Stompers Drop Season Finale, 9-3; Prepare For Title Game

Gered Mochizuki sizes a pitch up during Sunday's loss in San Rafael.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

Even though the Sonoma Stompers took a 9-3 loss on Sunday in the season finale against the San Rafael Pacifics at Albert Park, the Stompers knew going in that the real battle between the two half-champions would take place 30 hours after first pitch. With the Pacifics wrapping up the best overall record in Saturday's come-from-behind win to clinch Albert Park as the site for the Pacific Association title game, Sunday's game amounted to not much more than a warmup game for Monday, and the Stompers were able to do a couple of things that would benefit the team for the big game.

Perhaps most important was that Sean Conroy, who was originally scheduled to start on Sunday, would be able to rest ahead of Monday's game, where he has had tremendous success against the Pacifics in 2015. That means that Monday's pitching available for the Stompers would begin with Santos Saldivar and include Conroy, lefty ace Dylan Stoops and former closer and top-flight starter Mike Jackson, Jr.

On top of saving Conroy, the Stompers also gave rests to Gered Mochizuki (back, hamstring) and Andrew Parker (hand) so that they could be prepared for Monday's game, meaning that when the first pitch is made at 7 p.m., the Stompers should be at 100 percent across the board for everyone who would be featured participants in the title game.

There is the idea looming that the Stompers have lost eight of nine against San Rafael and have lost 12 of 17 overall while the Pacifics have lost only four times in the month of August, including seven straight games to end the season and take the top spot in the overall standings from Sonoma.

However, with the title being decided in only a single game, it essentially comes down to a coin flip, which amplifies every pitch to a higher degree and makes batter/pitcher matchup paramount to anything else. With an entire season's of tendencies available for a lot of players on both sides, those will be leaned on more than ever to give each team an edge.

While the Stompers undoubtedly have the pitching edge, the Pacifics have the best hitter on either side, with corner infielder Jake Taylor hitting much like departed first baseman and probable MVP Matt Chavez. In only 35 games, Taylor has 12 home runs, and his addition to the Pacifics for the second half has been as important as Saldivar's addition for the Stompers on the pitching side.

Sonoma will most likely see Celson Polanco across from them as the San Rafael starter in Monday's game, but the official starter has yet to be announced by the Pacifics. Stompers fans are encouraged to come down and root on their team, with tickets available at the gate and also at PacificsBaseball.com. If fans can't make it out, the radio broadcast will begin around 15 minutes before first pitch, which has been initially set at 7:05 p.m. The official start time of the broadcast will be announced on Twitter @SonomaStompers shortly before the game.

9th Inning Rally Costs Sonoma In 2-1 Loss, Pacifics To Host Title Game

Gregory Paulino was phenomenal on Saturday, allowing only one run in eight innings while striking out eight.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

One night after the Stompers were on the wrong end of the luck spectrum against the San Rafael Pacifics, Sonoma looked like they had figured things out, leading 1-0 as they went to the top of the ninth inning in yet another pitcher's duel at Albert Park.

Yet on the first pitch of the ninth, Jake Taylor homered against Gregory Paulino to tie the game at 1-1, setting the stage for another stomach punch to Sonoma from the defending champions. Paulino was lifted for Erik Gonsalves, and after a single, an error on a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk to load the bases, the Pacifics took the game on a wild pitch that plated Jeremy Williams to give them a 2-1 victory and home field advantage for Monday's championship game.

For eight innings, Paulino was sensational, allowing only four hits and striking out eight while getting out of two jams where there were runners on second and third with two outs. Thanks to some superb defense and top-flight pitch calling from Matt Rubino, the young right-hander looked well on his way to another shutout victory before Taylor hit the first pitch of the ninth out to left on a hanging slider.

Meanwhile, the Sonoma (18-20 2nd half, 44-32 overall) offense didn't get going against the veteran Nick DeBarr, who was matching Paulino zero for zero until the seventh, when both Danny Baptista and Gered Mochizuki singled for the second time in the game. Showing bunt on the first pitch, Mark Hurley pulled back a bunt on the second pitch and lined one through the left side for a base hit, giving Sonoma the lead.

