DANVILLE, Calif. — Nine innings weren’t enough to find a victor in the Walnut Creek Crawdads’ first game against CCL rival, the San Luis Obispo Blues. 

The high-scoring contest remained deadlocked at 10 apiece after both offenses were held quiet in the final third of regulation. The radio silence extended into the top half of the 10th inning, when right-handed pitcher Kam Croghan shut down the Blues, giving his offense a chance to produce an early-summer memory in the bottom half of the frame. 

Crawdads first baseman John Youens was the second member of that offense to come to the plate in the 10th inning. The 6-foot-2 Baylor Bear was already having a day to remember, hitting three singles in five at-bats. With speedy shortstop Jared Mettam on second base as the ghost runner, he knew one more single could create the grandest memory of them all. 

“I was trying to get a pitch to hit, drive it in the outfield somewhere,” Youens said. “(I) ended up getting a first pitch hanging changeup.” 

Youens made solid contact with the pitch, lining it into right field, where Andrew Rayment, who had been getting heckled by a group of fans all game, wasn’t able to field the ball cleanly, allowing Mettam to score. The fans beyond Monte Vista High School’s right field wall went into a frenzy, and the Walnut Creek Crawdads (5-1) poured out of the dugout, surrounding Youens to celebrate the 11-10 Friday evening walk-off win over the San Luis Obispo Blues (4-3). 

“I knew (Youens) was big and strong,” Crawdads head coach Brant Cummings said. “My hope was he would be able to hit for some power, but he’s shown me he can also collect hits and be clutch. … He has the ability to deliver a hit and perhaps score a guy. That’s really important for us.” 

Youens might’ve been the star of the show, but it takes a team to score 11 runs. Offensive outbursts from the Crawdads’ lineup have been commonplace during the win streak. In fact, the Crawdads have scored 11 or more runs in each of their wins this season. 

The Crawdads’ 69 runs lead the CCL by a wide margin. The Sonoma Stompers’ 55 runs put them in second place, but 14 runs behind Walnut Creek. The lineup has shown no indication that they’ll slow down in CCL play. 

“We’re feeling hot, we’re feeling good, feeling fresh,” Youens said. “We’ve got a whole lot of confidence right now. We’re just going to keep playing hard.” 

It would’ve been much harder for the Crawdads to win if it hadn’t been for Croghan’s shutdown 10th inning. The righty reliever has been a revelation for Walnut Creek so far this season, slamming doors and handling tricky situations like an MLB veteran. 

Pitching in extra innings with a ghost runner on second base was a new experience for the Danville native. Instead of panicking in unfamiliar waters, Croghan went into the situation with an understanding of the opposing team’s strategy and a game plan. 

“We knew (San Luis Obispo was) going to bunt,” Croghan said. “Just had to know to field my position, make an average throw to first and collect the out because that’s more important in that inning. New experience, but I had faith in the guys behind me to make the plays.” 

Croghan’s teammates didn’t disappoint. After the 6-foot-5 right-hander got the out at first base on the sacrifice bunt, the Blues had a runner on third base, forcing the Crawdads infield to play in, a dangerous gamble. 

San Luis Obispo third baseman Sam Ardoin made contact with one of Croghan’s pitches in the infield-in scenario. Unfortunately for Ardoin, he hit it to his counterpart, Ryley Leininger. Leininger fielded the ball with ease and threw a strike to home, nabbing ghost runner Kosei Suzuki, who was going on contact. It was a potentially game-saving play, but one that Cummings knew he had all the way.

“I watch (Leininger) go to the foul line, deep over there at third and make these long throws,” Cummings said. “He’s got an 88, 89 MPH arm, and he’s an accurate thrower, so I wasn’t shocked. He made a good throw, he’s a good player.” 

Croghan finished off the frame with a strikeout, capping off an up-and-down day for the Crawdads’ bullpen with success. The bullpen is still something that’s being figured out as Cummings tests out his arms and awaits reinforcements that should join the force soon. The stability that Croghan has provided in the unstable landscape has been huge for Walnut Creek.

“We’re still trying to define who our bullpen guys are going to be on a daily basis,” Cummings said. “He’s given us opportunities to stay in games and then to close out some games, which is big for us because we’re still a little bit thin.”

The 10th inning walk-off didn’t just win the game, it preserved crucial bullpen arms for the Crawdads’ second of two against the Blues, a game that the team surely hopes can be won in more straightforward fashion. The Crawdads allowed the Blues to make Friday’s game a close one. 

Walnut Creek started strong, stealing bases and passing the baton to jump out to a 5-1 lead, a lead that they would end up blowing. The Crawdads managed to jump back ahead 9-8 in the third inning, but from there, the offense went cold, managing to score only one run in the six innings that followed.

The Crawdads might not have taken control of the game in the middle innings, but they also prevented San Luis Obispo from doing the same. Walnut Creek fought hard and managed to score when they needed to in the end, the walk-off proving that the team can win in a variety of different ways. 

“It shows a whole lot of heart, a whole lot of strength,” Youens said. “The boys are playing well with each other right now and I feel like everyone’s really good friends now at this point in the year. We’re just going to keep on playing hard and keep doing our thing.”