Robert Brown were pulled in the ninth after a miscommunication on a ball in shallow right-center field. That left the Admirals without a position player, meaning starting pitchers Devon Ramirez and Demetrius Banks took over in center and right field respectively, with Ramirez showing off his athleticism on a sliding catch in the ninth.

On the pitching side of the ledger for Sonoma, it was more of the same for Mike Jackson, Jr. (4-0), who continued his stellar run as a starter with five great innings where he gave up only two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts.

He gave way to Ryusuke Kikusawa, who had issues with his control at times, but finished off the final four innings by allowing two runs on one hit with four walks and five strikeouts. It was the first four-inning save of the season for Sonoma and the fourth time this season a pitcher earned a three-plus inning save.

At the plate, besides Eads' terrific performance, both Matt Hibbert and Mark Hurley had two-hit nights, with Hurley extending his hitting streak to 13 games. It was the sixth multi-hit game over that time period for Hurley, who is now hitting .324/.392/.465 on the year for the Stompers.

The Stompers ended the first half with a run differential of +72, far and away the best in the Pacific Association. As a team, they hit .293/.385/.421, leading the league in all three triple slash categories. They had a 124 wRC+, 20 points higher than San Rafael's 104. They led the league in ERA at 4.02 (although they were behind San Rafael in FIP at 3.74; the Pacifics were at 3.38) and had a WHIP of 1.32.

When you put it all together with a defense that has allowed the fewest runs in the Pacific Association, the Stompers have remained a well-oiled machine even with some changes to personnel, which is expected at the turning point of the season. New manager Takashi Miyoshi is 5-0, including the two games in which he was filling in as manager before taking on the interim job this past Tuesday.

Eads looks like he might be looking more comfortable at the plate with three games under his belt while the sensational Santos Saldivar has one of the most impressive single performances in relief that anyone has seen in the Pacific Association this season. Yuki Yasuda has stepped in at shortstop and looked great, making two tremendous plays defensively Thursday night while also  hitting .298 with a .799 OPS.

TJ Gavlik has started getting regular playing time, as well, and he responded with a couple of home runs during this past series against Vallejo while playing good defense at second base. All in all, Sonoma has made changes that even a championship-winning team needs to make in order to hold off the teams charging behind them, as both San Rafael and Pittsburg look like teams that will give the Stompers trouble come the second half.

That half begins tomorrow night as all four teams will have a clean slate to work from. Sonoma is guaranteed a spot in the Pacific Association championship on August 31, but if they win the second half, they will win the outright championship.

The Stompers will take on the Admirals yet again on Friday, with the two teams beginning the second half with a three game series at Wilson Park. The first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m with the radio broadcast beginning at 6:45 on StompersBaseball.com and the TuneIn app.

BOX SCORE

Three Hits, Three Homers, 3-1 Victory For The Stompers

Paul Hvozdovic's first start was a success, as the lefty threw six scoreless innings to help Sonoma to a 3-1 win.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

It only took three hits, but with three solo home runs and a great all-around pitching performance from a trio of hurlers, the Sonoma Stompers won their fourth straight game against the Vallejo Admirals with a 3-1 victory on Wednesday.

Sonoma (25-11) didn't have much success from a quantity standpoint against Vallejo starter Tony Guerra (0-1), but the two hits they did get against him ended up being quality shots. In a scoreless game in the fourth inning, TJ Gavlik ended an eight-pitch at-bat with a solo homer to right, his second in as many games, to get the scoring going. Two batters later, Danny Baptista did the same to center field to make it 2-0.

Sonoma's third homer came in the seventh inning from Mark Hurley, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games and gave Sonoma a 3-0 lead. It was a 3-0 lead because of some tremendous work from Paul Hvozdovic, who started his first game of 2015 and looked stellar doing it.

Vallejo (13-25) couldn't get any hard contact against the left-hander from Shepherd University, who limited the Admirals to only four hits in his six innings of work. He struck four and hit a batter while facing only three batters over the minimum.

He then gave way to a newcomer for Sonoma in Santos Saldivar. The rookie from Southern University was signed earlier in the day and was the first man out of the bullpen as the Stompers looked to see what pieces they had heading into the second half of the season that begins on Friday.

If Wednesday night's outing was any indication, then the front office trio of Theo Fightmaster, Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller might have found a cornerstone piece for their second half run. Saldivar was basically untouchable in his two perfect innings of relief, as he struck out five of the six batters he faced with a fastball near 90 and an offspeed assortment that left Admirals hitters baffled.

Even with the one run Vallejo got after a P.J. Phillips double and a throwing error by Yuki Yasuda, it was apparent just how dominant the Stompers were Wednesday night. They limited mistakes both on the hill and defensively and even had two successful shifts, as both Joshua Wong and Brad Young bounced out to Gavlik at second base when he was positioned to the left side of the bag expecting each hitter to pull the ball. Gavlik barely had to move on both groundouts.

With Takashi Miyoshi at the helm, the Stompers are now 4-0 and have outscored the Admirals by 17 runs, pushing their league-leading run differential to +67 on the season. Part of it is that the Admirals have been the worst team in the Pacific Association so far, but the Stompers have also been quick to take advantage of any opportunity presented to them, which has been many against Vallejo.

