By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com

Blake Goen pitched seven innings to get the win and four hitters, including Wyatt Smith, had multiple-hit games, as the Napa Valley College baseball team beat host Mendocino College Tuesday, 11-1, in Ukiah.

It was the second straight win for the Storm (7-15 overall, 3-1 Bay Valley Conference).

It was also the Storm's first road win of the 2026 season.

Goen was solid in his start, allowing just five hits and one run (earned), walking only one batter, striking out four and hitting two batters. He faced 28 batters.

Goen has a 3-1 record in six appearances (all starts) for the Storm.

Haden Stephen pitched very well in relief, throwing two shutout innings. Stephen did not allow a hit and struck out three while facing six batters.

It was the first game of a three-game Bay Valley Conference series.

Napa Valley had its offense in high gear, with the Storm scoring two runs in the first, second and third innings, three runs in the fifth inning, and two more runs in the seventh inning.

They had 15 hits on the day, including four extra-base hits.

Smith had a big day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a triple, three runs scored and three RBIs. Smith also had two stolen bases.

Nico Velasquez was 3-for-6 with a double, run scored and two RBIs.

Dylan Brown was 2-for-6 with a double, three runs scored and three stolen bases.

Myles Gray was 2-for-6 with a double, run scored, two RBIs and a stolen base.

Ty Francis was 2-for-3 and scored two runs.

Additional hitting came from Hibiki Kodama, who was 1-for-2 with an RBI, and Ethan Boatman, who was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Ryan Rice scored a run and had a stolen base.

Napa Valley left 11 runners on base, struck out seven times and walked four times.

The Storm scored early in the game.

Gray's RBI double plated Smith and Velasquez's run-scoring double drove in Gray in the first inning.

Smith had a single, driving in Brown and Francis, in the second inning.

In the third inning, it was Kodama with an RBI single that plated Velasquez and Boatman's RBI fielder's choice that drove in Rice.

In the fifth inning, it was Francis scoring on a wild pitch, an RBI triple by Smith driving in Brown, and Smith scoring when Gray reached on an infield error.

In the seventh inning, it was Brown scoring on a wild pitch and an RBI single by Velasquez driving in Smith.

Mendocino and Napa Valley meet in Game 2 of the series on Thursday, March 19 at 2 p.m. at NVC's Storm Field.

On the season, NVC is averaging 6.5 runs per game, with a .276 team batting average, .408 team on-base percentage, and .350 team 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.