Walnut Creek loses tight one against San Luis Obispo

After the high of Wednesday night, Walnut Creek had a chance to finally take a victory against San Luis Obispo on Thursday. With first place in the California Collegiate League North Division still being up for grabs, a win for Walnut Creek would have helped its case massively. 

Ultimately, the Blues continued the common trend of getting the better of the Crawdads, defeating them 1-0 on Thursday night at Monte Vista High School. Despite the loss, the Crawdads fought the entire way, playing some of their best baseball on the mound en route to their closest game against the Blues all season. With three guys working two or more innings, it allowed the Crawdads to save certain arms, utilizing only five on Thursday. 

"Having those longer outings allows us to save arms," left-handed pitcher Ryan DeLaney said. "If every pitcher can go a little bit longer and you can go through each game using three, maybe four pitchers, it allows you to keep the other guys fresh. "

Right-hander Vance Haskins made his second start of the summer for Walnut Creek. Haskins didn't disappoint as his four innings pitched marked his longest this summer. He allowed just one hit and one walk, while striking out three during that time. Haskins didn't allow his hit until his final inning of work. 

Haskins talked about what has been working for him this summer. For him, it's easy to do his job when the defense behind him gives him the ability to pound the zone for strikes.

"I'm just filling up the zone," Haskins said. "(I) let my defense work. I always have a lot of trust in this defense, so going out there and filling up the zone is actually a lot easier than usual."

Right-handed pitcher Myles Brand emerged as the first guy out of the bullpen. Brand has been one of the Crawdads' best bullpen arms, amassing an ERA and WHIP below one in over 20 innings pitched after Thursday's appearance. He allowed two hits and struck out three through two innings. 

DeLaney also stood out in the loss. Coming into the game with two in scoring position and one out, he struck out two to end the inning. Despite a passed ball to allow one to score, he limited the damage and went an extra 1.1 innings on top of limiting the seventh inning damage. He allowed one walk and struck out three in two innings of work. 

DeLaney, like Haskins, had his longest outing of the summer. He talked through his decision of showcasing more of his effective changeup, something he doesn't often throw.     

"I've always been known as a more of a sinker or slider kind of guy," DeLaney said. "But especially when I'm facing mostly lefties, it's tough to use it. But when you face a lineup like San Luis Obispo, who I heard in the dugout when I came into the game say I was mostly a slider thrower, I knew I was going to have to throw something else to kick their balance off. I got some pretty ugly swings early on with the changeup and had a really good feel for it. So I was able to continue to throw that and help me leverage my way to success."

Walnut Creek still sits atop the CCL North as they moved to 21-9 on the season. They will have a chance to get back into the win column against rivals Sonoma on Friday, July 17, at 4:00 p.m. PDT at Monte Vista High School.