St. Helena rallies from behind late in win

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

The St. Helena Angels entered Thursday night’s game with their stakes in the playoff race in jeopardy. That proved to be more enough motivation.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Angels scored four runs to keep their playoff hopes very much alive as they defeated the Rohnert Park Dragons 6-3 at Golis Park in Rohnert Park.

An error, a bunt single and then an RBI bunt single led to the first two runs of the eighth, giving the Angels (6-7) the lead. John Ahlers followed with a two-RBI double, giving St. Helena all the insurance that was needed.

Josh McIntosh went the distance on the mound for, striking out 13 to earn the victory while allowing only two earned runs on five hits.

“It was just my day today, I was consistent and throwing strikes,” he said. “It was a solid team effort.  We had a couple good bunts. We normally like to hit the ball… but when it comes down to it, we got a win.”

Matt Kasch put the Dragons (5-6) on the board when he scored on an error in the first inning. St. Helena took the lead in the bottom half of the inning on a pair of walks, a wild pitch and an error.

Rohnert Park tied it in the fifth on a single by Jake Halady that scored Eric Walker and then took the lead two innings later on another Halady single. But that was the last time the Dragons would cross the plate.

Justin Wade was the only Angel with a multi-hit game as he finished 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scores. Ahlers finished with three RBIs for the night.

Jarrod Dumont was given the loss for Rohnert Park but matched McIntosh with 13 strikeouts.

The win puts the Angels’ win column even with the Napa Knights for second place in the Napa Division, behind the Oakville Aces. The top two teams from each division advance to the playoffs, with the winner of the Napa division receiving an automatic berth to the championship series.

Angels win big over Yountville

Top: St. Helena’s Justin Wade and Yountville’s Nik Gutierrez collide on a stolen base by Wade in the first inning. Bottom: Steve O’ Dell fields a bouncing grounder in the second inning.

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

ROHNERT PARK—Yountville’s Billy Hamilton may have received a loss on Friday night. But not for lack of effort.

Hamilton threw 167 pitches in a complete game start, but was unable to quiet a hot St. Helena offense. St.Helena came up big at the plate as they handily defeated the Yountville Robins with a 12-3 victory at Golis Park.

The Angels (6-7) scored often early. They reached the board first off of RBI singles by Josh McIntosh and Dave Bryant.

St.Helena went on to score a run in the second, three in the third and three more in the fourth. John Hays, Dave Bryant, John Ahlers, Ted Kearns and Kory Langwell all had two hit games in the win while Justin Wade contributed with three runs.

Josh McIntosh pitched six innings to earn the win, allowing one earned run and striking out nine.

Yountville (1-10) struggled both at the plate and in the field. The Robins had just four hits and committed six errors.

Petaluma scraps another close win

Top: Mike Miller scores the game winning run for Petaluma in the top of the ninth as his teammates look on. Bottom: St. Helena starting pitcher Mike Cassady pitched 8 2/3 innings Saturday and was branded with the loss.

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

Some how, some way, the Piratas got it done again. With two outs, a runner on first, and trailing by two runs in the top of the ninth, Petaluma was in need of baserunners and runs.

But the Petaluma magic started and they got plenty of both as the Piratas scored four times in the ninth.

That lead was in jeopardy a few minutes later when the Angels loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth. But like the true escape artists that they are, the Piratas were able to dance their way out of the jam, deftly defeating St. Helena 8-6 at Cardinal Newman High School on Saturday.

“We made some errors, we missed some easy plays,” said pitcher Mike Miller. “We’ve had some close games…But as long as we win I don’t care how we win.”

Miller was the all around hero on Saturday as he pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief of Tuck Nommsen and allowed only one hit, striking out six and walking one. He came up big in the ninth striking out two batters and, amid shouts of “Miller time” from the Petaluma bench, getting a bases loaded groundout to end the game, stranding the tying run on second.

Petaluma (8-3) led for most of the game until St. Helena took the lead in the seventh. Steve O’Dell doubled to drive home Cam Cook and then John Hays singled home O’Dell and Dave Bryant.

The three-run inning gave the Angels a 6-4 lead. The Angels (5-7) held that lead and were only one out away from victory before the Piratas rallied in the ninth.

Miller did it with the bat too. he was 2-for-3 with a pair of triples and an RBI. TJ Drotliff was 3-for-5 with a double and Sammy Bruno and Vince Ambroselli each batted 2-for-5, Bruno with three RBIs and Ambroselli with one.

For St. Helena Dave Bryant was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Hays batted in the eighth spot but provided plenty of offense as he was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

Mike Cassady started, throwing 8 2/3 innings allowing four earned runs, ten hits and striking out 12 in the loss for the Angels.

Windsor back on track after win over Angels

Ryan Payne grimaces after hurting himself on a play in the seventh inning. Because the injury left the Angels with only eight available players, they were forced to forfeit the remainder of the game.

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

Too few and stretched a little to thin. That pretty much sums up St. Helena’s struggles in Saturday afternoon’s game against the Windsor Wonders.

With only nine players at the game St. Helena wasn’t able to put up much of a fight to the Wonders, ultimately losing 9-3 in a seven inning game at Cardinal Newman High School. The Angels, who slipped under .500 by a game with the loss, were forced to forfeit the remaining innings after relief pitcher Ryan Payne got hurt fielding an infield single in the bottom of the seventh.

St. Helena (5-6) kept it close but the deal breaker came in the sixth inning. Windsor had back-to-back triples by Johnny Harmyk and Justin Kuhn to score two runs in the inning and then an inside-the-park homerun by Nick Borowicz scored two more.

That was all Windsor (8-3) would need for the victory.

Stuart Alexander was perfect threw three innings without allowing a base runner, and pitched five innings with two runs allowed on three hits and a pair of walks, striking out eight. Johnny Harmyk and Kyle Thomas each threw an inning plus.

The win was a big one for the Wonders who had two consecutive losses last week.

“We definitely are back on the right track,” Alexander said. “The playoff picture is looking good for us. I don’t know if we’re in for sure yet but I think we’re pretty much in. We’re just going to keep going out there and doing our thing.”

The Angels were not without opportunity in the loss. Trailing 9-2, they loaded the bases in the seventh but only scored one run, when Kory Langwell walked on four pitches to score Ryan Payne. The only other earned run for St. Helena came in the fifth inning when John Ahlers scored on a single by John Hays.

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.