Sonoma has now lost 11 of 16, their worst stretch of baseball of the season. Against San Rafael over that stretch, the Stompers are just 1-7.

Both teams have shown off more pitching and defense than offense the past couple nights, and with Monday's title game looking like another game where pitching and defense will be valued highly, the only game where there might be a lot of offense might be Sunday, as both teams finish up the string at 1 p.m. with Ryusuke Kikusawa starting for Sonoma. The game will be live on TuneIn and the StompersBaseball.com at 12:50.

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Bunda Stifles Stompers As 3-0 Loss Gives Pacifics Overall Lead

Eric Schwieger was a tough luck loser on Friday, needing only 89 pitches in his eight-inning complete game.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

The all-important final series of the 2015 season got underway on Friday night at Albert Park and the Sonoma Stompers are now in a position they haven't been all season long.

With only two days left in the regular season, the Stompers were knocked down from atop their overall standings perch for the first time in 2015 by their rivals from San Rafael, as the Pacifics rode a tremendous pitching performance from JR Bunda to a 3-0 victory to put them a win away from hosting Monday's Pacific Association championship game.

While Bunda's (2-1) performance, where he allowed three hits in eight shutout innings and struck out 10, was tremendous in its own right, it was the complete game effort of Eric Schwieger (5-7) that kept Sonoma in the game the entire way, even with Bunda continuing to fire up zeroes.

In fact, Schwieger only needed 89 pitches in his eight innings to keep the Pacifics at bay, and the final two runs came home thanks to an error in the eighth inning on a ground ball that could have ended the inning. Outside of the double that led to San Rafael's first run in the second inning, Schwieger was dominant at times, matching Bunda pitch for pitch.

Unfortunately, the Stompers offense just couldn't figure out what to do with Bunda, who kept hitting his spots and inducing weak contact. Twice they got two runners on with one out in a 1-0 game, but Bunda got out of both jams to keep Sonoma scoreless. In fact, the Stompers never had a runner reach third base in the game.

The high points for Sonoma were on defense. Mark Hurley gunned down David Kiriakos from left field as Kiriakos tried to stretch a single into a double in the third inning and newcomer Keith Kandel making a sliding catch in right field in the sixth that was amongst the finest catches all season for Sonoma.

With the loss, Sonoma falls a half game behind San Rafael for the best overall record in the league, with the league-best mark determining who will host the championship game on Monday. Sonoma will send Gregory Paulino to the mound on Saturday to try and set up a winner-take-all game on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. at Albert Park.

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Final Home Series Of 2015 Ends With 8-6 Stompers Win

Keith Kandal had a tremendous debut with Sonoma on Thursday, as his three-run homer was the difference in Sonoma's 8-6 win.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

With so many different scenarios leading into the final weekend of the season, the Stompers quest to host the Pacific Association championship game on Monday has run into some measure of trouble. With only four games remaining, the Stompers had a half game lead over the San Rafael Pacifics for the best overall record, which determines who hosts the title game.

Needing a combination of four Stomper victories and/or Pacific losses, Sonoma came through on their end with an 8-6 victory over the Pittsburg Diamonds on Thursday, ending their final home series in 2015 with a series win.

Sonoma (18-18 2nd half, 44-29 overall) bounced back after their tough loss on Wednesday with a patient approach against Devon Ramirez (0-1), who made his team debut with the Diamonds and was all over the place. By the time he came out of the game in the fifth, Ramirez walked 10 batters in all, the highest total the Stompers have coerced out of a starter all season long.

The Stompers only had seven hits in the game, but none bigger than the first hit as a Stomper for newcomer Keith Kandal. With the Stompers leading 4-2 in the inning after a run came home on a wild pitch, Kandal rocked one to left field for a three-run homer to put the Stompers ahead for good.

Sonoma got a great start from Dylan Stoops (2-1), who pitched seven strong innings while scattering 10 hits, with a few hits getting through thanks to bad hops and the setting sun at Arnold Field. Outside of those hits, Stoops settled down after a tough first couple innings and got a duo of double play balls to get out of some jams. His first start of the year helped cut the Stompers magic number down to 3.

