Stompers take it down to the wire

Sonoma, Vallejo tied for first with three games left|

The Sonoma Stompers took two of three games this weekend in a critical series against the Vallejo Admirals.

The two wins means the Stompers and Admirals are in a first-place tie with only three games remaining in the Pacific Association season. Sonoma will be at Pittsburg Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday while the Admirals have three games at San Rafael.

In Sunday’s 6-4 win, Sonoma starter Ty’Relle Harris gave a strong effort, pitching five-and-a-third scoreless innings and allowing just four hits.

“(Catcher Daniel Comstock) was working for me today,” Harris said. “I got outs, but you have (center fielder Matt Hibbert) out there running down fly balls, (third baseman Masa Miyadera) making great defensive plays, (left fielder Brennan Metzger) running down balls for me, you got the guys saving me … I stayed comfortable because of the guy behind the dish.”

His single earned run came on a sac fly after he had been replaced by Logan Gillespie in the sixth. The run was Vallejo’s only one until the eighth.

“(Ty’Relle) is our guy. I knew, coming into today, especially after last night’s win, we had a good chance to win,” Comstock said.

Metzger hit his third home run in two days. Coming into the series, Metzger had hit just three on the season. His homer was responsible for three of the runs in a four-run third inning home.

“It’s just amazing. At a time when we need a big hit like that, (Metzger) keeps hitting. Hopefully, he can continue to do that,” said manager Takashi Miyoshi.

In the fifth, Scott David put one over the fence in right to make the score 5-0. David went four-for-five and scored two runs.

The Admirals didn’t go quietly. In the eighth, a two-run single from David Kiriakos off of reliever Jacob Cox put the game within two runs. Cox came up with two strikeouts and a groundout to limit the damage.

In the ninth, pinch-hitter Marcus Bradley singled and came around to score an insurance run for the Stompers, breaking a 13-game scoreless streak for Admirals closer Sammy Gervacio.

Saturday, Metzger hit two home runs as the Stompers topped the Admirals, 9-5.

“That team over there (Vallejo) is really good and if we don’t silence them early, they crawl back into ballgames, and that’s what they did,” said catcher Daniel Comstock. “Baseball is a game of momentum and I think we did a good job of keeping it on our side tonight.”

Comstock and Metzger combined to make a loud statement in the second off of Vallejo starter Brent Adheen, swatting a pair of two-run home runs to put Sonoma up 4-0. Metzger hit another home run in the fifth, his fifth of the year.

Vallejo answered with a run in the second and three in the third, tying the game at four.

Starter Scott Plaza went seven innings, keeping the Admirals scoreless in four of them and protecting a Sonoma lead that gained one run in each of the middle innings.

“That was awesome, that’s a real easy situation for a pitcher to just kind of fall and crumble when things aren’t going his way, but he stuck with his stuff and grinded through it and gave us seven great innings tonight,” Metzger said.

The Stompers didn’t let up. Sonoma worked reliever Alex Fishberg for four straight walks in the sixth. In the eighth, Matt LoCoco hit a leadoff triple, setting the stage for Hibbert to drive him in. An error allowed Sonoma to take a 9-5 lead in the frame.

“Playoff time, we see everyone get intense, everybody trying to do too much, everybody wants to score. But the key to win a playoff game in a time like this, we just have to stay who we are and stick to our strengths,” Miyoshi said.

Friday night, the Stompers were on the wrong end of a 13-8 decision in the series’ opening game.

Stompers starter Juan Espinosa allowed three runs in four innings, pitching through two errors and six walks. Right-hander Logan Gillaspie was a bright spot on the mound, retiring the Vallejo batters in order after entering for Zach Wendorf in the sixth. Just one batter before, Chevy Clarke hit a bases-clearing double to give the Admirals a 9-3 lead.

Trailing 13-3 in the eighth, the Stompers strung together four runs with just one hit in the frame, a single from Daniel Baptista. The Stompers used a ground ball and a pair of bases-loaded walks to score the other three, rattling five walks and a hit-by-pitch out of Admirals reliever Andin Diaz in the inning.

The Stompers and Admirals have 21-15 records in the second half.

In the event of a tie at the end of gameplay Thursday, the Admirals win the second half due to a better head-to-head record. If the Stompers do not win the second half, a championship game will be held in Sonoma Friday, Sept. 1, at 7:05 p.m.

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