HAYWARD, Calif. — Walnut Creek Crawdads right-handed reliever Kam Croghan found himself in a bit of trouble in the top of the ninth inning. The 6-foot-5 righty from Pepperdine entered the game in the eighth inning as the reinforcement his squad needed to get out of the frame, stranding the game-tying run on third base. But in the ninth, he was trying to save himself from his own jam. 

Alameda Anchors second baseman Paul Wagner led off the inning with a single up the middle. Croghan got a little wild against the next batter, shortstop Emmet Desmond, hitting him with a pitch to put two runners on base with no outs. Anchors’ center fielder, Parker Hellekson, then came to the plate, trying to keep the line moving. Hellekson didn’t play the role of the hero, but he did his part, laying down a sacrifice bunt, putting the two runners in scoring position, and the Crawdads at a disadvantage. 

The situation mandated that the Crawdads had to be perfect, but perfection isn’t always attainable. A wild pitch allowed Wagner to score the tying run, and left fielder Angus Olaes hit a ball that found its way up the middle, scoring Desmond and making it a 3-2 ballgame before Croghan was able to get out of the inning. Croghan kept the damage limited, but the Crawdads couldn’t extend the game in the bottom half of the ninth and walked out of Chabot College with a Thursday evening loss.

“There was a lot of weak contact that I’m happy for,” Croghan said. “(The) only two pitches that I would want to get back are the hit by pitch and the passed ball, but I can’t really knock myself on everything else.” 

Going multiple innings is something Croghan is working on over the summer after tossing 20.2 innings pitched across 27 appearances for the Waves during the collegiate season. While he didn’t get the desired results in this attempt to go longer than usual, he did well to keep the game close, and without his execution in the eighth inning, the game could’ve been out of reach by the time the ninth rolled around.

Croghan entered the game with no outs, a runner on second and momentum building for the Anchor, who had just scored their first run of the game on an RBI double. The righty was able to induce a weak ground ball to Crawdads’ shortstop Dylan Hillman, who was able to nab the runner trying to advance to third on the play. 

As the inning continued, Croghan found himself with two outs, but also with runners on second and third. The rising junior didn’t let the situation get too big and struck out Anchors’ right fielder Logan Kim to preserve what was at the time a 2-1 lead.

“In the eighth, the goal (was) just come in, get weak contact, get the guy stranded at second,” Crohgan said. “Luckily, (we) got a good break, Hillman made a great play, a heads up play, and next thing you know we’re out of the inning.” 

In total, the Crawdads’ bullpen tossed 5.1 innings of three-run baseball in relief of left-handed starter Aiden White. The southpaw allowed six base runners in 3.2 innings pitched, but was able to keep all of them from scoring. The Nebraska arm was able to utilize his fastball and sprinkle in his breaking balls, recording five strikeouts and laying a solid foundation for the game. 

“(Aiden White) threw strikes, commanded his breaking ball, got ahead with his fastball and had really good tempo, I enjoyed that, (it) kept the game moving,” head coach Brant Cummings said. “You can tell he’s athletic and his body moves well, so I’m encouraged by what I saw from him today.” 

Crawdads starting catcher Joe Coupland caught all of White’s innings and got his starting pitcher a run in the second inning. The backstop lined a curveball for a single up the middle to start the frame and ended up on third base after a hit and run. Coupland would score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of right fielder Matt Gonsalves to give the Crawdads what was at the time a 1-0 lead. 

“I just wanted to set a spark, set the tone, just being aggressive, doing whatever I can to get on base and do whatever the team needs to score,” Coupland said. 

Coupland was one of four Crawdads who attempted to steal a base in Thursday’s game. An extra 90 feet can make a huge difference in a game, and stealing bases is part of Cummings’ team’s ideology. 

“We worked on (base stealing) a little bit before the game and had a brief discussion about it,” Cummings said. “Guys were able to execute today, I’m glad about that. I think that’s going to be a huge weapon we need until we really get going swinging the bats to get guys in scoring position.” 

The Crawdads’ bats are still waking up early in the season. The lineup only recorded six hits Thursday evening, but one of the biggest hits came from second baseman Chris Esquivel, who was able to put his Wednesday night golden sombrero behind him with one swing of the bat. 

Esquivel smashed a double off the warning track just left of dead-center field in the fifth inning, advancing third baseman Ryley Leininger — who walked — to third base and putting him in position to score on a groundout from left fielder Casey Leavitt-McGee to give the Crawdads their second run of the game. 

It can be challenging to have a clear mind playing baseball, a game with immense amounts of failure. The ability to remain level-headed and not carry negative momentum from one game into the next one is an important attribute. 

“It’s definitely a hard thing, that’s why baseball’s so hard,” Esquivel said. “But just enjoying being out here and knowing that you’re playing a kids’ game, (you’ve) just got to stay positive through it all.” 

The positivity isn’t something that’s unique to Esquivel. The Crawdads feel that they’re just getting warmed up and a breakout is right around the corner. The team’s potential is obvious, it just needs to all come together, which players believe will happen in due time.

“Pitchers are going to find the zone, less walks, we’re going to get more hits, bang the ball,” Croghan said. “I’m excited, I’m looking forward to what we have in store.”

By Ethan Ignatovsky