Both Yuki Yasuda and Kristian Gayday drew three walks, with Parker drawing two. Chad Bunting had a two-hit night, the only multi-hit effort for the Stompers on the evening.

Now the scene shifts to Albert Park on Friday, as the Stompers visit the Pacifics with home field advantage in the title game on the line. 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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Stompers Romp In Opener Of Final Home Series, 10-2

Daniel Baptista goes the other way in Sonoma's rout over Pittsburg.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

For the first time in about a month, the Stompers looked like the team that offensively dominated the Pacific Association for the first half of the 2015 season. Batter after batter, the Stompers roped line drive after line drive to all fields and kept the scoring train chugging around the bases.

In the 10-2 victory over Pittsburg on Tuesday to open up their final home series of 2015, the Stompers had a five-hit third inning and a seven-hit fourth inning that brought back memories of the juggernaut that was averaging seven runs per game as they ran away with the first half championship.

That team has seen quite the amount of turnover since then, as five of the team's nine players that were in the starting lineup on Opening Night have moved on to leagues above the Pacific Association in independent baseball.

Yet even with that turnover, the flashes of offensive brilliance still manage to shine through for Sonoma (43-28 overall, 17-17 2nd half). Super utility man Yuki Yasuda has been stellar for the team and was a highlight Tuesday with a three-hit night. The heart of the order has all been performing at a high level, as well, with season-long Stompers Mark Hurley, Daniel Baptista and Gered Mochizuki all hitting the ball well.

Mochizuki in particular is putting on a performance that ranks at the top of the league offensively for shortstops, as he has raised his OPS over 70 points since the beginning of August (.741 on August 1, .813 after a 1-for-3 night with a walk yesterday).

The highlight of last night's offensive showcase was the six-run fourth, as 11 batters came to the plate with seven consecutive hitters recording a hit at one point. Of the team's first 12 hits in the first four innings, 11 went to the opposite field, showing the team's fantastic approach against Barrett Phillips (5-7) that gave him an early trip to the showers.

Meanwhile, Sean Conroy (5-2) had some of his best stuff going, allowing only four hits in six innings of shutout baseball while striking out five. He struck out the side in the third inning, and is now in position to either pitch on Sunday for home field advantage in the Pacific Association championship game or perhaps start the game itself next Monday.

That game came to be thanks to a tremendous run by the San Rafael Pacifics in the second half, who clinched that title with an 8-7 victory over Vallejo on Tuesday. In the overall standings, Sonoma currently has a 1 1/2 game lead over San Rafael with five games left, including three in San Rafael beginning on Friday. With overall records determining who hosts the title game, the Stompers' magic number to clinch that distinction is at 4.

Which makes the next two games at Arnold Field all the more critical for the Stompers. Should Sonoma sweep the Diamonds, they would need only one more victory over the Pacifics this weekend in order to secure Arnold Field as the location for the title game.

They'll begin that push tonight with Mike Jackson, Jr. on the hill in the season's penultimate home game, with the first pitch set for 6:05 p.m. Tickets are available online at StompersBaseball.com and can be purchased at the Arnold Field box office beginning one hour before first pitch. For more information, call (707) 938-7277 or email the team at info@StompersBaseball.com.

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Hibbert Moves On To Gary Of American Association

Matt Hibbert's fantastic 2015 season has earned him a trip to the Gary SouthShore Railcars of the American Association.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

For the second time this season, a Stompers outfielder has been acquired by the Gary SouthShore Railcats of the American Association. After Brennan Metzger was picked up by the Indiana-based squad at the beginning of August, Stompers star center fielder Matt Hibbert has been acquired by Gary for future considerations. This marks the fifth time this season that a Stompers player has been acquired by an upper-division team in independent baseball, as Metzger, Fehlandt Lentini (Long Island Ducks - Atlantic League), Joel Carranza (Trois Rivieres Aigles - Can-Am Association) and Isaac Wenrich (Florence Freedom - Frontier League) have all moved on in 2015.

