Wenrich Moves On To Florence Of The Frontier League

One of the most popular players on the team, Isaac Wenrich moves on to the Frontier League after a tremendous season with the Stompers.

Danielle Putonen/Sonoma Stompers

Sonoma Stompers catcher Isaac Wenrich has become the fourth Stompers player this season to be moved up to a higher level of professional baseball, as the 25-year-old will report to the Florence Freedom of the Frontier League in Kentucky on Monday in advance of the Freedom's upcoming series beginning Tuesday. Wenrich follows in the footsteps of Fehlandt Lentini (Long Island Ducks - Atlantic League), Joel Carranza (Trois Rivieres Aigles - Can-Am Association) and Brennan Metzger (Gary SouthShore RailCats - American Association), who have all moved up to higher leagues already this season.

Wenrich becomes the eighth member of the Stompers organization so far to move up to a higher level, joining Jaime Del Valle, Jayce Ray, Scott Garner and former manager Ray Serrano who all moved up during or after Sonoma's inaugural season in 2014.

In his third year in the Pacific Association and his first with the Stompers, Wenrich had a tremendous season, hitting .296/.365/.481 with a team-best 10 home runs. He also had nine doubles and two triples while providing excellent defense behind the plate with both pitch framing and preventing base stealers.

In return for Wenrich, the Stompers will receive catcher Matt Rubino, who played baseball at the University of North Carolina and Francis Marion University during his collegiate career before appearing in eight games with the Freedom this season. He will arrive in time for Sonoma's series opener on Tuesday against the Pittsburg Diamonds, with the first pitch set for 6:05 p.m.

Tuesday's game features a promotion with the Sonoma Valley Holiday Program, as the Stompers will be accepting toys, stuffed animals and cash donations for the upcoming holiday season, with fans receiving a free general admission ticket in exchange for a donation.

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.

Stompers Swept At Home For 1st Time Thanks To 15-2 Blowout Loss

In his final game as a Stomper, TJ Gavlik threw two scoreless innings in his first career pitching appearance.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

After two months of flying high atop the Pacific Association standings, the Sonoma Stompers have hit their first sustained lull of 2015, and they have their rivals from San Rafael to thank for it.

In a week where the Stompers were in a battle for first place with San Rafael during a weeklong home-and-home series, the Stompers were down a game going into the weekend, but had also played their best baseball of the season in front of the home faithful at Arnold Field.

However, Sunday's 15-2 loss wrapped up a dreadful weekend for the Stompers, as the Pacifics handed Sonoma their worst loss of 2015 to complete a sweep and send the Stompers four games back of San Rafael and into third place behind the Pacifics and Pittsburg Diamonds.

San Rafael (18-9 2nd half, 37-28 overall) scored 10 runs against Stomper starter Eric Schwieger (5-5) who only lasted a few batters into the fourth inning. The big lefty saw the game get away from him early thanks to a Danny Gonzalez two-run homer and a Maikel Jova three-run homer in the first inning.

From there, it was a barrage of offense that had not been seen this season since Sonoma's 16-5 loss against the Vallejo Admirals on July 17. San Rafael scored multiple runs in five of the first six innings, as four home runs in total hammered home San Rafael's dominance, including Matt Chavez's league-best 31st home run in the fifth. Jova added another home run in the sixth to cap a 4-for-5 day with five RBIs and three runs scored.

Sonoma got a home run from Gered Mochizuki and an RBI single by Mark Hurley, but their offense has been slowly fading over the past week and a half. After averaging nearly 6.9 runs per game heading into action on August 7, the Stompers have scored only 29 runs in their past nine games and scored five or more runs only twice. They left 55 runners on base this week.

While the team struggles for offense, a bittersweet Sunday saw the departure of two Stompers players, with one continuing his career at a higher level of baseball and the other announcing his retirement.

Isaac Wenrich has been called to the Frontier League and will play for the Florence Freedom in Kentucky, marking the fourth time this season a player from the Stompers has been promoted to a higher league. The Stompers will receive fellow catcher Matt Rubino in return for Wenrich, and will be joining the team for Tuesday's game against Pittsburg.

