Stompers start test with Pacifics

This past week, the Sonoma Stompers returned home for the first time since they clinched the Pacific Association first half championship on July 12, and waiting for them were their old foes from Marin County.

With the defending champion San Rafael Pacifics in town for a three-game set at Arnold Field, Sonoma began yet another battle against one of the teams that will challenge Sonoma for the second half championship and a spot in the league title game on Aug. 31.

After winning only two games in their recent weeklong series with San Rafael, Sonoma split the first two games of their series with the Pacifics thanks to a big inning on Tuesday before losing a slugfest on an RBI single in the ninth on Wednesday.

In Tuesday’s series opener, the Stompers scored seven times in the fifth inning with Isaac Wenrich’s grand slam being the exclamation point on Sonoma’s 10-5 win.

For the Stompers catcher, it was his first home run since June 25, as he took the first pitch he saw in the at-bat from Pacifics starter Max Beatty deep and out to left field for the opposite field blast. The seven runs were tied for the most runs scored in an inning by Sonoma this season, equaling their total from their game in Pittsburg on June 26.

In addition to Wenrich’s big blast, Sonoma got major contributions from Gered Mochizuki (3-for-4, walk), Matt Hibbert (2-for-5, home run) and T.J Gavlik (2-for-4). Wenrich also had a multi-hit game, as he went 2-for-4. It was the 10th game of the season where Sonoma scored double-digit runs.

All nine starters reached base for the Stompers in the game, which also helped starter Paul Hvozdovic to his team-leading fifth win of the season. The lefty from Herndon, Virginia, scattered nine hits over seven innings and struck out six. Erik Gonsalves finished things off with two shutout innings.

Wednesday’s game was an offensive explosion that featured numerous comeback attempts by the Stompers to fight off San Rafael’s 19-hit onslaught. Yet even after tying the game in the seventh with a Joel Carranza RBI single, it was a similar hit from Maikel Jova of San Rafael in the ninth that helped San Rafael to a 14-13 victory over the the Stompers.

Sonoma trailed 13-6 entering the bottom half of the fifth inning and scored seven unanswered runs. The big inning came in the seventh, when doubles by Hibbert and Kristian Gayday cut the deficit to one before Carranza’s game-tying single to right.

Sonoma had an opportunity in the bottom of the ninth to at least tie the game with runners at the corners and two outs, but Baptista bounced out to shortstop to end Sonoma’s final comeback attempt.

Sonoma had 16 hits in the evening, with Carranza (3-for-6, 2 RBI) leading the way. Yasuda (2-for-5, double), Andrew Parker (3-for-4, 2-run home run, walk) and Gered Mochizuki (2-for-3, double) all had multi-hit games for the Stompers.

The 27 total runs and 35 total hits are the high marks in either category for a single game in the Pacific Association so far in 2015. Both teams combined for a whopping 100 plate appearances.

Sonoma finished off their home series with San Rafael on Thursday with results not available at presstime. The Stompers will travel to San Rafael this weekend to take on the Pacifics for three games at Albert Park.

On Tuesday, the Stompers announced the signing of former San Francisco Giants farmhand Brennan Metzger. The 25-year-old outfielder made it as high as High-A San Jose in the Giants organization before making the Stompers his choice to begin his independent career.

Metzger was a 22nd round draft pick by the Giants in 2012 out of Long Beach State, where he played with current Stompers outfielder Matt Hibbert in 2010 and 2011. The San Diego native is 2-for-6 in his first two games as a Stomper ?with a double and three walks.