Hibbert was a prototypical leadoff man and center fielder for the Stompers in 2015, hitting .305/.418/.415 during the season with four home runs a team best 64 runs scored. He led the Pacific Association with 32 stolen bases and 18 hit-by-pitches. His defense in the outfield both in right and center was amongst the best in the league if not the best, as he made the tough plays look routine and made some of the most spectacular defensive plays of the season.

Newcomer Connor Jones is expected to take over in center field for the Stompers during their stretch run, as the final home series of 2015 begins on Tuesday against the Pittsburg Diamonds.

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 By Admirals After 13-4 Blowout Loss

Kristian Gayday celebrates his 3-run homer with Daniel Baptista.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

im Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

All of a sudden, the reeling Stompers are facing a possibility that didn't seem all that realistic three weeks ago.

That was before their week long series against Vallejo, where they took five of six from the Admirals at home ahead of a key week long series against San Rafael, where the Pacifics were looking to break away from the Stompers and force a championship game on August 31.

That game, which looked like something the Stompers would have been able to avoid, now looks like a near certainty thanks to the results of this weekend, as the Stompers dropped their weekend finale with the Admirals in blowout fashion and got swept in the process, 13-4.

Sonoma (16-17 2nd half, 42-28 overall) allowed 31 runs in the three games, and after Kristian Gayday tied the game with a three-run shot in the third inning, the Admirals pulled away and left the Stompers far behind, with a six-run eighth inning punctuated by the second home run of the game from PJ Phillips, a grand slam that cleared the wall in left.

Vallejo (11-22, 24-48 overall) got incredible production from two of the poorer hitters in the league all season, with Tyger Pederson and Jordan Berry coming into the series batting well under .200. But both hitters had multiple hits Saturday and followed it up with solo homers on Sunday, with Pederson's leading off the big eighth inning.

Gayday had a big afternoon for the Stompers, leading the way with a 2-for-4 effort that included the home run and a double. Both Danny Baptista and Andrew Parker had two singles for the Stompers. It was a tough start for Gregory Paulino, who didn't get out of the sixth and gave up seven runs (six earned).

The Stompers will return home on Tuesday for the beginning of their final home series of the year against the Pittsburg Diamonds. First pitch is set for 6:05 with the radio broadcast beginning at 5:50.

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 Lead Goes Away As Admirals Pull Away Late In 9-4 Loss

Yuki Yasuda's single in the seventh inning pulled Sonoma even with Vallejo on Sunday.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

When the Stompers won their series with the Pittsburg Diamonds earlier this week thanks to two phenomenal starts from Gregory Paulino and Mike Jackson, Jr., it seemed as if the Stompers identity had indeed shifted from an offensively charged team to a team focused on pitching and defense.

Much of that had to do with the departures of the heart of their lineup over the past month, as Joel Carranza, Isaac Wenrich and Brennan Metzger all moved on to upper-division leagues in independent baseball. Yet the Stompers starters seemed to have a trio in place to help lead them down the stretch, with Santos Saldivar looking like an ace and set to help Sonoma bounce back from a tough loss on Friday.

Things went well for nearly six innings until a couple mishaps turned the tides for Vallejo, and once the Admirals saw their opening, they kept pouring it on until the Stompers couldn't come back any more. After taking two of three from the Diamonds and looking like they could sneak into the 2nd half race with San Rafael, the Stompers are on the brink of being swept after a 9-4 loss on Saturday.

In their second matchup with Kenneth McDowall, the Stompers were able to figure some things out against the former teammate of Bryce Harper at Southern Nevada. It began with Gered Mochizuki who doubled off McDowall and came around to score on a bloop single by Peter Bowles. In his next at-bat, the Maui native hit his first home run of the year on the road, an opposite field shot in the fourth that gave Sonoma a 2-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Saldivar (2-2) was cruising along, running into trouble in the fourth and fifth but finding his way out of jams to keep Vallejo (10-22 2nd half, 23-48 overall) off the scoreboard. The pivotal sixth inning, however, was the beginning of Vallejo's breakthrough.

