DANVILLE, Calif. — The Walnut Creek Crawdads entered the first game of the final week of the regular season needing a win. Walnut Creek held a one-game advantage over its opponent, the Alameda Merchants, in the CCL North standings, holding the final playoff spot. 

For Walnut Creek to secure the victory and keep its lead over Alameda in the standings, it would have to get back to the fundamentals, something it’s had trouble with in recent games. Unfortunately for Walnut Creek, the gloomy Tuesday afternoon sky over Monte Vista High School reflected the home team’s play underneath it, and the troubles continued.   

Crawdads pitchers allowed eight free passes — four of which led off innings — and the defense didn’t do its pitching staff any favors, committing three errors and a handful of other defensive miscues. Safe to say, the Crawdads didn’t play fundamental baseball. The mistakes compounded, allowing the Merchants to jump out to a four-run lead in the middle stage of the game. 

The contest continued to spiral, and Walnut Creek (18-15) could never fully escape its rut, losing to Alameda (16-13) 7-4. The loss tied the two teams in the standings, but due to Alameda holding the head-to-head tiebreaker 4-2, the Crawdads are functionally in fourth place in the CCL North and on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. 

“We need to win games, otherwise, we won’t qualify for the league playoffs. That’s just the bottom line,” Crawdads head coach Brant Cummings said. “I don’t know what the formula is necessary to correct this right now. … But, I’ve said this continuously, the recipe for success is to be able to throw strikes and play defense and be able to hit a little bit.” 

The Crawdads came out of the gate struggling to hit, but what really put the team in a hole was struggling to throw strikes and play good defense, especially in the fifth inning. Right-handed reliever Edward Said was the first man out of the bullpen and started the fifth off on the wrong foot, hitting the first batter he faced, and following it up with a walk. 

Walnut Creek was already trailing by one run and was in serious danger of letting Alameda add on. A series of unfortunate events ensured that the Alameda did just that. 

Merchants shortstop Jace Jeremiah singled just past the glove of Crawdads second baseman Cam Calvillo, scoring a run. Jeremiah then stole second base, ruining the chance of an easy double play, and a groundout scored another run. With a runner on third base, Cummings drew in the infield. Unfortunately, Merchants designated hitter Tui Amosa hit a chopper that bounced perfectly over Calvillo, scoring the third and final run of the frame, making it a 4-0 game in a highly demoralizing fashion. 

“We’ve got to be able to throw strikes,” Cummings said. “Edward came in. It wasn’t very good. It’s not his fault, but unfortunately, that bit us a little bit.”

A Calvillo error drove Said out of the game. Fellow righty Brady Wilson came in and managed to stay calm in the high-pressure situation, inducing a groundout, finally shutting the door on the frame and keeping things from getting even worse. 

Wilson didn’t have the same level of success in his next inning of work, but it wasn’t all his fault. He started off by hitting a batter, making things more difficult for him and his defense, but induced a potential double play ball to the next hitter. The only issue was that third baseman Ryley Leininger couldn’t get his glove to it, allowing the runner to advance to scoring position and score on a later single. 

Defensive problems plagued the Crawdads the whole game. In the ninth inning, two Merchants insurance runs scored after Leininger fielded a ground ball for what should’ve been the third out, but he threw it past first baseman Joey Donnelly. Even the Merchants’ first run of the game in the third inning scored in the wake of a defensive miscue. The normally sure-handed catcher Zach Justice allowed a passed ball with a runner on first base, allowing the runner to move up to second and score on a subsequent single. 

“Errors hurt you a lot, and playing fundamental defense is obviously humongous,” Donnelly said. “Hitting is very hard, so if the other team is giving you free passes with their defense, it definitely alleviates some of the pressure. … If there’s something that we’re deficient at, put some work in pregame, try to figure it out. That’s really all there is to it.”

Donnelly helped wake up the bats late with an eighth-inning double that scored two runs, but it was too little, too late. The offense wasn’t able to produce throughout the game, and Walnut Creek handed the two runs back to Alameda in the next frame. 

The Crawdads’ lineup only recorded six hits and drew three walks, for an unimpressive total of nine base runners across the nine-inning affair. While the team did miss chances to score runs, it’s impressive, in a way, that they managed to score four runs in total, especially since they only recorded two base runners through the first four innings. 

“It wasn’t our best day offensively,” Donnelly said. “But also, when we did hit balls pretty hard, they got caught. That happens, so we’ll get back at it tomorrow.” 

Tuesday was a missed opportunity, but Walnut Creek will get three more chances to beat Alameda this week, including Wednesday, in Alameda. The team is determined not to let that one slip away, increasing the likelihood of it making a splash in the postseason.

“We definitely need to pick it up,” Wilson said. “We’re on a little bit of a skid right now, but we definitely have a chance to do some cool things in this league. So if we can win some more games and fight our way into a better playoff spot, we’ll be alright.” 

To get there, though, the team will need to remember the fundamentals.

By Ethan Ignatovsky