SONOMA, Calif- The Sonoma Stompers hoped for an early celebration in front of a sellout crowd of 1,230 at Palooza Park at Arnold Field but Salina took advantage of mistakes early to come out with a 7-4 win.
Konner Arnold (4-1) got hit around in the top of the 2nd inning and defensive struggles made the inning tougher for the right-hander.
The inning started with a ground ball to Pedro Barrios which he could not handle off the bat of Zane Gelphman, allowing him to reach. Then with one out, Eric Kozak launched a 2-run home run to left to give Salina an early 2 run advantage. Back-to-back-to-back RBI hits from Justin Byrd, Omar Artsen, and Louis Martini brought in 3 more runs for a 5-run inning for the Stockade. Putting the Stompers in an early deficit.
In the top of the 4th inning, Cody Bishop hit an opposite field home run to lead off the inning, increasing the Salina lead to 6-0.
Neil Lang (1-1) retired the first 10 hitters he faced as he was perfect through 3 1/3 innings before allowing a base hit to Miles Williams in the bottom of the 4th inning. with 2 outs, Dondrei Hubbard hit a no-doubt missile to left field to put the Stompers on the board but still trailing 6-2.
In the top of the 8th inning, Bishop went to the opposite field again for his second home run of the game, making it 7-2.
In the home half of the inning, Nick Gotta increased his on base streak to all 23 games he’s played in with a solo homer to right, cutting into the lead 7-3.
The Stompers tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the 9th and had the bases loaded with just one out but were only able to score one run, coming up short 7-4.
The Stompers are on the road on Friday in San Rafael at 6:30 but are home again Saturday night for pride night at 6:05.