With one out and a runner at first, Glenn Walker took off for second and Saldivar pitched out. Sonoma (17-15 2nd half, 42-27 overall) catcher Matt Rubino made a perfect throw to second base but as Mochizuki laid down the tag, the ball slipped out of his glove, causing Walker to be safe. Later in the inning with Joshua Wong at the plate, Saldivar got Wong swinging on a high fastball for a strikeout, but Wong's bat clipped Rubino's glove on the swing, allowing Wong to reach on catcher's interference.

That's where Vallejo found its offense for the first time. Instead of being out of the inning, Saldivar needed to get two more outs, and Vallejo had way too many opportunities not to come through. Lydell Moseby singled home Walker for the first run and Tyler Norgren doubled home Wong to tie it at 2-2.

Yet it was Jordan Berry, he of the .130 batting average coming in to the game, who had the game's biggest hit to that point. He smashed a 2-run single just out of the reach of Yuki Yasuda at third base to give Vallejo a 4-2 lead. The inning fell apart, but the Stompers weren't done.

In the seventh, Sonoma got two runs thanks to the second home run of the season from Connor Jones and a heads up running play by Rubino taking third with nobody covering after a fielder's choice. Yuki Yasuda's two-out chopper off the plate brought Rubino home with the tying run.

The bottom half of the inning was when Vallejo pulled away for good against Erik Gonsalves (5-3). The Admirals forced Gonsalves to throw an unbelievable 55 pitches in the inning and wore down the former Admiral, sending 10 batters to the plate and using five hits and a walk in the inning to bring home four runs.

By the time the final run came across, Sonoma was well on its way to the eighth loss in 11 games and their first series loss on the road that didn't come at the hands of the San Rafael Pacifics. They will look to avoid the sweep on Sunday at 1 p.m. when they send Gregory Paulino to the hill five days after his six-hitter against the Diamonds at Arnold Field.

Stompers Roll Behind Jackson, Jones And Hurley In 8-0 Win

Connor Jones had his first hit as a Stompers, a solo home run to right field.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Maybe it was the presence of former Major League relief ace and father of Sonoma's starting pitcher on the night, Mike Jackson, Sr. Maybe it was the dogs that came out to see the Stompers play during the team's annual "Bark in the Park" promotion with Pets Lifeline of Sonoma Valley. But probably, it was the 30 times R. Kelly's "Ignition (Remix)" came on at Arnold Field on Thursday night.

Regardless of which belief you subscribe to, any or all of them combined to be a part of one of the most complete victories of the season for Sonoma, an 8-0 win over the Pittsburg Diamonds that pulled the Stompers into a tie for second place in the Pacific Association second half standings. Both teams are now four games behind the San Rafael Pacifics with nine games left in the season.

Sonoma (16-14 2nd half, 42-25 overall) did so many things well in this game that it harkened back to the days earlier in the season when all three phases of the game were working. Hitting, fielding and pitching were all at the top of their game on Thursday, with the team doing things well in multiple ways.

The star of the night was Jackson (6-3), who put together his most impressive start of the season. Six weeks after his longest outing of the season against Pittsburg (16-14, 34-34), where he struck out nine hitters in seven innings on July 8, Jackson was masterful against the Diamonds once again, this time throwing seven shutout innings and striking out four.

While he didn't have swing-and-miss stuff like other nights, Jackson's tendencies to pitch to contact played right into what he wanted the Diamonds to do. Pittsburg swung at the pitches Jackson wanted them to swing at and was popping out and grounding out throughout the evening. Twice Jackson induced a double play, with both getting him out of his biggest jams in his first and final innings.

He even got the Diamonds to hit into a couple of shifts, including Mike Taylor grounding into a shift where second baseman Gered Mochizuki was to the left of second base and Scott David grounding into a five-man infield. Overall, the performance was top notch from both a pitching and defense perspective, but the offense came alive, as well.

For instance, the second inning was full of heads up hitting and baserunners doing the right things. With runners at first and second and nobody out, Taylor Eads squared to bunt and took a pitch away for a ball, setting up a bunt defense for Pittsburg. With the wheel play on and the entire left side of the field open, Eads didn't bunt the next pitch and ripped it through the wide open hole on the left side for a base hit, scoring the game's first run.

