By Elakai Anela, Beat Writer
Stompers right-handed pitcher Mateo Heredia (Cal State Northridge) releases the ball toward home plate in one motion. Heredia picked up the win, his first of the year, and pitched three scoreless innings out of the bullpen in an 8-4 victory Friday night. Photo Courtesy of Karsen Kadien / Sonoma Stompers
SONOMA, Calif. — A four-run eighth aided by three errors and three bases-loaded walks was the decisive inning as the Sonoma Stompers (5-3 California Collegiate League) defeated the Menlo Park Legends on Friday at Arnold Field.
Sonoma snagged its second consecutive victory while the Legends remained winless (0-7 CCL) in league play.
Despite the win, Sonoma went 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position and 2 for 16 with runners on base after the first base runner reached safely in six out of the eight innings.
Stompers manager Zack Pace said postgame that he felt like his group “let them [Menlo Park] hang around a lot” and wanted to “see the runs be scored earlier” in the contest.
“They got a little bit of belief that they could win the ballgame because we gave free passes away and let them get back into it,” Pace said. “I would like to see the four-spot happen sooner so we can put them away in that sense.”
Both teams were blanked through the first two innings. The Stompers grounded into double plays in the first and second inning.
In the bottom of the third, the Stompers opened the scoring. Outfielder Chase Taylor (University of Connecticut) doubled, advanced to third base on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch to make 1-0.
Making his first start since high school and second appearance of the season, Stompers right-handed pitcher Matthew Schallberger (San Joaquin Delta College) cruised through three scoreless innings and struck out three.
Pace said that the Stockton, Calif. native has a “great arm” but that he needs to “work on the changeup” moving forward. Still, the Sonoma skipper was pleased with Schallberger’s outing.
“I think we’ll build on that [start],” Pace said. “Hopefully we’ll get some more starts out of him. We’re still trying to figure out what kind of guys can start games; I feel good about him.”
Sonoma turned to left-handed pitcher Brady Carvalho (Modesto College) out of the bullpen, yet he struggled in his second appearance.
The 6-foot-2 southpaw surrendered an earned run in the fourth that tied the affair 1-1. Carvalho exited the contest after he allowed three hits across six batters.
The Stompers responded immediately in the bottom of the inning. Infielder Angel Garcia (Coppin State) hit his first home run of CCL play and collected his fourth RBI of the season.
The back-and-forth affair between both sides continued. Menlo Park tied it up 2-2 during the fifth inning after infielder Ryan Duron (Westcliff University) reached on a fielder's-choice to third base.
Sonoma answered back with a sacrifice fly by Garcia in the fifth inning to take a 3-2 lead — his second RBI of the night and fifth overall. Then, in the sixth, outfielder Nic Sebastiani (Santa Rosa Junior College) hit a solo home run, his first long ball of the year, to make it 4-2.
After recording a scoreless sixth inning, Sonoma right-handed pitcher Sam Schnitzer (University of San Francisco) came back out for the seventh.
However, he allowed two earned runs, which tied the game 4-4, and departed the contest with the bases loaded and only one out.
Right-handed pitcher Mateo Heredia (Cal State Northridge) entered the contest and recorded two outs without giving up a run to escape the bases-loaded jam.
Heredia said his mindset was to “get out of the inning with no runs added.”
“I just didn’t want to give him [Schnitzer] more earned runs. That always is kind of a bad feeling,” Heredia said. “I’ve been put in those situations all spring and I know what it feels like to go out there and shut a rally down.”
The 6-foot-2 utility man struck out the side in the top of the eighth inning to keep the contest tied at 4-4. After his final strikeout of the frame, Heredia pumped his first and yelled to his dugout as he crossed the baseline next to first base. He said he was “just trying to get his teammates and himself fired up.”
In the bottom of the inning, Sonoma scored four runs to take an 8-4 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. The Stompers were aided by three errors by the Legends and three bases-loaded walks to cap it off.
“There’s always room for improvement,” Pace said. “They aren’t going to make three errors next game. Thankfully, we got the W today and hopefully we can build on that and improve tomorrow.”
Heredia retired eight of the nine batters he faced and struck out six. The only base runner to reach was a single in the top of the ninth. He also picked up his first pitching win of the season.
“I love coming into high-leverage situations,” Heredia said. “It makes it fun. It’s something you gotta grind for... I try to work for weak contact.”
The Stompers return home against the Legends in the second contest of the three-game series Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. on YouTube.
“It’s always nice to be on a little win streak,” Heredia said. “This is good for us.”