DANVILLE, Calif. — When Walnut Creek Crawdads left-handed starting pitcher Aiden White exited the field after the conclusion of the top half of the sixth inning, everything was going right for the Crawdads. 

White had blanked the Menlo Park Legends, and he was in line for the win if Walnut Creek could hold its narrow lead. A beautiful, sunny Wednesday afternoon at Monte Vista High School was on the precipice of getting even better. One and a half innings later, though, despite the sun still shining, a proverbial dark cloud had positioned itself over Walnut Creek’s dugout. 

A series of singles and a walk had brought the Legends within one run of the Crawdads in the eighth inning. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, a single into right against the usually reliable and newly entered right-handed reliever Kam Croghan gave the Legends a 4-3 lead. Both teams would add one more run to the scoreboard, but one wasn’t enough for Walnut Creek (14-7), falling 5-4 to Menlo Park (9-12). 

“When you’re called on to do your job, you have to do it,” Crawdads head coach Brant Cummings said. “… We’ve got people out there that have the ability to climb up on that hill and throw pitches and get people to swing the bat and get them out. If we limit the walks and the hit by pitches in situations, then the complexion of the game is completely different.” 

Unfortunately for Cummings and the Crawdads, that alternate version of reality didn’t occur, and the bullpen — which has been reliable more often than not recently — wasn’t able to perform to its highest quality against the Legends. 

Walnut Creek started to run into trouble as soon as the eighth inning started. Left-handed reliever Max Cohen, the Crawdads’ second reliever of the day, was greeted with a single back up the middle. Cohen got one out, but allowed another single on a soft liner that fell into left field, which ended his day. 

Cummings went to right-handed reliever Noah Zirkle who immediately ran into some bad luck. A fielder’s choice that could’ve — and probably should’ve — been a double play put the two runners who reached on singles in scoring position. Then, a walk and a single scored two and set the stage for the Legends to take the lead against Croghan. 

Menlo Park did all its damage against the Crawdads’ bullpen, but there wasn’t any regret from Cummings about taking White out of the game. 

“We’ve got people we need to throw,” Cummings said. “… He could’ve gone back out, given up a hit and a double, and then we go to the bullpen (anyway).” 

It’s possible that the Legends would’ve found an answer to White, but in the six innings they faced him, they had none. The southpaw — who’s currently in the transfer portal — induced weak grounders and pop-ups all day. He might’ve struck out just one batter, but pitching for contact did the trick, allowing just four hits all day. 

White, on top of being difficult to hit, didn’t allow anything for free. The lefty walked just one batter in six innings. Sharper command is something that he’s improved on as the summer has progressed and he’s gotten more innings under his belt. After walking seven across his first 7.2 innings pitched this summer, he’s walked just two in his last 11 innings. 

“I felt really good today,” White said. “(I) focused on putting the ball over the plate and hopefully getting weak contact, and that’s what happened. (The) defense was great behind me.” 

While the Crawdads’ defense played solid behind White, they didn’t offer him — or the bullpen — much protection. Part of the reason for the lack of protection was due to the struggles of some of the team’s best hitters.

The three, four and six hole hitters, right fielder Joey Donnelly, first baseman John Youens and designated hitter Ryan Brome combined to go 1-15. Donnelly entered the day leading the CCL in batting average with an otherworldly .481 mark. Youens and Brome also have heart-of-the-lineup level talent, but they didn’t show it against the Legends. 

“It sounds boring, but it’s just difficult to hit the ball where guys can’t catch it,” Cummings said. “… That doesn’t mean that (they’re) bad players, it’s just one of those days.” 

While you can’t expect your stars to produce every single game, the lack of production in the middle of the order made it difficult for the Crawdads to get anything going. Most of the runs the team scored had an element of luck to them. 

Left fielder Casey Leavitt-McGee scored himself on an inside-the-park home run after Menlo Park right fielder Carter Bleeker crashed hard into the wall. Catcher Brandon Clizbe scored after reaching Bleeker’s replacement, Russell Filter, dropped a fly ball. The Crawdads’ third run scored when Leavitt-McGee took advantage of a ball that was thrown into the outfield on a stolen base attempt from shortstop Jared Mettam. 

In baseball, there are no easy runs. You have to take advantage of mistakes when they present themselves. The team played scrappily and gave its pitching staff a lead, albeit a small one that ultimately wasn’t enough. 

In the same vein that you can’t always expect your star hitters to have good days, you can’t always expect your bullpen to be strong. For the Crawdads, it’s just frustrating that the two disappointing days happened on the same day, and the small lead couldn’t be preserved. 

However, that’s just baseball. The important thing is bouncing back, and the way you do that is by knowing how good you can be at your best, not on days that disappoint.

“Just stay confident in what we have and throw the ball over the plate,” White said. “Limit free bases and trust our craft.”

By Ethan Ignatovsky