By Jordan Kimball
Both sides of the ball highlighted the Stomps’ victory over the Petaluma Express Friday, but it couldn’t have happened if Sonoma’s bullpen wasn’t so dominant. After Brandon Leon tossed three innings while allowing four runs on four hits, Jaxen Rowland entered to face the Express’ six-, seven- and eight-hole. And despite them hitting late in the order, Will Tokar’s .276 batting average was the lowest among the group.
The Stomps had seen base-runner after base-runner, but Rowland, followed by Nick Poulos and Harun Pelja, allowed just three hits in six innings of work. They silenced a prevalent Petaluma offense, which in turn fueled the Stomps to steal a 12-6 victory.
“It’s a huge confidence builder. We talk about momentum being a big boulder and trying to get that thing pushing,” Stomps manager Zack Pace said of the win. “We gotta start it now, and hopefully we can keep that boulder rolling.”
It continued Saturday as Sonoma (2-2, 0-0 CCL) defeated the Alameda Anchors 4-2. Carried by six pitchers, the Stomps allowed just four hits and only walked three batters to win their second straight game.
“We have new guys (on the mound) every single night. Just seeing guys that are gonna fill up the zone and compete,” Pace said. “That’s what we want, and that’s gonna get us a lot of outs.”
Unlike Friday, when the Express fired early, the Anchors took time to find their footing. Sonoma State’s David Howard got Zac Ragland and Logan Kim to ground out before allowing his first base-runner of the day via walk. However, on Howard’s third offering to John Clinkenbeard, he was retired, bringing the Stomps to the dish.
For the first time this summer, Sonoma got ahead early. Landon Akers — who Pace named a “player to watch” — grounded out, but Colton Boardman started things with a walk. From there, he stole second base despite Nic Sebastiani retired on strikes. McCann Libby came to the plate, holding the cleanup spot for the second straight game.
His positioning was key, as he forced an error out of second baseman Paul Wagner to score Boardman and give the Stomps an early lead.
Sonoma wasn’t done though. After continued dominance from Howard, Anthony Scheppler led the second inning off with a four-pitch walk. Paul Lizzul and Connor Pawlowski followed with singles, loading the bases with no outs.
Hee-Ryun Han came up in a large spot and hit his fourth pitch far enough into center field to score Scheppler. Akers and Boardman were soon retired, but the damage was done.
The trend on the mound continued through the third, before Patrick Richardson replaced Howard. The momentum didn’t shift, though. Richardson swiftly retired Kim, Titus Wheelock and Clinkenbeard on 12 pitches, but Scheppler, Lizzul and Pawlowski matched them against the Anchors’ Tyler Kennedy.
The next two frames saw more of the same, with Alameda down quickly and Sonoma unable to capitalize. But in the seventh inning, the Stomps broke through. After Kyle Seo’s clean sixth inning, Charlie Malton toed the rubber. Despite the switch, Alameda couldn’t produce. It was back on defense in three hitters for the fourth time.
Finally, the Stomps made it pay. Han doubled before Akers tripled. Lawrence Westbrook was brought onto the bump, but not much changed. Sebastiani singled to score Akers, doubling Sonoma’s lead with two more chances for Alameda.
However, after calm all game, the Anchors showed fight in the eighth. Luke Duncan struggled on the mound, facing six hitters and allowing two runs. But with bases loaded, Braden Guentz replaced Duncan and ultimately won the game for the Stomps.
“I’m just figuring out a way to try and limit (damage). Maybe (allow) one (run) if they get a sac-fly but just (have to) do my best,” Guentz said postgame.
Guentz did better than his best. After a three-pitch battle, Brenden Lister grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning and hold Sonoma’s lead. While the Stomps didn’t tack on any more runs, Guentz silenced Alameda again in the ninth to earn a save and bring Sonoma to .500 with a Sunday matinee on deck.
“I just trust (myself). I knew I got the results I wanted (and)... what I did while pitching was what I needed to do,” Guentz said.
The Stomps finish non-league play with one last matchup against the Anchors Sunday at 1:05 p.m. at Arnold Field. From there, Sonoma will begin CCL play on Tuesday against the San Luis Obispo Blues.