By Jordan Kimball, Beat Writer
Back-and-forth is an understatement to describe the Stompers’ Saturday evening clash with the Menlo Park Legends. Coming off a thrilling 6-5 walk-off win Friday, courtesy of a Connor Pawlowski game-winning single, the momentum lay in Sonoma’s favor. But the Legends didn’t quit Friday. They scored a game-tying run in the eighth and again in the ninth to take the lead.
The result fell in the Stompers’ favor, but Menlo Park showed it would push them to their limits. The Legends displayed that again Saturday, capturing a 9-8 victory in an instant classic at Arnold Field. Sonoma (8-7, 5-5 CCL) once trailed by four runs but fought back, becoming just 90 feet away from evening the score in the ninth inning.
“We were inches away from winning that thing. If that ball gets over (Will Robbins’) head, we’re gonna score from first and win it,” Stompers manager Zack Pace said postgame. “Our guys are fired up. They want to beat them.”
Leadoff hitter Heeryun Han approached the batter’s box with one out in the final frame. Brady Shannon stood on first, and Kieran Baker straddled third. Han recently walked things off for Sonoma against the Alameda Anchors on June 1. He was looking for a similar storybook ending.
But after taking two balls and fouling a pitch from Legends’ reliever Will Marlin, Han scorched a laser toward first base, where Robbins snared it. The first baseman quickly turned around, catching Shannon frozen nearly five feet off the bag.
A tag was applied as Shannon grabbed his helmet and walked into Sonoma’s dugout in shock. The Stompers’ bench, which had possessed extreme excitement just seconds prior, stood silent.
“We battled out butts off tonight,” Pace said. “I was proud of our guys for doing that. We didn't have any zeroes until the sixth inning, we chipped away and got the game tight and we were inches away from winning.”
Despite the defeat, there were noticeable positives from Sonoma’s performance Saturday. It was down big early, dealing with command issues from starter Braden Guentz, whose control had been prevalent through his previous outings. Patrick Richardson replaced him, but he too struggled to fill the zone.
The Stompers continued their inconsistencies on defense, making at least three errors for the third consecutive game. They stranded 11 runners on base and couldn’t quite find the big hit, a trend that’s continued through Sonoma’s first third of its season.
But despite the negatives sticking out, the Stompers showed grit. They scored in all five innings from the second to the sixth. Their bullpen following Richardson held its own, combining to allow just one hit in four innings with six strikeouts.
Also, many of Sonoma’s everyday starters received the day off to prepare for Sunday’s doubleheader, showcasing the Stompers’ depth at third with Max Handron, shortstop with Han and centerfield with Baker.
The effort resulted in a loss, but the script showed the Stompers can battle anyone and should never be counted out.
After allowing one run in the first — with Guentz faltering with runners on base — and three runs in the second, Sonoma quickly found itself at a deficit it had yet to overcome. This season, the Stompers haven’t come back from a two-run deficit, but Saturday looked promising.
Menlo Park’s lead was soon cut in half thanks to a 102-mph single from Shannon, a Nic Sebastiani single, two walks and a Stompers’ classic, a wild pitch. But when Sonoma brought a fight, the Legends never backed down.
Richardson replaced Guentz on the mound, yet Menlo Park shelled him, tallying two hits in the third, but more significantly, two runs.
“I think it was kind of an off day. Patrick got into a little groove at the end. We also didn’t help him defensively,” Pace said. “They were up in the zone, getting behind hitters, and it’s not a good recipe for success.”
The trend continued. One for the Stomps in the third, two in the fourth and two in the fifth — courtesy of Sebastiani’s first home run of the season. Meanwhile, the Legends notched two runs, two more and capped it with a final score in the fifth.
Pawlowski — Friday’s hero — proved crucial again Saturday, doubling to score McCann Libby in the sixth. But Sonoma went down in order in the seventh, threatened but fell short in the eighth and succumbed to Menlo Park’s game-ending double play in the ninth, which evened the series at one game apiece with a Sunday doubleheader on deck.
Sonoma will travel to the College of San Mateo for a 1 p.m. rematch against the Legends, with Game 2 expected to start around 30 minutes following the conclusion of Game 1.