Explosive sixth inning guides Crawdads to victory over Sonoma

Walnut Creek was unfamiliarly slow at the plate. In fact, both Sonoma and Walnut Creek were to start the game. By the end of the sixth inning, five combined hits splattered onto the diamond. 

The Crawdads' offense, which is on a bigger hot streak than the Fast and Furious franchise, seemed to die out. Rehashings of the prior meeting began to creep into people's minds. Then, faster than the Flash could appear, a lightbulb switched their fortunes. 

In the sixth, junior infielder Kevin Parker Jr. knotted the game together 2-2 with an RBI single. An inning later, any momentum the Stompers built throughout the game evaporated, drying up like water in the Sahara Desert. 

Walnut Creek (11-4, CCL) used a six-run seventh inning to close the book on game two of the rivalry, defeating Sonoma 8-2 at Monte Vista High School on Wednesday night. The seventh inning, started by junior infielder Alijah Ramos, showed just how comfortable Walnut Creek is at hitting in any situation. 

"I think just one guy at a time," Ramos said. "Getting that first guy on and after that it just kind of unraveled. We started talking about the pitcher and his tendencies  and we just started putting good swings on balls, moving guys over, bunting if we have to, and just trying to find ways to produce one run at a time." 

The seventh inning rally started as any in the "Deadball Era" would have: an error. Sophomore catcher Riley Winchell reached via an error. The Crawdads took the mistake and ran with it. 

Redshirt freshman first baseman and outfielder Bryden Bull, Junior first baseman Barrett Ronson and junior outfielder Shane Aldridge added back-to-back-back singles, with Ronson providing the go-ahead RBI in which Walnut Creek never surrendered. 

Following that up, Ramos and fellow infielder, redshirt freshman TJ Woodson, tacked on 2-RBI doubles, firmly putting the game out of reach. Woodson would come around to tally the game's final run a batter later. 

Walnut Creek manager Brant Cummings credited the hitting dominance partially to the pregame preparation, but also to how individually brilliant his hitters are at situational hitting. 

"I think we have guys that can hit," Walnut Creek manager Brant Cummings said. "Especially situational hitting: runners at second and third, less than two outs, runners at first and third, runners at third, less than two outs. We've been really good in those situations. I think that appears to be the recipe." 

Outside of a two-run home run, Walnut Creek's pitching staff was stellar again. After a rocky first three innings of play, in which both runs scored and four walks were issued, every pitcher settled down. 

The final stat line for sophomore right-handed pitcher Kalani Jauregui was not a fair reflection of how well he pitched. Jauregui managed to keep his guys in the game, allowing two runs in four innings of work. 

As a whole, the Crawdads allowed four hits. 

Bullpens can make or break a team. For the Crawdads thus far, it's the former. Wednesday's performance continued that trend. 

With the four arms that emerged from the bullpen, zero runs came across to score. However, more impressive than that is the on-base numbers. The Crawdads' bullpen allowed two hits and a hit-by-pitch in five scoreless innings against the Stompers.

Walnut Creek's sophomore left-handed pitcher, Paul Wheeler, showed brilliance again. Wheeler threw 13 pitches and struck out the side in his lone inning. 

"Our pitchers are just straight dogs," Ramos said. "It is easy to play behind pitchers that go up there and believe they're the best person out there every day. It's been proven time and time again that our pitchers go up there and do their job. They are filling up the zone and keeping us in these close ball games every single day."

Walnut Creek, in the midst of a seven-game win streak, will stay at Monte Vista High School for a matchup against San Francisco on Thursday, June 25, at 4:00 p.m. PDT. Walnut Creek has yet to lose to San Francisco this season.