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.

Windsor falls to Rohnert Park

Top: Windsor second baseman Derek Farrell dives for a ball in the fifth inning. Bottom: Rohnert Park shortstop Matt Kasch attempts to turn a throws to first over a sliding Jarrod Dumont.

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

After a heartbreaking 6-5 extra inning loss earlier in the week, Rohnert Park was desperately in need of a win. In order to keep their playoff hopes alive, losing wasn’t an option for the Dragons.

They came through, getting another outstanding complete game performance on the mound from Jarrod Dumont and two critical, late runs in the eighth inning as they defeated the Windsor Wonders 5-3.

“We saw some heads up play today,” coach Rene Torres said. “We played as a team today rather than as individuals. And we had some solid pitching again.”

Dumont finished with 12 strikeouts, allowing six hits without an earned run or a walk.

Rohnert Park (5-4) was on the board first, scoring two in the top of the first off of RBI singles by Scott McKenna and Brandon Bogges.

Windsor (8-4) was quick to answer, when Nick Borowicz scored on a groundout by Kyle Thomas.

The Wonders eventually took the lead on a pair of hits and a couple of errors. They held that lead until the eighth when the Dragons struck twice, off a single by Dumont and Cam Corneilson.

Rohnert Park added an insurance run in the ninth when Bogges hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Jake Halady.

Cerda had a big day for the Dragons, he batted 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Dumont helped his own cause finishing 2-for-5 with an RBI and Halady was 1-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.

For Windsor, Thomas was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Cramer was 2-for-3 with a run scored.

With the win, the Dragons stay in third place in the league on gaining ground on the teams above them if those teams lose.

“Losing one game, especially that one was a tough break,” Morales said. “The wins aren’t as important as the losses at this point because the teams above us need to lose (for us to secure a playoff spot). But still I think we’re hoping for a wild card.”