Napa Valley College baseball completes three-game sweep of Marin
By MARTY JAMES
Napa Valley College's baseball team concluded the 2026 regular season, coming from behind to beat College of Marin on Friday, April 24 in Kentfield, 9-8, and completing a three-game sweep of the Mariners.
Napa Valley (15-24 overall, 11-10 Bay Valley) ends the season on a four-game winning streak.
The Storm finishes the Bay Valley in fifth place, and was 6-4 over its last 10 games.
Six players had at least one hit in the game and Blake Goen pitched two innings in relief to earn the save as Napa Valley ended the season in winning fashion.
The Storm came back from a 4-1 first-inning deficit and 5-1 third-inning deficit.
Leading the NVC offense was Ethan Boatman, who was 4-for-5 with a double and two runs scored, and Myles Gray, who was 3-for-4 with a double, RBI and run scored.
Other hits came from:
Dylan Brown, 1-for-5; Ben Menard, 1-for-3, two runs scored; Wyatt Smith, 1-for-4, three runs scored; Hibiki Kodama, 1-for-4, double, two RBIs, run scored.
McMinn had three RBIs.
Gray and Menard each had two stolen bases. Boatman and Smith each had a stolen base.
Nick Stubbles started for the Storm and pitched 6 2/3 innings, facing 34 batters and throwing 115 pitches (67 strikes).
Alex Frank (1-2) got the win, pitching one-third of an inning, facing five batters and throwing 16 pitches (eight strikes).
Goen earned the save, pitching two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out two batters while facing eight batters. Goen threw 40 pitches (23 strikes).
Boatman doubled in the first inning and later stole home.
Smith and Menard scored in the fourth inning when McMinn reached on an error. Menard and Smith each singled.
In the seventh inning, Gray doubled, driving in Boatman.
Kodama walked with the bases loaded, driving in Gray.
Deocampo walked with the bases loaded, driving in Menard.
McMinn drew a bases-loaded walk, plating Smith.
Kodama scored on a wild pitch
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.