By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com

Napa Valley College was not able to hang on to a three-run lead and lost to host Solano Community College on Tuesday, 7-4, in a Bay Valley Conference baseball game in Fairfield.

Napa Valley was leading, 4-1, in the fifth inning in Game 1 of a Bay Valley Conference series.

Solano came from behind, scoring five runs in the sixth inning and one run in the seventh inning.

It was the second straight loss for the Storm (9-19 overall, 5-5 Bay Valley).

The Storm dropped to 2-15 in away games.

Ben Menard and Ethan Boatman had two hits each for Napa Valley.

Menard was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

Boatman was 2-for-4 and scored a run.

Adding to Napa Valley's offense was Dylan Brown, 1-for-5, run scored, stolen base; Myles Gray, 1-for-4, run scored; Ryan Rice, 1-for-2; and Hibiki Kodama, 1-for-4.

Nico Velasquez scored a run for the Storm.

Napa Valley struck out 11 times, left nine runners on base, and had two errors.

Gray walked and scored on Menard's RBI double in the fourth inning.

In the top of the fifth inning, Brown and Boatman each scored on a passed ball. Menard's RBI single drove in Velasquez.

Boatman and Brown each singled in the inning.

Ian Ross got the start and went six innings, facing 29 batters and taking the loss. Ross allowed seven hits and six runs (four earned), walked two, struck out three and hit one batter.

Bobby Caine pitched in relief, going one inning and allowing three hits and one run (earned), walking one and striking out one, while facing seven batters.

Haden Stephen pitched one inning, facing three batters, and did not allow a hit.

Napa Valley will host Game 2 of the series on Thursday, April 2 at Storm Field at 2 p.m.

NVC's Velasquez, Goen among North Region Conference Players of the Week

Napa Valley College's Nico Velasquez, a freshman outfielder, and Blake Goen, a sophomore right-handed pitcher, were recognized as among "other North Region Conference Players of the Week" from the Bay Valley Conference by the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association for Week 9 (March 16-22), in a report, at www.cccbca.com, on April 1.

* 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.