Fourth inning onslaught drives Walnut Creek past San Fransisco

In the top of the fourth inning in Walnut Creek's Friday night matchup against San Francisco, the Crawdads led 3-0 with one out when Shane Aldridge hit a flyout to left field.

Almost out of the inning, the Seagulls had the chance to limit the damage and send the game to the bottom of the fourth still within reach. 

Walnut Creek had other plans.

The next six Crawdads batters got on base. When the inning was said and done, Walnut Creek held a 10-1 lead, putting up an eight-spot, seven of which came with two outs.

In the blink of an eye, the Crawdads were poised to move to 8-4, sitting second in the California Collegiate League North.

Five innings later, Walnut Creek had confirmed their 11-1 victory over San Francisco, the fourth victory in a row for the Crawdads.

Off the back of a Riley Winchell walk-off home run the night before, vibes were high in the Walnut Creek dugout. Undefeated in the week heading into the game, the message from Crawdads coach Brant Cummings to his team was clear.

"Bring laser focus," Cummings said. "If you don't have laser focus, I can't get ready to go. Bring your a-game every day."

The Crawdad offense seemed to focus early in the game. Redshirt freshman third baseman TJ Woodson singled to start the game, before stealing two bases and eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Riley Winchell, the hero of Thursday's win against Alameda.

The second inning started in an almost identical way, senior shortstop Kevin Parker Jr. singling, then stealing two bases before scoring on a wild pitch.

After a quiet third inning, the fourth inning finally hit for the Crawdads.

After Parker Jr. doubled to start the inning, junior first baseman Barrett Ronson singled to bring a run in. 

Later in the inning, a pair of singles from junior second baseman Alijah Ramos and senior designated hitter Ryan Ellis drove in runs. The next at-bat, Walnut Creek ditched their small-ball approach and broke the inning wide open.

Continuing his hot streak, Winchell crushed a ball to left field, driving in three runs. Winchell, who hit three-run home runs in back-to-back games, now leads the team in home runs with three.

Walnut Creek kept its foot on the gas after Winchell's home run as redshirt freshman center fielder Bryden Bull singled in the next at-bat. Then, the Crawdad motto of "hitting is contagious" proved itself to be true. As Parker Jr. stepped up for his second at-bat of the inning, he grooved a ball to left field for a two-run home run, his second of 2026.

Being on a team that thrives off of run-scoring coming from all places, Parker Jr. spoke about what happens in an inning like the fourth.

"We were just backing each other up," Parker Jr. said. "One guy gets a hit, then the next guy gets a hit, and if you keep doing that, it leads to runs. It's pretty nice."

While the hitting showed off in the fourth inning, senior right handed pitcher Jeremy Jones was in the midst of a strong outing on the mound. Going four innings of three-hit, one-run baseball, striking out five, Jones continued a strong start to his season.

After the game, Jones spoke on what worked well for the staff Friday night.

"We're just throwing strikes," Jones said. "We only had one walk to the 14 Ks. It was really just something to keep the guys in it. Sometimes you can get complacent, like our coaches said at the post-game meeting, but it's important to just keep our guys in it. Keep chasing strikeouts, chasing to put guys away. Just dominating the zone is what we need to do."

After Jones pitched the opening four innings, the bullpen took over, pitching five innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just five baserunners.

Sophomore right-hander Miles Tenscher was first up from the bullpen, going one inning of one-hit baseball before senior righty Alex Gomez went for two innings of three-hit play.

Senior Carlos Hernandez and redshirt freshman Jacob Kobrin pitched the final two innings, neither allowing a baserunner.

When all was said and done from the bump, the Crawdad pitching staff struck out 14 batters while only giving up seven hits and one walk.

Allowing just one run in three of their last four games, the Crawdad staff seems to be working at the top of their game at the moment. 

Jones spoke on what the pitchers need to do in order to stay comfortable on the mound.

"Keep doing it," Jones said. "Keep hitting good vessels of the game, pitching deeply, checking plays, and keep staying together and ride out the summer season."

The Walnut Creek offense might have slowed down after the fourth, but it didn't stop. 

In the top of the seventh inning, sophomore left fielder Dylan Perez got his first home run of the season, something he had been waiting for.

Being a part of the offensive onslaught Friday night, Perez commented on how strong the offense is.

"I think we just should come out here and do it every day," Perez said. "Just staying consistent. Some days it clicks, some days it doesn't. Today it did. "

Now on a four-game winning streak, Walnut Creek looks ahead to a road matchup with the Alameda Merchants set for Saturday at 6:00 p.m., hoping to hold on to the season series lead with the team sat directly below them in the division standings.