By Gabe Schapiro
Sonoma, CA – For the second straight night, the Vallejo Admirals (8-13) were silenced by the Sonoma Stompers (16-3) to the tune of a 7-0 loss, Thursday night, at Arnold Field.
Sonoma starter Sean Conroy was nearly unhittable, tossing the Stompers second complete game shutout in as many days, while allowing just three hits and one walk, to go along with 11 strikeouts.
Only four Vallejo players reached base, with newcomer Jaylen Harris representing three of their six base runners, going two-for-three with a walk and a stolen base. Meanwhile, as they have become known to do, Sonoma had eight-of-nine starters reach base at least once.
At the start of the game, the momentum seemed to be leaning in the Admirals favor. The second batter of the game, PJ Phillips, smacked a double into the gap, and Vallejo starter, David Dinelli, retired the first six hitters he faced with relative ease.
Unfortunately, that’s where the good signs ended. The Admirals wouldn’t get another base runner to second base until the eighth inning, and the Stompers seventh, eighth, and ninth hitters all reached base, scoring their first run.
Baptista led off the third inning with a single, advanced to second with a TJ Gavlik walk, and scored on an RBI single from Matt Hibbert.
The 1-0 lead is all that Conroy would need, but Sonoma kept adding anyway, putting up a two-spot in each of the next three innings.
In the fourth and fifth they got their runs from a pair of two-run dingers, the first from Isaac Wenrich, and the second from Fehlandt Lentini.
Dinelli was pulled after the five innings of work. He started strong, he then ran into some control problems, and ran into a couple of Stomper bats.
The final two Sonoma runs came in the sixth. Gavlik singled in Joel Carranza from second, who had doubled, and Mark Hurley later came around to score when shortstop Juan Martinez bobbled a ground ball off of the bat of Hibbert, which would have been the third out.
The Admirals finally quieted the Stompers offense over the final two frames, but the seven run deficit was simply too steep a hill to climb against Conroy. A one-two-three ninth inning finished off the Sonoma victory.
After six tough games against the league’s best team, Vallejo will now travel to San Rafael to take on the Pacifics. The series starts tonight at 7:00 PM, with Nick Flory on the mound.
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