Coming into Saturday night's contest between the Rockhounds and the Nissan of Elk Grove Sand Gnats, one knew that the Rockhounds' offense had the potential to turn any game into a blowout. But, on a night when a rookie hurler had their number early, it was actually a ten-run inning of wildness and bad hops that propelled the Rockhounds to a resounding 19-0 victory over the Sand Gnats.
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| Gregory Valencia delivers a first inning strike. |
On a night when two of their key cogs, cleanup hitter Tanner Smith and ace Andrew Gale, were unavailable, the Sand Gnats were left in dire need of pitching, so Coach Eric Van Houten turned to original starting third basemen Gregory Valencia, who had not taken the mound before, in an effort to patch together a staff. What Valencia lacked in experience, though, he made up for with moxie and an effective fastball that kept the Rockhounds swinging and missing and generally looking uncomfortable at the plate. In the top of the first, Valencia took a few batters to get adjusted, walking lead-off man Matthew Flores and third place hitter Travis Lang before Yancey Portis began a huge night with a two-run double. But Valencia immediately settled down, striking out Angel Carrera and inducing a two-hop groundout to shortstop to strand Portis in scoring position. In the second, he was even better, surrendering only a bloop single to Joshua Richmond and a few walks, while benefiting from some excellent defense including a highlight-worthy running catch by centerfielder Jordan Driebe and another great throw from shortstop Dakota Lockhart. Richmond would score in the inning on the tail end of a double steal, but Valencia's outing was phenomenal, as he held the high-powered Rockhounds to just three runs in two innings.
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| Portis went 5 for 5 with 3 doubles and 6 RBI in the rout. |
Unfortunately, when Valencia exited in the third, things quickly took a turn for the worse, as the Rockhounds batted around and tallied a ten-run inning that immediately took a 3-0 up for grabs game and transformed it into a rout. The inning began with Portis hitting his second double in as many ABs, before three of the next four batters reached via free passes. With the bases loaded, the ninth place hitter, Tanner Morrison, then brought bats back into the equation with a sharp two-run single to left that plated Terrell Turner and Anthony Mejia making it 7-0. After a pitching change, Flores clobbered a crisp RBI single to right, and then the Rockhounds' offense kept firing as dribblers and grounders alike found holes to keep the runs coming. Lang drove in two with a chopper just through the infield, Portis hit his third double--and second of the inning--for another run, and Turner drove in the final run of the frame with a fielders' choice to Lockhart at short. All in all, the inning featured seven hits, four walks, a hit batter, five passed balls, three errors, and an obstruction call that left the Sand Gnats on defense for over 35 minutes.
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| Ducay got the W with 4 shutout frames. |
On the receiving end of that offensive support was young ace Kyle Ducay, who was sharp early to earn the win on the mound. Ducay struck out a pair in a nine pitch first inning but was otherwise in command without strikeout stuff across four shutout innings of work. In the second, he surrendered a line drive single to Jason Visesratana, but he escaped when Morrison made a great catch and throw double play from rightfield to double off Visesratana. After a 1-2-3 third inning, Ducay pitched around a sharp one-out single by Ricky Van Houten and Austin Carr's plunking to strand both in scoring position with his final strikeout of the night. Ducay needed only 46 pitches and faced only two batters over the minimum in an impressive day on the mound.
The Sand Gnats threatened in the last of the fifth, when Driebe walked, moved to third on an error by the pitcher, and Austin Aguiar walked and stole second base. But, as was the case for much of the day, the bounces didn't go the Sand Gnats' way and a wild pitch caromed neatly off the backstop to the new catcher Mejia, who caught Aguiar advancing to third after Driebe was forced to hold, defusing the threat and ending the contest.
For the Rockhounds, the star of the show was Portis, who produced a gaudy, video game worthy stat line. Including his three doubles in the first three innings, Portis was 5 for 5 with 6 RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base, proving an unstoppable force out of the cleanup spot. Morrison was 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs and two stolen bases, Kevin Brase scored twice, Lang had two hits and four RBI, and Richmond finished 2 for 4 himself. In addition, Ducay crossed home four times on a night when every Rockhound player reached base and scored a run for the Rockhounds.
Although they were shutout, the Sand Gnats were plucky and positive, providing a rousing sing-along to Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" in addition to their work between the lines. Lockhart played superb defense at shortstop and pitched a solid fifth inning, Van Houten struck out a pair in 1 2/3 innings of much needed relief--in addition to collecting one of the team's two hits--and, moving behind the plate for the final two innings, Timothy Sanborn had the crowd cheering his name with some excellent blocking while showcasing a contagious passion for the game.
