DANVILLE, Calif. — Not all singles are created equally, but they all equal a runner reaching first base, and if you’re able to string enough singles together, they equal trouble. The Walnut Creek Crawdads learned that the hard way in the seventh inning of Saturday evening’s affair against the Alameda Merchants. 

The Crawdads’ faithful were enjoying a perfect, sunny day at Monte Vista High School. The rowdy group of fans beyond the right field wall was bringing the energy, as always, and enjoying the small, one-run lead. Then came two infield singles and a perfectly placed blooper into center field against right-handed reliever Noah Zirkle. The hits stung like paper cuts, hushed the crowd and signaled the beginning of the end. 

All three men who singled, plus two others, crossed home plate in the seventh inning, handing Alameda (14-9) a 5-1 lead that it would hold the rest of the way to defeat Walnut Creek (16-11). None of the three singles — which were hit into the 3-4 hole, the 5-6 hole and shallow center field — were hit particularly hard, but they provided Alameda the necessary spark to start a rally.

“Before you know it, they’ve gathered momentum, they’re feeling good and good things happen,” Crawdads head coach Brant Cummings said. “Unfortunately, I think that summarizes the game … they just hit it where we couldn’t get them out.” 

Zirkle’s day was over after the three singles and a sacrifice fly. Right-handed reliever Kam Croghan then entered the jam, equipped with his sinker ball, to try and keep the game tied, but he couldn’t. He allowed a single, a double down the left field line and another single to give the Merchants a 5-1 lead, and by the time he got the third out, he was credited with two earned runs, and Zirkle was credited with three. 

“You work your butt off to get soft contact, and, in my opinion, not a single ball was hit hard,” Zirkle said. “It leaves you looking at the outcome of the outing thinking negatively. … That’s just the unlucky, terrible side of baseball.”

Whether you believe in luck or not, for large swaths of the game, it seemed the Crawdads couldn’t catch a break. The Merchants played impeccable defense and stole multiple hits over the course of nine innings. Merchants second baseman Cy Turner showed off his range, stealing hits from right fielder Joey Donnelly and left fielder Casey Leavitt-McGee up the middle and in the 3-4 hole. 

At third base, Chase Ditmar robbed catcher Zach Justice of a potential double, diving to his left to snag a line drive. Ditmar was also on the receiving end of an outfield assist in the bottom half of the seventh inning. Crawdads second baseman Ryan Ellis singled through the right side with one out, and after a flyout for out two, Donnelly singled into right field. Ellis rounded second base to try and put runners on the corners as his team tried to mount a comeback, but Merchants’ right fielder Aidan Taclas delivered a perfect strike to the hot corner, nabbing Ellis. 

“He’s just trying to be aggressive, trying to make a play,” Donnelly said. “You know what? They made a good throw, he made that out at third. That’s the game, happens sometimes, but he’s being aggressive. Don’t hate the decision.” 

Third base is right in front of the visiting dugout at Monte Vista High School’s baseball field, which gave Ellis and the Merchants bench the opportunity to exchange words. It wasn’t the first time the two teams had gotten into it Saturday. 

Tempers flared an inning prior, when first baseman John Youens was hit by a pitch on the chin. Youens was able to get up and walk off under his own power, but Kam Taylor had to enter the game to run for him. 

“It’s never fun to see one of your own guys get hit in the face,” Donnelly said. “That kind of got tensions a little bit high.”

In between Youens’s exit from the game and the game continuing with Taylor taking his spot at first base, Crawdads center fielder Jared Mettam was ejected from the game. The dugout protested that Mettam hadn’t done or said anything, but the decision was already made. 

Following the ejection, the Merchants dugout started to jaw at Mettam and the Crawdads. Cummings, who usually keeps his thoughts to himself, had to get involved. 

“Unfortunately, they’re just a team that runs their mount and comments on everything,” Cummings said. “Perhaps that’s what allows them to be better than what I think they are. I think that’s a lot of it. Then, unfortunately, the umpire throws Jared out of the game, and it took him a while to get out of the dugout, and he voiced his opinion and then before you know it, their guys start running their mouths. I had to tell them, ‘Just mind your own business.’ That’s not what I said, but that’s what I meant.” 

The Crawdads would later score in the inning when Taylor scored on a balk after a Justice single moved him to third base. That was one of the few breaks the Crawdads caught. 

For as statistic-heavy a sport as baseball is, the story of games can’t always be told by the box score. There are intricacies and variables that baseline numbers can’t show. The Crawdads didn’t necessarily play a game worthy of a four-run loss Saturday, but that’s what they ended up with. 

“Baseball is a sport that is not for the mentally weak,” Zirkle said. “We need to realize that we threw the ball really well, we hit a lot of balls hard at the plate, they just got lucky a few more times than we did.”

By Ethan Ignatovsky