Meanwhile, TJ Gavlik announced his retirement from professional baseball, and he got a great memory to take with him on his final day as a pro. In the seventh inning, he made his first career appearance as a pitcher, and had one of the most impressive feats of the day when he struck out Matt Chavez with a curve ball. He threw two shutout innings as the first position player to take the mound for Sonoma this season. No replacement has been announced yet in wake of Gavlik's retirement.

After the Monday off day, Sonoma will begin the penultimate week of the season with a three game series against the Pittsburg Diamonds on Tuesday, who are now a game ahead of Sonoma in the second half standings. The Stompers are partnering with the Sonoma Valley Holiday Program to accept toy, stuffed animal and cash donations for the upcoming holiday season, with fans receiving a free general admission ticket in exchange for a donation. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. with the gates 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.

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Slide Continues As Stompers Lose Third Straight, 5-3

Yuki Yasuda singles through the right side of the infield on Saturday night.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

With only a few games remaining against the San Rafael Pacifics, the onus on the Stompers during this particular weekend series was to win at least two out of three in order to keep them tied with their rivals from Marin County for the final two week push in the second half.

Instead, the Stompers are now three games behind San Rafael heading into the weekend finale, as a 3-2 lead went away in the eighth inning and the Stompers dropped their fourth game in the last five against the Pacifics, 5-3.

Sonoma (14-12 2nd half, 40-23 overall) didn't strand as many runners on Saturday as they had the previous four games (42 in all, including 25 in scoring position) and really did well with some productive outs, producing two ground balls that brought home runs and being in position at third base with two outs to score on a wild pitch.

However, some of the mistakes that haunted Sonoma earlier in the week came back on Saturday in spades. With Matt Chavez at the plate representing the tying run and first base open in the fifth, the team decided to pitch to Chavez a lot like what they did on Tuesday night, trying to go low and away.

Unfortunately, a slider by Santos Saldivar hung up a bit and over the outer half of the plate, which Chavez drove deep and out to right for his third home run of the week and his league-best 30th of the season to tie the game at 2-2.

Once Sonoma took the lead again, Dylan Stoops was holding things down in the eighth, having begun his second inning of relief, but San Rafael (17-9 2nd half, 35-29 overall) again attacked, only this time, they took the lead for good. Back-to-back doubles by Jeremy Williams and Maikel Jova tied the game, and then with two outs, Adrian Martinez hit a single to center to score Jova and give San Rafael the lead.

It was another tough loss for Sonoma against the defending Pacific Association champions, but there were good performances from Saldivar (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K) and Yuki Yasuda (2-for-4) for the team to lean on, even with the loss.

Now the focus will be on Sunday's matinee, with game time temperatures expected to hit the triple digits and Eric Schwieger getting the ball for Sonoma against San Rafael's Patrick Conroy in a duel of southpaws. First pitch is set for 1:05 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 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.

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Stompers Lose 9-3 To Fall Two Games Back Of Pacifics

Mark Hurley hits his eighth home run of the season on Friday night.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

There have been a few times this week where frustration sets in for the Sonoma Stompers at the most inopportune times. Mainly, it's come at times where the Stompers need runs at key moments in the game, like the several times they've left the bases loaded. But on Friday, it ended up happening defensively, where the Stompers had starred over the past week by allowing three or less runs in five of their last six games.

Instead, the Stompers have now allowed more than twice the amount of runs in those five games over their past two losses, with Friday's 9-3 loss against the San Rafael Pacifics giving Sonoma's main rivals a two-game lead in the Pacific Association second half standings.

Sonoma (14-11 2nd half, 40-22 overall), now facing their largest deficit in the standings all season, fell behind early and couldn't come back, a familiar tale against the Pacifics, who got out ahead early in Thursday's win as well. San Rafael (16-9, 35-28) took advantage of Sonoma's second error to bring home three unearned runs in the second, as all three came with two outs.

Added to the defensive frustration was the aforementioned troubles at the plate and another couple of times where the inning ended with the bases loaded. Even with one run in during the second, Sonoma continued to get runners on without driving them home, as the Stompes left 12 runners on board for the second straight night.

Mike Jackson, Jr. (5-3) had a tough outing at home against San Rafael for the second straight time, allowing five runs in five innings with seven hits and seven strikeouts. Only two of those runs were earned, but they came on a hanging breaking ball to Matt Chavez, who hit his league-best 29th home run of the season to put the game out of reach.

