Walnut Creek cruises to top of North with victory over Menlo Park

Menlo Park and Walnut Creek. Two teams in two different spots. Walnut Creek needed a win to move atop the CCL North. On the flip side, Menlo Park looked to spoil the party. Signs of the road trip down south could have started to seep into the minds of traveling fans after the second inning, when Menlo Park tied it. 

In the third, first baseman Kam Taylor had other ideas. Taylor laced a double down the right field line, driving in shortstop Kevin Parker Jr. and centerfielder Dylan Perez to extend the Crawdads' lead back to two. 

The third inning festivities didn't stop there. Second baseman Alijah Ramos hit an RBI single to give the Crawdads their highest lead of the game up to that point. Following a couple of defensive miscues and a few more hits, the once 2-2 game became a comfortable 8-2 lead in favor of the Crawdads. 

It was yet another explosive inning for Walnut Creek as the six-run third inning was too big a hole for Menlo Park to climb out of. With the win, Walnut Creek moved to 20 wins on the season and is ahead of San Luis Obispo for first place. Speaking on how important first place is, Walnut Creek coach Brant Cummings mentioned his message to the team. 

"For the next 10 days, they have to find a way to bring their laser focus," Cummings said. "Understand it's going to be a dogfight every night out. Over the next 10 games, we will be fighting for a few things. We're going to be fighting for home-field advantage, winning the division, which would allow us the luxury of not having to play on the Tuesday after the regular season and then host a team on Wednesday."

As good as the hitting and defense were for Walnut Creek, the headline story of the night was the pitching, especially right-hander Noah Zirkle, who matched his collegiate career highs in strikeouts. 

Zirkle finished the day with four strikeouts, two walks, one hit-by-pitch, no hits and no runs allowed through two innings. Zirkle, who touched 90 miles per hour on his fastball multiple times, mentioned how important the strong outing was for himself and his confidence. 

"After I finished my first inning, I knew there was no way I was getting taken out," Zirkle said. "After my second inning, I definitely started feeling my adrenaline go down a little bit, but I could have gone a third and maybe even a fourth. Then, going into what would have been the third inning, I was like, 'In all honesty, like I've had a great day. This is a great confidence booster. This is a good day to stack to move on to the next day.'"

Alongside Zirkle as the only arm out of the bullpen to work multiple innings was right-hander Myles Brand. He worked around a hectic eighth inning, allowing no earned runs on his ledger. He allowed one hit, one walk and struck out two while throwing eight pitches to seven batters. 

Brand, who closed the game out, mentioned how impactful it is for a game like Tuesday, which is for confidence, where every pitcher plays a role. 

"It gives us confidence," Brand said. "We all have rhythm, so when he comes in the game and dominates, the next guy can come in and dominate and copy the same rhythm."

Right-hander Weston Thornbury got the nod to start and didn't disappoint. He allowed two runs on four hits, three walks, one hit-by-pitch and three strikeouts across four innings.    

The Crawdads come back to Monte Vista High School for a home matchup against rivals Sonoma, who are fighting for a chance at first in the CCL North and a chance at the playoffs on Wednesday, July 15, at 4:00 p.m. PDT.