Rally the troops: Walnut Creek's multiple rallies see victory on road against Sonoma

The second through fourth innings brought fanfare galore. In a tie game away from home, Walnut Creek, in the midst of a possible 10-game win streak, needed their outfielders' baseball acumen. Redshirt freshman outfielder Bryden Bull, alongside junior outfielder Shane Aldridge, showcased their respective talent. 

With a runner on first, junior first baseman and outfielder Trent Keys hit a rocket to center. Everything seemed to be in slow motion in the crowd. Bull lived up to his last name, locking eyes on the baseball and charging as fast as he could towards the landing spot. Without hesitation, he dived down onto the grass, corralling the baseball in his glove before it touched down, recording the ever impressive out number one. 

In the same inning, Aldridge was needed. With one already across the plate and another rounding third, Aldridge unleashed a line-drive bullet to home plate to record the final out of the inning, limiting the damage. Those two defensive plays would be the first of a couple of rallies for the Crawdads, who defeated the Stompers 10-4 on Saturday. 

"They are game-changing plays," Walnut Creek manager Brant Cummings said about Bull's impressive catches later in the game. "He makes that diving play, they don't score that inning. And then, when (Hunter) Carlson hits it over his head, he runs it down and makes it look routine. Those help build confidence." 

The second momentum swing, which arguably had the biggest impact, was when sophomore left-handed pitcher Paul Wheeler, who was nominated Player of the Game, entered the game. Instead of trotting, Wheeler took the same path to the mound as the rest of his teammates who emerged from the bullpen to follow: a golf cart. 

Riding it down thanks to great driving by freshman catcher Drew Longaker, Wheeler inherited a bases-loaded two-out jam in the fourth. Fear, panic and pressure are not present in the left-handers' vocabulary. Wheeler hurled four pitches to record the strikeout looking, ending the threat. 

Despite the game being tied, neither dugout seemed to portray it. On one side, a deflated and shell-shocked Sonoma squad squandered two in scoring position with nobody out earlier in the inning. On the other hand, a dugout so fired up, you'd have thought they won the World Series. 

Wheeler finished the day firing off 2.1 innings, the most he's worked all season. His command and ability to get guys out might have been more impressive. He threw strikes at a 63.6% clip, striking out four and allowing one baserunner via a hit-by-pitch. 

Wheeler, who continued his stretch of brilliance, was not fazed by the moment. On the contrary, he embraced it.  

"I try to keep it pretty simple," Wheeler said. "I was not really thinking and I wasn't worried about the situation. I had complete confidence that I was going to get out of it. I was just focusing on getting ahead with the first pitch strike to that guy for Devin."

The Saturday starter, sophomore right-hander Devin James, once again delivered a quality start. For back-to-back weeks, James allowed just one run. Despite a rocky fourth inning, made worse by a couple of errors, James worked his way back from two in scoring position with nobody out, to exiting the game with those guys still on base and two away, allowing Wheeler to finish the job. 

James finished with a 65.6% strike clip through 3.2 innings. He allowed four hits, two walks, one run and struck out five. Being one of the Crawdads' starters means a lot to James. 

"I love starting pitching," James said with a chuckle. "I think that's what I want my end goal to be, however long my career takes me. I'm really grateful that I get to be one of the starters on this team, because this team has so many talented arms." 

Giving Wheeler a run for his money for Player of the Game were junior outfielder Daniel Polasek and newcomer, sophomore infielder Lucas Carlisle. 

In his second Crawdads game, Carlisle produced in a multitude of ways. On the basepaths, he stole three bases. At the plate, Carlisle registered his first Crawdads hit, run and RBI. He finished the day going 2-for-2 at the dish, walking twice, scoring four times and driving in one. 

Polasek went 2-for-5 while scoring one run. On top of that, Polasek drove in three of the team's seven RBIs. 

Junior infielder Kevin Parker Jr alongside sophomore catcher Brandon Clizbe, contributed RBIs in the win. The offense continues to produce up and down the lineup. For the pitchers, it helps ease some of the pressure.  

"When someone in front of you is hitting, it makes it easier," Polasek said. "It is contagious. Hitting is contagious. And then another word coach brought up that I like to use is the word gritty and just doing whatever you can to help out the team." 

Crawdads' redshirt freshman flame-throwing right-hander Jacob Kobrin finished the game. The righty entered the game for redshirt freshman right-hander Sam Johnston and he stopped the bleeding in the eighth. 

In the ninth, Kobrin was just as dominant. He struck out two in the ninth and, despite two getting on, forced the pop out to second to end the game. 

Walnut Creek, now on a double-digit win streak, looks to sweep a second straight week as they head back home to play San Francisco at Monte Vista High School on Sunday, June 28, at 4:00 p.m. PDT.