Sonoma got multi-hit efforts from Mark Hurley and Daniel Baptista, who each had two hits. Hurley hit his eighth home run of the season, a laser that just got over the short porch in left field. Newcomer Peter Bowles got both his first hit and his first RBI as a professional.

The Stompers will try to bounce back on Saturday with Santos Saldivar on the mound, who has been the best pitcher in the Pacific Association since arriving a little more than a month ago. The right-hander has a 0.95 ERA in his 28.1 innings and is currently carrying a 17-inning scoreless streak. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. with the gates opening at 4 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.

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Comeback Falls Short In 8-6 Loss

Isaac Wenrich had a 3-hit game on Thursday, including his second triple of the year.

Danielle Putonen/Sonoma Stompers

With every game picking up more tension than the previous as the season winds down, there was no game more tense so far in 2015 than Thursday's game for both Sonoma and San Rafael. Both teams entered the game at 14-9, tied for first place in the second half standings of the Pacific Association. Only one would leave with a one game advantage when the two teams began their weekend series in Sonoma on Friday.

Even with a 6-0 deficit to overcome after three innings, the Stompers fought hard to try and have that advantage for the second half of their weeklong battle with the Pacifics, but even with a couple of big rallies late, Sonoma couldn't get over the hump, falling 8-6 and once again falling a game behind San Rafael in the second half standings.

Sonoma (14-10 2nd half, 40-21 overall) battled back from 6-0, 7-2 and 8-3 deficits, with a three run rally in the seventh inning proving to be their strongest move forward. Isaac Wenrich hit a shot to center field with two runners on that took a huge bounce off the grass just shy of the dirt on Albert Park's softball field and it bounded over the head of Zack Pace, allowing Wenrich to reach on a two-run triple.

Then Mark Hurley doubled down the left field line to plate Wenrich and make it an 8-6 game. After two scoreless innings of relief by Jon Rand, Jr., Sonoma's last gasp in the ninth brought the most controversy of the entire game. After Wenrich singled on a liner just out of the reach of a diving Johnny Bekakis in right field, Hurley came up and hit a similar shot towards Bekakis.

Bekakis slid forward and made the play rolling over on his side, but the out call was not made until several seconds later when Bekakis raised his glove with his back to the field, making the Stompers feel that he did not make a clean catch. It did not matter as the out call had been made already, even with several players and manager Takashi Miyoshi arguing against the call.

The tough finish brought a dissatisfying end to the series in San Rafael, where the Stompers lost two of three in very tough fashion. While it was runners left aboard on Tuesday that sunk the Stompers, it was instead the first time in a week's worth of baseball that the suddenly dominant Stompers pitching staff had issues.

After five consecutive games allowing three or less runs, Paul Hvozdovic (6-2) gave up four in the first, with three runs coming on a Jake Taylor home run with two outs, his sixth of the season. All in all, the six runs given up by Hvozdovic was the fourth time in his last five starts where he gave up at least four runs.

In fact, the eight runs given up by Hvozdovic and Matt Walker were as many in those five innings as the team had given up in that five game stretch. The Stompers did get good games at the plate from Wenrich (3-for-5, 3B, 2 RBI), Hurley (2-for-5, 2B, RBI) and Matt Hibbert (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI), but their 11 hits in all weren't enough to help them back from that initial six-run deficit.

Now with their penultimate trip in 2015 to Albert Park in the rearview mirror, Sonoma returns home for a six game homestand that will begin with three games against the Pacifics. The series opener will take place tonight on a KRAVE Friday, where the local jerky makers will be at the park with their delicious varieties of jerky for fans to enjoy. Fans 21 and older can enjoy pairings with some of their favorite adult beverages in the Lagunitas Beer Garden.

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.

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Lights-Out Pitching Puts Sonoma Back In 1st Place Tie

Takashi Miyoshi made all the right moves in Sonoma's 5-1 win on Wednesday night.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

If Tuesday's game was the toughest loss of the season for the Stompers to take, Wednesday's game was as impactful but for the opposite and correct reasons.

