Harun Pelja pitched five innings of one-run baseball as the Stompers defeated the Crawdads 10-4 Sunday.
By Jordan Kimball, Beat Writer
On July 31, 2024, the Stompers traveled to Monte Vista High School for a key playoff matchup against the Walnut Creek Crawdads. Sonoma had tied the eight-game season series with Walnut Creek. The latest chapter in their rivalry had been six days earlier, when the Crawdads scored four runs in the ninth inning to take down the Stompers in shocking fashion.
But that’s the way Walnut Creek played. It was 23-14 in the regular season, leading the CCL North. Sonoma sat in third at 21-15. The Crawdads found ways to win. The Stompers grew accustomed to faltering late.
In that July 31 playoff contest, the same thing happened. It was a 0-0 ballgame in the fifth inning. But for the next four innings, the Crawdads scored. They added one in the fifth, sixth and seventh, before adding two more in the eighth. The whole time, Sonoma’s offense stood quiet. It finally scored twice in the top of the ninth, but its two total hits were far too few to compete with the league’s best squad.
Sunday was a revenge game for the Stompers. The Crawdads had ended their season the previous year and were amid another strong campaign, sitting in first place in the league at 8-4. However, Sonoma (14-9, 11-7 CCL) put that playoff loss in the rearview mirror, as it handily defeated Walnut Creek 10-4 at the same field from 326 days prior.
“We beat them in free passes and I think that’s what it boiled down to,” Stompers manager Zack Pace said postgame. “That’s not gonna happen everytime, but it’s definitely good to win the week and win the first one over here.”
Sonoma’s struggled to produce on both sides of the ball simultaneously. It’s often a good pitching game when the Stompers’ offense sits stagnant. The staff has also struggled when their offense explodes. With almost complete command and control, both parts of Sonoma’s game were working on Sunday.
Harun Pelja got the nod for the Stompers in the matinee matchup. In his four games this year, Sonoma’s won three of them. In three of his four outings, he’s pitched at least four innings. He’s allowed just two total earned runs.
Pelja’s dominance continued Sunday. After he made an error in the first inning that resulted in an early lead for the Crawdads, Pelja settled down. The trend of the Stompers’ pitchers going into the fifth inning continued.
Pelja allowed four hits and only struck out two batters, but he relied heavily on his defense behind him. And despite them making four errors, they held their ground when it mattered, helping Pelja into the fifth inning, while giving up just that one first-inning run.
“(Lots of) high-pressure situations. He came through with his pitches,” Pace said. “When it came down to crunch time, he got it done and held the runs from scoring. He did an outstanding job for us today. Well-needed to get a quality outing out of him.”
Sean DeBoard relieved Pelja in the sixth and surrendered a run in his lone inning, again unearned. Kieran Baker had trouble fielding a ball in right field, which scored Brandon Clizbe for Walnut Creek. But as the Crawdads added to the scoreboard, so did Sonoma.
It bounced back when Walnut Creek scored in the first, plating Trent Keys when a pitch hit Baker. In the fourth, the Stompers exploded for five runs on just two hits, scoring each run on a free pass.
McCann Libby scored on an error by third baseman Ryley Leininger. Nic Sebastiani cleared the bases on another error, this one on left fielder Casey Leavitt-McGee. Before Sebastani’s huge knock, Colton Boardman walked with the bases loaded to add one more.
Sonoma added two more in the fifth and sixth, scoring on a Paul Lizzul two-RBI single and Keys and Connor Pawlowski’s fielder’s choices. It was an avalanche for the Stompers’ offense. Ten runs in six innings hadn’t come too often for the squad.
With the final four innings split between Dylan Adelman, Chris Albee and Braden Guentz, Sonoma held on to take the first of nine games this season against Walnut Creek.
The Stompers will have an off-day Monday before rematching the Crawdads back at Monte Vista High School on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.