SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Once is by chance, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern and four times is a winning streak. 

The Walnut Creek Crawdads entered San Bruno City Park to take on the San Francisco Seagulls on Friday evening, trying to get that fourth straight victory and cement their status as a team opponents don’t want to see coming. While, at times, it wasn’t as pretty as the Crawdads’ three previous wins, the pitching staff as a whole held off the Seagulls, and the offense did enough to keep the team hot on a cold, Bay Area night. 

When it was all said and done, Walnut Creek (12-5) soundly defeated San Francisco (4-16), 8-3, to get its fourth win in a row.  

Here are three takeaways from the victory.

IMMACULATE 

After Crawdads left-handed reliever Bradyn Barnes delivered his ninth pitch of the night, he, the batter, both dugouts and the crowd all stood still, waiting. The southpaw had perfectly located a pitch on the outside half of the strike zone, freezing Seagull’s third baseman Jake Brewer. The only question was if the home plate umpire would call it a strike. 

After a second that felt like an eternity, the home plate made her call, yelling out that it was indeed a strike, and punched out Brewer. With the strikeout confirmed, Barnes had accomplished something even rarer than a no-hitter: an immaculate inning. Nine pitches, all strikes, equalling three strikeouts. 

Not only did Barnes throw an immaculate inning, he did it in the ninth inning to secure Walnut Creek’s victory in dominant fashion. The lefty froze Ben Resnick for the first out and avoided Shane Santaga’s swinging bat for the second before setting down Brewer to slam the door in the Seagulls’ face. 

No one could’ve expected Barnes to strike out the side on nine pitches, but it wouldn’t have been a bad guess to say he would’ve struck out the side in as usual a fashion as striking out the side can be. Barnes, a reliever, leads the CCL in strikeouts with 23, and is rocking a 17.7 K/9 rate. Aside from a couple of hiccups this year, the lefty has been about as dominant as can be, helping to solidify the back of head coach Brant Cummings’ bullpen. 

In the seventh inning, right-handed reliever Nathen Nino nearly threw an immaculate inning of his own. He struck out two batters on six pitches before missing against his third batter of the inning. 

HOME RUN STREAK

Baseball is a funny game. Between June 16th and 23rd, the Crawdads only managed to hit one home run. In the four games since the 23rd, the team has three. Each home run was an important moment in the Crawdads’ victories on those days, but the final of the three was the biggest, at least in terms of how many runs crossed the plate. 

Left fielder Trey Johnson led off the top half of the third inning with a single that he roped into right field. Center fielder Sam Jenkins followed it up with a walk, and shortstop Cam Calvillo also singled into right to load the bases, setting the stage for second baseman Ryan Ellis. 

Ellis, a graduate in the transfer portal, is in his third summer as a Crawdad. In his previous two years, he was a force to be reckoned with, posting an OPS over .900 in both summers. While he never hit for much power, he more than got the job done. This summer, however, was a bit of a different story before he stepped into the left-handed batter’s box for his second at-bat of the day. 

The 5-foot-8 Arizona native didn’t play during the 2025 collegiate season and struggled through his first eight games. Sometimes, though, one swing can change everything. Ellis got a pitch to hit and drove it into the windy San Bruno sky, with just enough on it to get it over the wall in right field for a grand slam. 

The home run catapulted the Crawdads into a 4-0 lead and the team carried the momentum to victory. The blast represented the second day in a row that the team had gotten on the board with a home run, a stark contrast to how most of the season had gone up to that point. If the team has truly found its power stroke, they’re that much more dangerous in the CCL. Still, only time will tell if the power stroke carries on. 

STILL THINGS TO WORK ON

The Crawdads have played much more sound baseball recently, and it’s a major reason why they’re stacking wins. They didn’t commit an error on Friday and have only committed two throughout the win streak. 

The pitching staff also has limited mistakes. After nearing, and sometimes passing, the double-digit free pass mark in almost every game this summer, the staff only allowed 13 free bases across the first three games of the winning streak. On Friday, three pitchers on the staff, right-handers Noah Zirkle, Peter Storjohann and Kam Croghan, combined to allow seven free passes. 

If Walnut Creek wants to assert itself as the top team in the CCL North, games like Friday’s will have to stop happening. Good teams in the playoffs will take advantage of the mistakes and leave the team reeling. 

The good news is there’s still plenty of season left for the pitching staff to continue to improve and become more consistent.