Instead of the little things not going Sonoma's way, runners being left on base by the bushel and only a small handful of mistakes costing the Stompers a victory, Sonoma made all the right moves, rode some terrific pitching and came out on the right side of a 5-1 decision against the San Rafael Pacifics to pull into a first place tie in the Pacific Association second half standings.

It was a historic night in San Rafael as Oz Sailors became the first female pitcher to throw for the Pacifics in team history, but the young right-hander did not get off to a great start against Sonoma (14-9 2nd half, 40-20 overall). Only lasting 2 1/3 innings, Sailors gave up six hits and three runs to give Sonoma an early lead.

The one run San Rafael got came in the first inning as Danny Gonzalez drove home Zack Pace with an RBI single. After that, the Stompers recorded all 27 outs in the game without another run coming home for the Pacifics, but they did have their chances.

Twice in the game, the Pacifics got runners at 2nd and 3rd with two outs and their best hitter, Matt Chavez to the plate. Both times, Stompers manager Takashi Miyoshi decided to intentionally walk the league's leader in every major offensive category. Both times, the man on deck, Jeremy Williams, struck out to end the inning.

The second time Williams went down was in the fifth, when Dylan Stoops (1-0) replaced starter Gregory Paulino. The big lefty got Williams swinging on a breaking ball to end the inning, exploding the Stompers dugout in response. He then proceeded to shut down the Pacifics for two more innings, giving way to Miyoshi's other brilliant tactical decision.

With Gonzalez, Chavez and Williams coming up in the eighth, Miyoshi went to Santos Saldivar, who had done work out of the bullpen on his side day this past week against Pittsburg. The move paid off nicely, as Saldivar carefully worked around Chavez with a walk and only allowed a hit to Williams before getting Maikel Jova swinging and Ricky Gingras to ground out to end the inning.

Miyoshi expressed frustration after Tuesday's loss thanks to the runners left aboard and his decisions not working out as well as they did Wednesday, but all the right moves were made by the Stompers manager in the turnaround game of the crucial three game series in San Rafael, setting up a rubber match for sole possession of first place heading into this weekend's return matchup in Sonoma.

Matt Hibbert, Isaac Wenrich, Danny Baptista and Gered Mochizuki each had two hits, with Mochizuki flashing the leather at second base, as well, diving to his right to start a double play on a ball hit by Chavez in the first. Mark Hurley's home run in the ninth inning put an exclamation point on Sonoma's win, as his two run shot was his seventh of the season.

Thursday's matchup won't be easy for the Stompers, as they will face Max Beatty, who has two consecutive complete game victories. His most recent win was a one-hit shutout against Pittsburg, but the Stompers have hit him hard the last two times he's faced them. Sonoma will counter with southpaw Paul Hvozdovic. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with the radio broadcast beginning at 6:50 on StompersBaseball.com and the TuneIn mobile app.

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Tough 3-2 Loss Moves Stompers Game Back Of Pacifics

Kristian Gayday had a three-hit night on Tuesday, including a ground-rule double.

Danielle Putonen/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

As far as tough losses go, Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the San Rafael Pacifics was the equivalent of shoe leather or armadillo skin or John Wayne in "The Searchers": As tough as they come.

It wasn't the prettiest game of the season, either. Perhaps on the pitching side of things it was for the first five innings, as Eric Schwieger (5-3) mowed down the Pacifics lineup needing only 46 pitches and faced only one batter over the minimum. The big lefty had the stuff to counter a hyper-aggressive approach by San Rafael (14-8 2nd half, 33-27 overall) and keep their red hot offense at bay.

However, with the best player in the league by far, San Rafael has a weapon that can win them close games with a single swing of the bat with relative ease. Even on a pitch down and away in a 2-1 ballgame, Pacific Association home run king Matt Chavez had ideas of going with that pitch if he got it.

He got it on the first pitch he saw and he got it all, hitting a laser of a shot out to right and just over the wall for what proved to be the game-winning home run. Schwieger didn't make many mistakes at all, but the batted ball gods didn't shine brightly on the Stompers at all in the first place.

A somewhat troublesome trend on this night began in the fifth for Sonoma (13-9, 39-20), when with a 1-0 lead, the Stompers loaded the bases with two outs. Isaac Wenrich, who has had some trouble with same-side pitching this year, was able to coerce a walk against left-hander Patrick Conroy to make it 2-0.