Two out base hits were crucial in the inning, as well, as Peter Bowles hit a soft liner through the right side to plate a run and Matt Hibbert hit a dribbler in front of the plate that scored the third run of the inning.

While it was more than enough on the night, the Stompers weren't done making things happen on the base paths. Twice more, Yuki Yasuda was put in motion with Danny Baptista at the plate, who came through with solid singles through each hole in the infield to put runners at the corners on two perfectly executed hit-and-runs.

Even the power came out to play, as Connor Jones had his first hit as a Stomper in the sixth with a rocket of a solo home run just inside the foul pole down the right field line. In the seventh, Mark Hurley had the exclamation point on the evening with a three-run homer against James Trebus (5-3) that chased the Diamonds starter from the game.

From there, Dylan Stoops threw two shutout innings to end things for Sonoma, who now travels to Vallejo on Friday night for the first of three games with the Admirals, who just lost a three game home series to the first place Pacifics. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with the radio broadcast featuring Theo Fightmaster beginning just beforehand on StompersBaseball.com and the TuneIn mobile app.

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Paulino Brilliant In 4-0 Shutout Win

Gregory Paulino threw his second shutout of the season on Tuesday.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

When his stuff is working, Gregory Paulino looks like the best pitcher in the Pacific Association. With a 92 MPH fastball, a wipeout slider and a disappearing changeup, the young right-hander from the Dominican Republic has one of the best three-pitch mixes you'll see at this level of baseball.

That's what made it so great when he put it all together on Tuesday night. He notched his second shutout of the season, allowed only six hits, walked none and struck out eight in a masterful performance to lead Sonoma to a 4-0 victory in their series opener with the Pittsburg Diamonds.

Paulino (8-3) was on top of things from the get go and never let up. He didn't allow a runner to get to second base until the seventh inning, and even after Mike Taylor's double or a stolen base by Brandon Williams to put a runner in scoring position with two outs, Paulino wouldn't let Pittsburg (15-13 2nd half, 33-33 overall) get a run in after Rubalcava grounded out in the seventh and Nick Oddo flew out to end the eighth.

Even in the ninth when Pittsburg had their best chance to score at least one run with runners on the corners, Paulino got Rubalcava to strike out swinging and end the ball game, pumping his fist hard to celebrate the victory. He threw 103 pitches in all, with 80 strikes for a 77.7% strike rate.

Sonoma's (15-13, 41-24) offense came through when they needed to in all phases. Mark Hurley doubled to lead of the second and came home after stealing third and drawing a bad throw from Oddo behind the plate to score the first run of the game. Danny Baptista got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fifth and Yuki Yasuda singled home a run in the seventh.

Gered Mochizuki provided the big blast of the night, hitting a home run to right center field off reliever Tony Guerra for his fourth long ball of the season and his first home run that wasn't an opposite field shot at Arnold Field.

There were some highlights on the losing team's side as well. Rob Ellis struck out a Diamonds-best 13 batters in the game, but allowed eight baserunners in his seven innings and saw the Stompers make the most of their opportunities.

From a strategy standpoint, what Sonoma did against Pittsburg's top hitter in Scott David might have been the highlight of the night, Paulino aside. Beginning in David's second at bat, Sonoma deployed a five man infield, bringing in newcomer Connor Jones from right field to play on the right side of the infield along side Mochizuki.

It was done in an effort to see if David, who pulls the ball on the ground from the left side, would alter his approach at the plate. In the three times Sonoma did it, David did not alter a thing, going 2-for-3 against the shift with a single past a diving Jones and a dribbler just past Paulino where he reached for an infield single.

Nevertheless, the approach looked like something that could work against David, as he didn't try and hit the ball into the near 200 foot gap from left center field to right center field. Matt Hibbert moved over towards right center when the infield was in place and not once did David offer at going the other way.

It'll be something to watch for in the other two games of the series between the two teams, as Sonoma will welcome Pittsburg for game two of their three game series at Arnold Field on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. with the gates opening at 5 p.m. for a Wine Down Wednesday, with glasses of Leese-Fitch wines costing only $4 each for fans 21 and older.

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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