Sonoma Stompers drop a pair to San Rafael rivals

The Sonoma Stompers performance Wednesday night seemed like déjà vu in a 3-1 loss to the San Rafael Pacifics, which followed Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the same team. That first game only took two hours and five minutes to complete and featured a sensational pitching performance from Celson Polanco for San Rafael.

Dominican Republic native Polanco put together a performance that even the opposition had to respect. “Polanco did a great job of pitching at his tempo, pace, and location to keep our lineup off balanced,” said Stompers bench coach Chris Mathews. “When someone is able to put a performance together like that, sometimes you just have to tip your cap and not try to dwell on it.”

Polanco went eight strong innings allowing six hits and two walks while striking out nine, not allowing the Stompers to get a runner past second base till the eighth. The lone run of the game for Sonoma came on a Caleb Bryson solo blast to left in the bottom of the eighth. The Georgia native finished 2-for-3 including his homer.

Stompers starter Gregory Paulino was effective at times but made a few costly mistakes to Pacifics batters. Paulino went 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out four.

Maikel Jova, a veteran of the Pacific Association, did most of the damage for San Rafael by jumping on Paulino from the start. Jova had a two-run single in the first inning to give the Pacifics an early lead. He also had a solo home run off Paulino in the seventh inning and finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBIs. The other Pacifics run came on a solo homer by Brent Gillespie in the second inning.

The next night, after a pre-game guest appearance from San Francisco Giants’ legendary first baseman J.T. Snow, Sonoma’s bats were kept in check by another great pitching performance, this time from Pacifics pitcher Patrick Conroy (1-0), and the bullpen did the rest to close out the win. The offense for San Rafael didn’t put on a clinic, but one swing of the bat was the difference in the game.

For the first three innings of the game, it looked like the folks at People’s Home Equity Ballpark at Arnold Field were in for a pitchers’ duel. Mike Jackson Jr. for the Stompers and Conroy were both cruising through the lineup and both offenses were kept off the board. But the game took a huge turn in the fourth.

A few bounces went the Pacifics’ way as they put two runners aboard to start the inning, thanks to an error and an infield single. Then on a 1-0 count, Jackson made a mistake in location and Brent Gillespie deposited his fourth homer of the season over the right field fence. San Rafael led 3-0 after the homer and Sonoma was never able to recover from the blow.

Conroy went seven innings strong allowing no earned runs on seven hits while striking out seven. J.R. Bunda picked up his fourth save of the season. The only Stompers run scored with Conroy on the mound on an error by the shortstop Daniel Gonzalez.

Stompers starter Jackson was great for most of the game, but that one mistake in location proved to loom large and he picked up the loss (2-1).

Sonoma’s offense had opportunities to get back in the game, but did not come up with the clutch hits they needed and left men hanging on base. They also hit into two double plays after a Stomper lead off an inning by getting on base.

One silver lining for Sonoma’s offensive attack was from Mark Hurley who had one of his best nights offensively so far. The second-year center fielder finished 3-for-3 in the game.

This is a good sign as the 2015 Pacific Association Rookie of the Year had been searching for his swing in the early parts of the season.

Thursday’s game in San Rafael was cancelled, and no make-up date has been set.

Next chance to see the Stompers is Friday night at Arnold Field agains the Vallejo Admirals, in the franchise’s second annual Pride Night. Sean Conroy will be starting pitcher.