Crushers win pitcher’s duel, 5-4

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

It was a test of strength. With the game starters combining for well over 300 pitches in the game, who would win was only a matter of who could hold off the other team’s offense.

In the end, Jesse Hesher emerged with the win, throwing over 150 pitches in eight innings, striking out nine and allowing two earned runs to earn the Sonoma Crushers a 5-4 victory over the St. Helena Angels at St. Helena High School June 30.

Mike Cassady was branded with the loss, but not for lack of effort. He threw over 160 pitches through eight innings and held the Crushers (1-2) to just four hits. He struck out 16, walked five and allowed only three earned runs on the mound.

The win was a big one for the Crushers, considering it was a come from behind victory, and the team’s first win this season.

“It started off a little rough,” Sonoma coach Jon Banister. “But (Hesher) definitely pulled himself together and his defense picked him up.”

The Angels (1-2) scored first, pushing three runs across the plate in the first two innings. Hesher struggled in the first and second to get comfortable on the mound, allowing four walks and a single before silencing the Angels’ offense.

Sonoma responded with runs in the third and fourth but the difference maker was a big three-run fifth inning. Three walks and a wild pitch by Cassady, followed by a two-run double by Alfred Garcia gave the Crushers a 5-3 lead.

The Angels threatened in the eighth, when John Hays singled and scored on an error, but left the tying and winning runs on first and second.