On the very next pitch to Mark Hurley, a pop out to the catcher ended the inning. That became the first of three times players in scoring position were left on base over the last five innings, including Sonoma leaving the bases loaded twice.

During the final inning, as with one out and Yuki Yasuda at first, Wenrich doubled down the right field line to put runners at second and third, but Hurley struck out (albeit partly due to a questionable 3-1 pitch up and in that was called a strike that could have loaded the bases) and Gered Mochizuki lined out to right to end the game with both the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position.

All in all, Sonoma left 12 runners on base, including eight over the final five innings and the bases loaded twice. That proved to be a crucial aspect of this particular game, mainly because the Stompers were able to get things going plenty of times throughout, but couldn't really finish off rallies with that big run-scoring hit.

Kristian Gayday had a big game for the Stompers, going 3-for-4 with a ground rule double and scoring both Stompers runs on the evening. He now has seven hits in his last nine at-bats at Albert Park, including two doubles and a triple. Mochizuki added two singles and both Wenrich (1-for-4, BB) and TJ Gavlik (1-for-3, BB) reached base twice.

Frustrating as Tuesday's loss was, Sonoma has plenty of chances this week to make up for it, beginning tonight with game two of their three game set against San Rafael. Gregory Paulino will start for Sonoma against a one-night starter in Ghazaleh "Ozzie" Sailors, a female pitcher of some notoriety that has unexpectedly been added to the drama of this year's pennant race. First pitch is set for 7:05 with the radio broadcast beginning at 6:50 on StompersBaseball.com and the TuneIn mobile app.

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Metzger Promoted To Gary Of American Association

The former Giants farmhand did well for himself in his short time with the Stompers.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

Sonoma Stompers outfielder Brennan Metzger has been promoted to the Gary SouthShore Railcats of the American Association, marking the third time this season that a Stompers team member has moved to a higher level of professional baseball in the United States and the seventh time in team history. The Stompers will receive future considerations from the Railcats in exchange for Metzger. The 25-year-old from San Diego signed with the Stompers on July 21 and did very well for himself in his three weeks with the team, hitting .292/.407/.398 in 18 games with a home run, 13 RBI and 19 runs scored. He also stole five bases in six attempts and played stellar defense in right field.

Metzger is in his fourth season of professional baseball after being drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2012, where he was selected in the 22nd round out of Long Beach State. Metzger played at LBSU with Stompers outfielder Matt Hibbert in 2010 and 2011 and reached High-A San Jose in the California League during his tenure with the Giants organization.

Metzger joins Fehlandt Lentini (Long Island Ducks - Atlantic League) and Joel Carranza (Trois Rivieres Aigles - American Association) as 2015 Stompers team members who have moved on to the higher ranks. 2014 players Jayce Ray (Wichita Wingnuts - American Association), Jaime Del Valle (Evansville Otters - American Association) and Scott Garner (Laredo Lemurs - American Association) along with manager Ray Serrano (Atlanta Braves) moved on after tremendous runs last season.

4-2 Win Sets Up First Place Showdown With Pacifics

Santos Saldivar threw seven more shutout innings on Sunday, lowering his ERA to 0.98 on the season.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

The Sonoma Stompers were hoping for some separation from Pittsburg and San Rafael after their weeklong series with the Admirals. They knew that if they took care of business at home against last-place Vallejo that they would be in good shape going into the final three weeks of the season, where they faced those two teams a total of 15 times over their final 18 games.

This week brought an unexpected twist: San Rafael took five of six games against Pittsburg, including a sweep at Albert Park over the weekend. Sonoma's opponent over the next six games? That same Pacifics team.

With a 4-2 victory over Vallejo on Sunday, the Stompers also finished taking five of six games this past week, and that success sets up a showdown with a team that has been on fire over the past six weeks. The last time Sonoma matched up with the Pacifics, the Stompers won four games in a six game series, with Sean Conroy closing the game out in a fireman role and the now-departed Joel Carranza smacking four homers.

