Stompers split weekend, remain in first

The Sonoma Stompers lost a bit of their momentum over the weekend, after taking their most recent winning streak to four with a Thursday night 8-6 victory over the Pacifics in San Rafael. Then it was lose one, win one, lose one all weekend long, ending with two split series against the Pacifics and the Napa Silverados.

The Thursday game looked easier than it scored, as the Stompers led 8-2 in the seventh inning, with starter Vijay Patel handcuffing the Pacifics lineup through seven by allowing just two runs on three hits and one walk, while striking out five.

The offense was there for him too, with home runs from Miles Williams – his 20th, a team record – while Daniel Baptista and Kevin Farley went back-to-back in the seventh.

But the game got interesting when Patel left the mound, as reliever Cole Watts gave up a run in the eighth, despite two strikeouts. Pitching the ninth, Jason Seever gave up a three-run homer to Jake Taylor before he got the third out, and the 8-6 final score put the Stompers two games up over the second-place Pacifics.

The next night it was the Pacifics’ turn to triumph, and triumph they did with an 11-3 victory on 13 hits and three Stompers errors. The Sonoma squad could only muster four hits, with two each from lead-off hitter Rob DeAngelis and Kam Stewart. The newest Stomper Joseph Broderick took the loss, giving up five earned runs out of six in just four innings. Broderick signed with the team on Aug. 10 after a season with the Pecos League.

Putting San Rafael in their rear-view mirror, the Stompers headed for Napa and another two-game series on Saturday and Sunday, needing to win at least one to stay ahead of the surging Pacifics. Struggling to keep the game close through eight, the Stompers showed their late-inning toughness with a five-run rally to take the lead, and the game, 9-6.

The inning began with a walk to Brock Hartley, an Eddie Mora-Loera single and a Marcus Bradley walk. Then Rayson Romero singled in Hartley, and DeAngelis gave his team the lead with his second RBI hit of the day, a two-run single scoring Mora-Loera and Bradley.

“I was down in the count, but I knew it wasn’t over,” DeAngelis said. “I got one I was able to hit and I luckily got it through the middle. I was happy to come through.”

Farley and Kenny Meimerstorf each brought in another run, giving closer Jacob Cox a comfortable three-run lead to work with in the bottom half. Cox delivered a perfect inning to earn his 19th save of the year, setting a Pacific Association record for saves in a season.

“It’s very cool, but like I always say, it has to do with the team,” Cox said. “Without close games, there is no closing role, there is no save opportunity.”

Sunday afternoon the same two teams played in Napa, only this time Sonoma could only manage four hits and fell to the Silverados 3-0. It was just the second time this year the Stompers were shut out, and it didn’t help that the San Rafael Pacifics extended their winning streak to three in a row.

The Sonoma Stompers remain a single game ahead of the Pacifics with only three weeks left to play. This week kicks off with an unusual three-game series against the Vallejo Admirals – unusual in that the first two games are in Vallejo, and the third, Thursday, Aug. 16, at Palooza Park in Sonoma.