By Elakai Anela, Beat Writer
Infielder Anthony Scheppler (San Jose State) swings the bat Friday at Arnold Field. Scheppler went 3-for-5 with two home runs and nine RBIs in Sonoma’s 17-5 win over the Santa Maria Indiana, securing a sweep. Photo Courtesy of Karsen Kadien / Sonoma Stompers
SONOMA, Calif. — Infielder Anthony Scheppler (San Jose State) hit two home runs and drove in nine runs, including a three-run homer in the third inning and a grand slam in the seventh, as the Sonoma Stompers defeated the Santa Maria Indians 17-5 Friday at Arnold Field to complete a two-game series sweep.
The Novato, Calif., native finished his night hitting 3-for-5. Scheppler entered Friday’s contest batting .125 with a .389 OPS through 27 plate appearances. He raised his batting average to .207 and jumped his RBI total to 11 along with his OPS to .764 in 13 games played.
Stompers manager Zack Pace said postgame that he was “really happy” with Scheppler’s performance.
“He’s the type of guy that deserves those kinds of days, honestly,” Pace said. “He puts in the work.”
Sonoma secured a two-game sweep with the victory and now sits at 12-13 in the California Collegiate League North. The Indians are 1-5 in the North Division.
Sonoma scored first in the opening frame. Outfielder Mike Jones (University of San Francisco) hit a sacrifice fly to drive in outfielder Chase Taylor (University of Connecticut).
The Indians answered back with two runs in the top of the second inning. Stompers starting pitcher right-handed pitcher Keller Ausbun (Colorado State – Pueblo) allowed four hits and two earned runs in his second start of the season.
Right-handed pitcher Shawn McBroom (Cal State San Marcos) relieved Ausbun in the third inning but surrendered an RBI triple with nobody out. Despite the triple, the Antioch, Calif., native escaped the jam without any further damage and picked up the win after Sonoma rallied in the bottom of the far,e.
Then, the Stompers bats exploded. In the third inning, Sonoma tallied seven runs — six of them coming with two outs — on three hits.
The rally started with a one-out double by outfielder Nic Sebastiani, recording Sonoma's first hit of the contest, to advance Taylor to third base. Taylor scored on a fielding error during the next at-bat to cut the deficit down to 3-2.
With two outs, outfielder Trent Keys (San Joaquin Delta College) hit a fly ball into foul territory in right field. But the ball was dropped by Indians outfielder Rocco Muccilli, extending the at-bat and the inning. On an 0-2 count, Keys was hit by a pitch in the elbow to tie the contest.
Catcher Andrew Bonfigli kept the rally going with a two-run single into right center field. Scheppler rounded out the frame with a three-run home run over the left field wall — his first home run of the season.
Pace said Keys’ hit by pitch “jumpstarted” the inning for the Stompers.
“He’s always able to work those walks or hit by pitches,” Pace said. “That’s a whole seven run inning we might not have gotten if it wasn’t for his hit by pitch. That was huge.”
Santa Maria got two runs back in the fifth inning. Stompers right-handed pitcher Sam Matherly (Bellarmine University) made his debut, pitching one inning and allowing two hits and two earned runs.
The Stompers put up one run in both the bottom of the fifth and sixth to extend their advantage to 10-5. After stealing second and third, Taylor scored on an overthrow to push the Stompers into double digit runs.
Pace said that he “loved” the aggressive Taylor showed to swipe two bases and subsequently score on the error by the Indians.
In the seventh, Scheppler blew the game open by hitting a bases-loaded grand slam with nobody out.
Sonoma added three more runs in the eighth. Scheppler tallied his third hit of the night, a two-run double to make it 16-5. Then outfielder Connor Johnston (Bellarmine University) recorded an RBI single.
Sonoma finishes its three-game homestand Saturday on Independence Day against the Novato Knicks. It will be last non-CCL League game of the season for the Stompers. First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on YouTube.