By Jordan Kimball, Beat Writer
Consistency. It’s what every baseball team strives for. Some players have been consistent for Sonoma. But as a whole, the squad defines inconsistency. Friday’s game against the Saints was the latest chapter in the Stompers’ back-and-forth season.
The Stompers scored eight of their nine runs with two outs, fueling their 9-0 bounce-back win over the Legends Saturday.
Coming off two inspiring wins — one against the Blues and the other versus the Philippines — Sonoma seemed to find its rhythm. But against interleague rival Arroyo Seco, the Stompers collected just one hit, resulting in a 1-0 loss. Would Sonoma follow with another stumble or return to the win column Saturday against a familiar opponent in the Legends?
The answer was simple. The Stompers (13-9, 10-7 CCL) returned to form to take a commanding 9-0 victory over Menlo Park at Arnold Field Saturday. Behind eight hits — a stark contrast from the day prior — and a five-inning outing from starter Nick Santivanez, Sonoma showcased its versatility.
“We had a good approach at the plate,” Stompers manager Zack Pace said postgame. “Let (Menlo Park) throw, see (its) stuff and put a good swing on a good pitch, and we started doing that.”
While Friday’s contest heavily showcased dominance from the mound — Luke Ballantyne opened for the Saints and struck out five, and David Howard pitched five shutout innings for Sonoma — it was offense that sparked the Stompers’ controlling win on Saturday.
Pace said Sonoma started with a poor approach at the plate. He thought they were giving Menlo Park starter Quinn Robertson strikes by chasing pitches out of the zone. After going down in order in the first and nearly scoring but being held in check in the second, the Stompers opened the scoring in the third.
The first two batters of the inning, Colton Boardman and Nic Sebastiani, were retired on 10 pitches. But to begin the trend of two-out hitting that followed, Landon Akers singled before McCann Libby drove him home to take the early lead.
On the bump, Santivanez continually set down the Legends. He allowed a base runner in four of his five innings but held Menlo Park without a run, never letting a runner enter scoring position. Santivanez’s day concluded with a season-high nine strikeouts, one hit allowed and two walks, lowering his ERA to a team-low 0.64 for qualified pitchers over 10 innings.
“Just getting ahead of hitters. First-pitch strikes are huge,” Santivanez said postgame. “I was just trusting my stuff.”
Back to the batter’s box, the Stompers scored one in the fifth but opened the floodgates in the sixth, tallying five runs on just two hits. However, when Sonoma had runners on base, it found other ways to drive them home.
Ben Sebastiani reached first on a walk, yet Anthony Scheppler and Boardman were put away. Two straight hit-by-pitches loaded the bases, and Libby grabbed his second RBI with a base hit. Brady Shannon was hit right after to drive another run in, and Connor Pawlowski slapped a deep double into right field to clear the bases.
All five of the Stompers’ runs in the inning were scored on two outs, highlighting their clutch hitting. Of Sonoma’s nine RBIs Saturday, eight were in a two-out situation.
“Those are clutch hits. Two-out hits win championships. We always say and preach it,” Pace said. “Connor’s hit was a big blow that really helped us out and opened it up.”
With Jelani Mason, Heeryun Han, Christian Klostermann and Luke Duncan relieving Santivanez on the rubber and combining to allow just one hit, the game was pretty much iced.
In the seventh, though, Nic joined the fun. After a slow start to the 2025 season, he’s really found his stride and is playing a key role when the Stompers’ offense surges.
With Han and Scheppler quickly out, Boardman reached on the Legends’ sixth hit-by-pitch. Nic made them pay, blasting a two-run home run to left field to give Sonoma a 9-0 lead, which it never relinquished.
The Stompers will attempt to stay consistent with a Sunday matinee matchup against the CCL North first-place Walnut Creek Crawdads. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.
“They know it’s going to be a good matchup, and we know it’s going to be a good matchup,” Pace said. “We look forward to going to compete.”