By Jordan Kimball, Beat Writer
Heeryun Han relieved David Howard Friday and gave up his first earned run of the season in the third inning. But that was the only damage, as the Los Medanos two-way star pitched 3.1 frames and struck out four.
Stompers manager Zack Pace and his staff are still searching for the key to unlock their offense against the Crawdads. Since its season-series opener on June 22, Sonoma’s been on a steady decline. It took Game 1, lost Game 2 and 3 and bounced back in Game 4. But entering Friday, the Stompers were on the wrong end of the stick.
On Wednesday, Sonoma headed to Monte Vista High School for an evening matchup with Walnut Creek. Devon Laguinto — who pitched a complete game shutout on July 1 — allowed five runs in the first inning. The crooked number put the Stompers out of reach, as they fell 11-8.
With just 0.5 games separating the two squads in the CCL North standings, the stakes on Friday were higher than ever. Two left-handed pitchers received the starts, and the Stompers were looking to even the series again.
However, struggles with first-inning control, poor plate approach and slow adjustments plagued Sonoma (23-15, 18-13 CCL) in its 8-3 loss. Walnut Creek plated two runs in the first, and the Stompers couldn’t climb back, tallying just four hits while striking out nine times.
“It definitely is a tougher start for our guys. Every inning (Walnut Creek) scored today, we walked the leadoff hitter, and we can’t do that,” Pace said postgame. “We gotta do a better job of filling up the zone and being ready to go.”
On Thursday, Sonoma faced a younger Petaluma Leghorns team whose pitchers were throwing low to mid-80s. While five Stompers struck out multiple times, Brady Shannon’s third-inning three-run home run was enough for the victory.
Friday was an adjustment. Colin Nowaczyk — a flamethrower from Nebraska — was tossing low 90s. He was forcing Sonoma’s bats late, and it took time for them to catch up. But first, on Sonoma’s side of the bump was David Howard.
The Sonoma State southpaw came out and struggled, allowing all six batters in the first to work the count to three balls. Ryan Ellis and Cam Calvillo walked and both entered scoring position on a wild pitch. A base hit by shortstop Jared Mettam plated one before first baseman John Youens singled to score another.
Howard escaped the rest of the inning unscathed, but the damage was done. Back to Nowaczyk, the bats stalled. Colton Boardman grounded out, Max Handron was punched out and McCann Libby softly lined out to short. It was a sub-five-minute inning, and the message was demoralizing.
“We just gotta do a better job of taking quality at-bats,” Pace said. “We gotta find a way to grind it out a little bit more and have a little tougher at-bats… and be a pest up there.”
As Howard pitched a 1-2-3 inning, so did Nowaczyk. Two Stompers struck out, and the Crawdads made them pay next time around. When Ellis was hit by a pitch, the rally had just begun. Calvillo reached on a fielder’s choice, and a double from Joey Donnelly brought him to third.
Mettam plated two on a single, ending Howard’s day with five runs surrendered in 2.2 innings. The replacement on the mound was Los Medanos’ two-way star Heeryun Han. Entering the matchup, Han had yet to allow an earned run.
That quickly changed, as the sidearm pitcher hit Zach Justice and walked Kam Taylor. Chris Esquivel singled past the outstretched dive of third baseman Handron, and two runs came home.
Finally, Sonoma answered back. Trent Keys and Cam Hegamin reached on free passes. Then, for the first time all season, the Stompers swung at the first pitch in three straight at-bats, and it paid off tremendously. Boardman pushed Keys to third on a fielder’s choice. Handron doubled down the left field line to score both Keys and Boardman. Libby then forced an error from Mettam.
“When you have runners on, you want to be a little bit more aggressive,” Pace said. “You want to get your swings off. We wanna get our hacks in and try to get our RBIs. That’s what they were trying to do there.”
Sonoma’s deficit was down to four, an attainable comeback if its bats repeated Wednesday, constantly applying pressure to Walnut Creek’s staff. But they did no such thing. The Stompers added three hits over the final six innings.
Meanwhile, Han continued to deal, and Micah Marquez relieved him with two innings of shutout ball. However, the lineup was heavy, going down in order in the sixth and seventh, even with two new pitchers.
Fast forward to the ninth, Patrick Richardson replaced Marquez. He got a quick strikeout before giving up a double and a walk. A wild pitch advanced both runners into scoring position, and another wild pitch scored one. Mettam — who finished with three hits — ended Walnut Creek’s scoring run with a single to plate one more, giving it an 8-2 lead.
It was far too late for Sonoma’s stagnant offense to come back. But its little life shone through. Matthias Haas and Connor Pawlowski were put away on seven pitches. Yet with the entrance of Anthony Scheppler — who committed to San José State on Thursday — runners began to reach base.
Halen Guerrero surrendered just three walks in 7.2 innings prior to Friday. Yet Scheppler, Esteban Sepulveda, Boardman and Handron all walked, bringing Libby to the plate. If he had taken from Guerrero until a strike was thrown, maybe good things could’ve happened.
But despite Guerrero’s command issues, the Louisiana Tech second baseman swung at the second pitch of the at-bat and grounded a ball to Mettam at shortstop to end the game.
“I think we’ll be all right. We’ve got a great team, and our guys are grinders,” Pace said. “We’ll get better tomorrow and find a way to get back on the winning streak.”