Baseball team mangles Napa Valley College

After Napa Valley College tied the game at two with a home run from sophomore outfielder Steven Contursi in the fourth inning, the baseball team exploded offensively beating the Storm 8-2 on Saturday at home.

The Comets (2-8-1 overall, 1-1 Bay Valley Conference) won the game by stealing bases and putting up a good defensive effort. CCC also hit the ball well giving freshman pitcher James McReynolds some run support in this game.

“(We won) because of great defense, pitching and getting the runs in,” freshman infielder David Farias said. “Everybody did their jobs.”

McReynolds pitched two shutout innings before giving up a run in the third.

During the third McReynolds showed poise when faced with a tough situation.

Leading 2-1 with one out and two runners in scoring position just after giving up an RBI single, he struck out the next batter and forced the following batter to fly out.

“I just got my mind ready for the game and on every pitch I kept fighting,” McReynolds said. “(On the home run) I didn’t let that get to me.”

He also said that the curve ball he threw to Contursi on the home run was a good pitch, but also a good hit.

Comet baseball coach Marvin Webb said the team came close to blowing the game in the third.

The Comets had the bases loaded twice during the game but only came away with one run — the second time.

CCC has been struggling with run support this season but got it together in the fourth, reclaiming the lead and adding to its lead in the fifth inning.

“(We) tried to limit the mistakes we’ve been making and tried to score some runs,” Webb said. “We had some good sacrifices and bunts, and when you play that good you win.”

The baseball team stole four bases in a row during the game giving them more opportunities for runs.

They took advantage of NVC (6-8 overall, 0-2 in the BVC) sophomore pitcher Rick Rodriguez’ bad habits and stole a season high eight bases.

“One pitcher they brought in never peeked (at our base runners) so we ended up stealing three or four in the row,” Webb said. “We’ve got some good runners on the team and we just caused chaos.”

The Comets lost their first conference game of the season at home against first place Yuba College on Thursday.

CCC is  currently in sixth place in the BVC standings. The Comets next game is on Thursday when they host sister college Los Medanos at 2 p.m. on the Baseball Field.