By Justin de Haas

SOLANO, Ca – Today was Opening Day for the California Collegiate League and that was evident by the way the pitching looked in the Walnut Creek Crawdads vs Bay Area Admirals game at Solano
College.

Eight pitchers for both teams combined allowed a run and Walnut Creek relief pitcher Ryan
Troye allowing five earned runs without recording an out in the eighth inning was the difference
in this one. Walnut Creek relief pitcher Cade Cushing was able to limit the damage by striking
out the side to clean up Troye’s mess, but it was not enough as the Crawdads lost 10-7 to the
Admirals.

The Admirals are in their first season as a CCL affiliate and they made their presence felt in their
debut. The Admirals have played in the Bay Area Collegiate League and are hoping to join the
CCL in the near future.

The hitting was on display for both sides, especially with runners in scoring position. Walnut
Creek manager Brant Cummings talked about some situations where hitting with runners on was
crucial.

“I thought it went well. I told the guys after the game we had three or four situations with runners
in scoring position where we did a good job. Brian DuRoff had a big double with runners in
scoring position. Ryan Brome, when he extended the lead, runner at third with two outs. He was
so good at that a year ago. He continues to do it.”

DuRoff and Brome were not the only batters with impressive moments. Walnut Creek shortstop
Cameron Calvillo was moved up in the lineup after getting two hits in the ninth spot against the
Anchors and he rewarded Cummings with another muli-hit effort in the seventh spot against the
Admirals. Cummings spoke about the shortstop’s contributions to the team and what he will do
for them this season.

“Cam’s a good player. I think the whole night on Sunday was just me trying to figure out where
to put guys in at that particular moment. He’s typically not going to be a nine hitter for us. He’ll
probably get somewhere between fourth and seventh where he did today. He makes us a better
team.”

Another guy who makes the Crawdads a better team is Walnut Creek centerfielder Casey
Cummings. The centerfielder did a little bit of everything against the Admirals with two hits, two
runs, two outfield assists and a stolen base. Cummings reached multiple times against the
Anchors by getting hit three times and he was able to get on multiple times again today as the
leadoff hitter.

Three Crawdads earned multiple hits in the game, but none were off of Bay Area starting pitcher
Miguel Ramos. The Admiral did not allow a hit in his three innings of work, but his lack of
command in the second inning is where most of the damage was done against him. Ramos
escaped the inning by only allowing one run after walking and hitting a combined four
Crawdads.

Conversely, Walnut Creek starting pitcher Antoine Valerio gave up a lot of hard contact with five
hits allowed in his three innings of work. The Crawdad was able to avoid a big inning in the first
after an outfield assist from Cummings when he threw a laser at the plate to get the second out of
the inning.

The bulk of the hits for the Admirals came from the top four guys in the lineup. Their 1-4 hitters
combined for 13 of the team’s 16 hits and 7 of the 10 RBI. The top of the lineup is always
expected to be the most vaunted portion a pitcher faces and that was certainly the case for the
Admirals.

The Crawdads probably have a sour taste in their mouths after this loss and can get their revenge
against the Admirals on June 7 at Monte Vista High School. The Crawdads and Admirals will
see a lot of each other with this game being the first of three matchups against each other this
week