By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com
The Napa Valley College baseball team fell behind early in its nonconference game on Tuesday and went on to lose to host Los Medanos College, 19-15, in Pittsburg.
It was the ninth straight loss for Napa Valley (3-13 overall). The Storm is still searching for its first road win of the season, as they are 0-11 in away games.
Napa Valley scored nine runs in the top of the ninth inning.
Wyatt Smith and Mason Bartlett had multiple-hit games to lead Napa Valley.
Smith had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 and scoring two runs. Smith also had two stolen bases.
Bartlett was also a standout, going 2-for-3 with a triple, scoring two runs and driving in two runs.
Napa Valley had 10 hits on the day, struck out seven times, walked 10 times and left 12 runners on base.
Others with hits:
Myles Gray, 1-for-4, run scored, two RBIs; Ben Menard, 1-for-4, run scored, two RBIs; Ty Francis, 1-for-5, run scored, three RBIs; Nico Velasquez, 1-for-3, run scored, two RBIs; and Dorrion Allen, 1-for-2, two runs scored.
Also, it was Dylan Brown scoring a run, Hibiki Harayama with a run scored and one RBI, Hibiki Kodama with a run scored, and Ryan Rice scoring two runs and driving in two runs.
Los Medanos scored six runs in the first inning. Los Medanos was ahead, 13-2 in the fifth inning.
Los Medanos had 21 hits, including six doubles and a triple.
Gray, Francis, Velasquez and Rice each had a stolen base.
NVC's ninth inning included Menard's RBI single, Francis' two-run single, Velasquez's RBI single and Bartlett's two-RBI triple.
Haden Stephen started for the Storm and took the loss after pitching 3 1/3 innings and facing 26 batters. Pitching in relief was Bobby Caine, Jaedon Toninato, Emilio Diaz and Charles Squier.
Storm pitching allowed 19 earned runs, walking five and striking out nine.
NVC's next game is Thursday, March 5 at home when it faces Contra Costa College-San Pablo at 2 p.m. at Storm Field.
NVC is averaging 5.6 runs per game. The Storm has a .251 batting average, .397 on-base percentage and .310 slugging percentage.
* 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.