Stompers’ pitcher makes baseball history

On Pride Night at Arnold Field Thursday evening, the first active openly gay player in the history of professional baseball not only made history, but did it in spectacular fashion. Sean Conroy threw a complete game shutout, allowing only three hits and striking out 11 to lead the Sonoma Stompers to a 7-0 victory over the Vallejo Admirals.

From the beginning of the evening, Conroy (2-0) had control of the environment of Arnold Field and the attention not just of the fans, but of local and national media that was on hand to cover Thursday’s historic event. Yet with the spotlight shining bright on the 23-year-old from Clifton Park, New York, he never wavered, never crumbled, and if anything, he thrived under the pressure.

The sidearmer never touched above 84 MPH, but his fastball movement and wipeout slider kept Vallejo (8-13) off-balance. Conroy only had two balls hit hard all night long, one being a double hit by P.J. Phillips in the first and another on a line drive snagged by T.J. Gavlik at third base in the fifth.

Outside of those two balls hit by the Admirals, it was smooth sailing for Conroy. He didn’t let a runner get past second base and never had more than one base runner on at a time. He allowed only three hits, walked one and hit a batter. His 11 strikeouts were one shy of the team record set by Roman Martinez in 2014 and tied by Gregory Paulino on Wednesday night.

After the last out, Conroy got a hug from catcher Isaac Wenrich and the celebration line began. Conroy was warmly greeted by teammates and fans alike as he walked off the field. While talking to media after the game, the Conroy celebration continued when he got ambushed with an icy cold cooler of water from his teammates.

When asked about what the night meant to him, Conroy was still trying to put together what had just happened. “I still haven’t been able to process it,” said Conroy, “After the final out, I just wanted to celebrate with my teammates like we always have.”

Offensively, Sonoma got big nights from Joel Carranza (3-for-4), Isaac Wenrich (2-for-4, two-run homer) and Fehlandt Lentini (two-run homer). All seven runs came consecutively in the third through sixth innings, as the Stompers chased Vallejo starter David Dinelli (3-2) just six days after Dinelli shut down the Stompers back in Vallejo.

Even with Sonoma sweeping a team for the fourth time already this season and the team winning 16 of their first 19 games, the greatest victory the Stompers have had this season came Thursday night. Conroy’s start will be remembered not just for its dominance, but for it being exactly what he had hoped to do in making the start in the first place.

From the time he came out at the age of 16 to his friends and family, and to each of his teammates and team members since, he had wanted to set an example for others to follow, much like the way he has followed in the footsteps of Glenn Burke and Billy Bean.

Jason Collins did it in basketball. Michael Sam did it in football. Now Sean Conroy has done it in baseball. It’s his goal to continue up the professional ranks and give himself the opportunity to play at the highest level. With his start on Thursday night, his march toward that goal continues, and perhaps his courage will encourage others to do what he’s done.

Sonoma goes on the road Friday for the first of three games in Pittsburg against the Diamonds. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.