Stompers get comeback win

Sonoma scoring runs in bunches|

The Sonoma Stompers Professional Baseball Club took a topsy-turvy 16-12 victory over the Vallejo Admirals Wednesday.

The Admirals seemed unsinkable going into the eighth inning. Trailing by five, Yuki Yasuda launched his first home run of 2017, a shot over the left-field fence to put the Stompers within striking distance.

“(Yasuda’s) home run just gave us the win because of his attitude. He never quit the game. He showed us he never gives up,” said manager Takashi Miyoshi. “I could tell, how he carried himself, he still wanted to win the game. That affected everybody.”

The Stompers caught a breeze from there, rallying for eight runs in the inning, two off of former Major League pitcher Sammy Gervacio.

Ten straight Sonoma batters reached base in the frame as they scored eight runs before Admirals pitching recorded an out. The inning ended on three straight strikeouts, but not before the Stompers took a 13-10 lead.

Yasuda and Matt Hibbert combined to drive in eight of the Stompers’ 16 runs in the game.

“It’s just about making those relievers work,” Hibbert said. “Especially when there’s runners on base, the pressure’s not on the hitter, it’s on the pitcher.”

Stompers starter Tyler Garkow had allowed four Admiral hits and struck out three through four to defend a 5-1 Sonoma Lead before the tide turned and Vallejo struck for five runs in the fifth.

“That was his game,” Miyoshi said. “I just trust him. His stuff, what he does on and off the field, every day I see him at the gym. I can’t take him out. He earned it.”

Sonoma put up crooked numbers in both the second and fourth innings, using a combination of signature Stompers small ball and extra base hits. Vallejo arms kept Sonoma relatively quiet in the middle innings before the wave of baserunners in the eighth.

Tuesday, Joel Carranza hit his third home run in three games as the Stompers defeated the Admirals 15-7.

Carranza added to his legacy as the most prolific home run hitter in Pacific Association history when he sent his 48th career shot sailing over the left-center field fence in the second inning. The win was one of six this season in which the Stompers scored 10 runs or more.

“It’s nice to keep adding on,” Carranza said. “My ultimate goal is to make it so that nobody can catch it.”

Stompers starter Mike Jackson Jr. picked up the win in a rematch with David Dinelli, who he pitched a solid seven innings against on June 14. In Tuesday’s game, Dinelli earned six runs in his four and one-third inning performance while Jackson struck out seven through six.

After Carranza’s shot, the Admirals evened the score on a piece of stellar base running by Tillman Pugh. Pugh took home on an error, but the quick-thinking play wasn’t enough to hold water for Vallejo. Sonoma stormed back in the fourth, using an Eddie Mora-Loera single, a walk and a pair of ground balls to score three runs in the inning.

Sonoma all but decided the matchup in a busy fifth inning. Yasuda and Scott David led off the frame with two straight singles before a pair of walks and a Brennan Metzger double sent Jackson back to the mound in the bottom of the inning with an eight-run lead.

Stompers outfielder Marcus Bradley hit his first home run of the season in the sixth, a three-run shot to put Sonoma up 14-2.

Six different Stompers recorded RBIs on the night while 10 different Stompers recorded a hit. Scott David and Isaac Wenrich both had three-hit performances.

The Admirals surged back in the sixth to score four runs, but their late-inning efforts proved futile against the Stompers’ 12-run lead.

With the two wins, the Stompers improved to 13-4, and have a 4.5-game lead over second place Pittsburg with San Rafael in third, 5.5 games back and Vallejo in fourth, 8 games back.

The Stompers finished their three-game series Thursday at Vallejo, results not available at press time.

Sonoma returns home tonight, Friday and hosts a weekend series with the San Rafael Pacifics. Game time tonight, Friday, is 6 p.m., while game time Saturday and Sunday is 5 p.m.

Tickets are available now either online or at the fan shop at 234 W. Napa St., in downtown Sonoma. Tickets will also be available at the box office on game days, beginning 30 minutes prior to the game.

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