Sonoma's (13-8 2nd half, 39-19 overall) win on Sunday was once again paced by Santos Saldivar (2-1). The rookie right-hander threw another seven shutout innings against Vallejo (6-15, 19-41), extending his scoreless innings streak to 16. 15 of those innings came this week against the Admirals, as he struck out 16 batters and allowed only 16 baserunners.

On the season, Saldivar now has a 0.98 ERA in 27 1/3 innings, with 31 strikeouts and only 29 baserunners (22 hits, 7 walks). The Pasadena, Texas native has set himself up to be the ace of the starting rotation during the second half of the season, and will see the mound at least three more times this season as a starter if the current rotation holds up, with a chance at four times seeing as there are three more off days in the season.

Birthday boy Matt Hibbert had a two-hit day, as did TJ Gavlik and Brennan Metzger. It was the sawn song for Metzger with the Stompers, as the former Giants farmhand has been promoted to the Gary Southshore RailCats of the American Association. Sonoma will receive future considerations from the Railcats in exchange for Metzger, as Metzger becomes the third Stompers player this season to move up to a higher league in independent baseball.

The Stompers will have a day off on Monday before starting off their all-important three game series in San Rafael on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with the radio broadcast beginning at 6:50 on StompersBaseball.com and the TuneIn mobile app.

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Stompers Win Pitching Duel Behind Jackson, Stoops

Mike Jackson threw 5 1/3 shutout innings and kept the Admirals off the board in Sonoma's 1-0 win on Saturday.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

Friday's game might have looked like an aberration compared to the rest of 2015 for the Sonoma Stompers, but in a game on Saturday that featured as few as you can score in a regulation baseball game, it was something that both Sonoma and the visiting Vallejo Admirals had seen before.

On June 24, a thrilling pitching duel between Sonoma's Gregory Paulino and Vallejo's Demetrius Banks went all the way to the ninth inning without a single run before a throwing error on a possible double play ball allowed Joel Carranza to race home from third with the game's only run.

Saturday, the Stompers won another 1-0 game against the Vallejo Admirals, but their run came early, as a Mark Hurley solo homer in the second inning proved to be the game's most crucial hit in a matchup filled with more great pitching and defense.

After Matt Hibbert made the catch of the year on Friday night laying out for a line drive in right-center field, a crucial ball struck in the sixth by PJ Phillips proved to be a turning point on Saturday. With two out and Aaron Brill at third, Phillips hit a lined shot back up the middle, but Gered Mochizuki at second base ranged to his right and laid out parallel to the infield dirt for a sensational grab that robbed Vallejo (6-14 2nd half, 19-40 overall) of the game's tying hit.

Phillips would have his own great defensive play soon enough on a ball up the middle in the eighth with a runner at first, as he ranged to his right and fielded a ground ball before flipping it behind his back to Brill covering for the force out. It was a similar play like the one done by his older brother Brandon Phillips on July 21, showing that the Phillips brothers can make some plays happen at the keystone no matter what level of baseball it is.

Mike Jackson, Jr. (5-2) had another very good starting performance, going 5 1/3 scoreless innings and allowing only five base runners (four hits, one walk) while striking out four. When the Admirals got going a bit in the sixth, manager Takashi Miyoshi had the quick hook in a tight ballgame for the rookie southpaw Dylan Stoops, who was absolutely masterful the rest of the way.

The Pennsylvania native threw 3 2/3 perfect innings of relief and struck out four batters in his most impressive outing yet with Sonoma (12-8, 38-19), as the former University of Richmond star had all four of his pitches working against the Admirals.

Yuki Yasuda, Brennan Metzger and Kristian Gayday had the other hits for the Stompers, as both teams only managed four hits each in the game. Vallejo's Chad Bunting had a two-hit night while former Stomper Glenn Walker added a double. The game made a tough-luck loser of David Dinelli (3-5), who went seven strong innings and allowed only three hits while walking four and striking out six.

Sonoma's win keeps them in a first-place tie with the San Rafael Pacifics going into Sunday. The Pacifics defeated the Pittsburg Diamonds 11-7 behind four home runs, including two from league home run king Matt Chavez.

Senior Sunday presented by Hired Hands Homecare features $5 discounts for senior fans and $1 canned sodas for all fans during tomorrow's game, which is set for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch. Santos Saldivar will get the start for the Stompers against Banks for Vallejo.

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.

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