Stompers in first-place tie

Stompers open five-game home stand Friday|

After topping the Vallejo Admirals late Tuesday night, the Sonoma Stompers Wednesday night continued to roll, winning 8-3 and sweeping the two-game series.

Once again, the scoring began early as Daniel Comstock crushed a two-run home run in the first inning to give Sonoma a 2-0 lead. After Vallejo tied the game up in the bottom half, Daniel Baptista broke the tie in the third inning with a three-run homer of his own to bring the lead to 5-2.

A solo home run from Kenny Meimerstorf in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth gave the Stompers eight runs in the game and a comfortable lead for the remainder of the evening.

“I worked on a couple of things during BP and tried to translate it to the game,” Meimerstorf said. “I have a plan every time I come into the box and I try to execute that plan and I don’t waver from it.”

Ethan Gibbons started for the Stompers and threw six strong innings, striking out five Admiral hitters to pick up his third straight win.

Ryan Richardson made his return to Sonoma after playing overseas in Japan, pitching a 1-2-3 eighth inning with two strikeouts.

Tuesday, facing the Admirals for the first time since the Pacific Association Championship game in 2017, the Stompers came from behind in the ninth inning and won, 5-4.

Sonoma jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first as Comstock and Meimerstorf each drove in a run, Marcus Bradley and Baptista respectively.

After soon falling behind, the Stompers inched back, scoring runs in each the fifth and sixth innings.

In the fifth, Bradley singled and stole one of Sonoma’s four bases in the fifth inning, then scored when Comstock reached on an error. Meimerstorf singled and scored when Rob DeAngelis hit a two-out single to knot the game.

The contest stayed tied until the ninth when Bradley contributed once again, singling in Rayson Romero to give the Stompers a 5-4 lead.

Bradley and Romero combined to go five-for-eight in the game, scoring three of Sonoma’s five runs.

Vallejo was unable to score after the fourth inning in large part because of reliever Vijay Patel. The first-year Stomper walked the first batter he faced after taking over for Juan Espinosa in the fifth inning, then retired the next 12 Admirals he faced, striking out a single-game best six.

“First pitch strikes allowed me to get ahead and and let me dictate the AB from there,” Patel said. “Today felt really good, I made a lot of small adjustments, which helped me. Coming out here and competing felt really good.”

With the lead secure heading to the bottom of the ninth, Jacob Cox entered the game and locked down his league-leading seventh save of the season, striking out two in his perfect inning.

The sweep puts the Stompers in a first-place tie with the San Rafael Pacifics with identical 11-7 records. The Admirals are in third a half-game out, Napa is in fourth with a 10-8 record, Pittsburg is fifth at 8-10 and Martinez is sixth with a 3-14 mark.

The Stompers return home this weekend for a five-game home stand. Friday, the Stompers will face Martinez, while Vallejo comes to town Saturday and Sunday. Sonoma finishes its home stand on Tuesday and Wednesday when Napa comes to town. Friday and Saturday’s games are at 6:05 p.m. while Sunday’s game is at 1:05 p.m.

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