Ninth-inning comeback leads NVC baseball to win over College of Marin
By MARTY JAMES
Unleashing a 14-hit attack and scoring two runs in a ninth-inning comeback, the Napa Valley College baseball team won its second straight game over College of Marin, the Bay Valley Conference's first-place team, beating the Mariners, 9-8, on Thursday, April 23 in Kentfield.
It was the third straight overall win for Napa Valley (14-24 overall, 10-10 Bay Valley).
Dylan Brown led four players with multi-hit games for the Storm.
Brown was 3-for-6 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored.
Myles Gray was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.
Nico Velasquez was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.
Hibiki Kodama was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Also, contributing to the Storm's offense:
Ryan Rice, 1-for-5; Mason Deocampo, 1-for-3, double; Zack Baird, 1-for-4, run scored; Ty Francis, 1-for-5, RBI, run scored; Ethan Boatman, 1-for-2, double, RBI, two runs scored.
Napa Valley was behind, 5-0 in the second inning, and 6-0 in the third inning.
But the Storm came back, scoring four runs in the fourth inning and taking the lead in the sixth inning, 7-6, as they scored three runs.
College of Marin took the lead, 8-7, scoring two runs in the seventh inning.
Napa Valley scored the tying and winning runs with its two-run, ninth-inning comeback.
Gray drove in Brown and Boatman with a two-run double in the ninth inning. Boatman reached on a walk and Brown singled.
In the fourth inning, Velasquez singled and scored on an RBI single by Francis.
A bases-loaded walk to Kodama scored Baird, who reached on a single.
Francis came home on an infield error.
Smith walked and scored when Brown reached on an RBI fielder's choice.
In the sixth inning, Kodama singled and Boatman doubled. They both scored on Brown's two-run double.
Brown scored on an error.
Ryan Oliveri started and pitched three innings, facing 18 batters.
Jacob Lane pitched 4 2/3 innings of relief, facing 20 batters.
Emilio Diaz (1-0) earned the win after going one-third of an inning.
Dylan Brown earned his fourth save after going one inning and facing three batters.
Napa Valley concludes its regular season against College of Marin in Game 3 of the series on Friday, April 24 at 1 p.m. The game is at College of Marin and NVC is the home team.
* 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.