Sonoma will continue their six game stretch at Wilson Park with the first half finale on Thursday evening. 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 Use Early Offense, Clutch Pitching Late To Hold Off Admirals, 8-6

Matt Hibbert hits his first home run of the season to lead off Tuesday's game against Vallejo.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

Using eight runs in the first three innings and an impressive relief performance from their best pitcher in Sean Conroy, the Sonoma Stompers were able to hold off a steady charge from the Vallejo Admirals on Tuesday night, winning the opener of their six game stretch on the road at Wilson Park, 8-6.

There's an argument to be made either way for Conroy. In his two starts this season, he has been stellar. Whether it was his three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts on June 25 or his eight inning performance on July 5, both outings showed that Conroy had the stuff to be amongst the best starters in the Pacific Association.

On the other hand, if the Stompers need someone to end the game, Conroy has been absolutely fantastic. Nine appearances out of the bullpen, no earned runs. Five saves, too, if you're into that. Tie everything up and it's been a year of sub-1.00 ERA baseball from a guy who might have the most unhittable pitch in the Pacific Association with his sidearming slider.

The Stompers turned to Conroy in a time of great need, going to their best pitcher with the game on the line in the eighth. One out, two on, Sonoma (24-11) up two. Conroy's first batter, former Stomper Glenn Walker, bounced a high chop to first base, but as it fell into Daniel Baptista's glove, his quick turn to get the speedy shortstop caused the ball to slip out, and the bases were loaded.

Facing Vallejo's (13-24) best hitter in P.J. Phillips, Conroy won a battle with the veteran and struck him out swinging on a fastball down and in. The next batter was the Admirals' newest addition in Lydell Moseby, a 6'6" 230 lb. behemoth of a first baseman who signed with the team earlier that day. Going through another long at-bat, Conroy froze Moseby with his patented slider to end the inning and Vallejo's greatest threat to a lead they never caught up to.

With three games to fiddle with things that might be worthwhile for the second half that starts on Friday, there were many new faces in new places. Taylor Eads was making his first professional start in right field after signing with the team on Monday.

Even Mike Jackson, Jr. found his way back to the bullpen, the spot where he was a premier reliever for the Stompers in 2014. As dominant as he's been as a starter, he looked just as good in the sixth, striking out two in a perfect frame. Starter Jeff Conley (2-1) was back with the team after some time on the inactive list and looked good in his five innings, with some bad batted ball luck and defensive issues causing his outing to have a few more bumps in the road than it should have.

And in his first game officially as the team's interim manager after taking over for the departed Fehlandt Lentini, Takashi Miyoshi was successful in his debut as the first Japanese-born manager in the history of American professional baseball.

At the plate, Sonoma's offense was as sensational as it has been all season. Matt Hibbert got Sonoma's best opening inning of the year started with a home run to left on the second pitch of the game against Nick Flory (2-3), who didn't find his comfort zone on the hill until it was far too late.

In that first inning, all nine batters came to the plate and the team scored six times, piggybacking their quick starts against Vallejo in their previous two victories at home this past weekend, which include the team's 13-4 first half-clinching win on Sunday. One more run came across in the second on a Danny Baptista RBI single, with the team's final run coming on a solo homer by T.J. Gavlik in the third, his second of the season.

Hibbert went 3-for-4 to lead the Stompers offense and Mark Hurley went 2-for-4 with a double, extending his hitting streak to 10 games and giving him a sixth multi-hit game over that stretch. Outside of Baptista, all seven of the other Stompers starters scored at least once, with Hibbert scoring twice.

Sonoma will play game two of their series with the Vallejo Admirals on Wednesday evening with the first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. No probable starter for the game has been named. Fans can enjoy the game on the radio at StompersBaseball.com or via the TuneIn app beginning at 6:50 p.m.

BOX SCORE

Local Hero Lentini Traded To Bridgeport Of Atlantic League; Miyoshi Named Interim Manager

Fehlandt Lentini is heading back to the Atlantic League after a trade with Bridgeport.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

The Sonoma Stompers Professional Baseball Club agreed to a trade that would send player-manager Fehlandt Lentini to the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League. Lentini will return to the league that he played in for two seasons in 2012 with the Lancaster Barnstormers and in 2014 with the Long Island Ducks. With the Ducks last season, Lentini hit .290/.328/.391 with six homers and 63 RBIs while going 46-for-46 in stolen base attempts.

With Sonoma in 2015, Lentini hit .289/.345/.409 with five home runs and 26 RBIs along with 26 runs scored. He was 6-for-7 in stolen base opportunities.

"Feh brought a ton of passion and energy to this team," said general manager Theo Fightmaster. "We wouldn't have had the success we had without his selfless contributions as a player and a manager. This was not an easy decision, but in our belief was the right one for the organization."

With Lentini's departure, bench coach and third base coach Takashi Miyoshi will take over as interim manager. Miyoshi is in his sixth season as a coach in the American independent leagues, having previously spent the last two seasons with the Grand Prairie Airhogs of the American Association. He has previously managed in the preparatory California Winter League, but with his appointment, he is now the first Japanese-born manager in the history of American professional baseball.

“Yoshi has been a fantastic addition to the clubhouse, the dugout and the organization,” Fightmaster said. “He’s prepared for this challenge and we have the upmost confidence that he can lead this team to continued success.”