Error allows go-ahead score

NAPA — Comet shortstop Daniel Farias sat alone against the back wall of the dugout thinking about his pivotal error.

The freshman misplayed a ground ball in the eighth inning to give up the go-ahead run in a 4-3 loss at Napa Valley College.

Farias tried to field NVC right fielder Kevin Coffee's line drive without his glove, but dropped it, allowing second baseman Rupert Watson to score from third base in the pivotal inning.

"He is usually reliable," Comet coach Marvin Webb, who was ejected in the sixth inning, said. "Today, I don't know."

Farias declined to comment after the game.

Starting pitcher Dominic Quilici began the eighth inning for the Comets (5-7 overall, 1-1 in the Bay Valley Conference) and got the first out, but walked the next two batters, which triggered the coaching staff to bring in reliever Adam Boyd.

Boyd's first pitch was a ball to Coffee. The next one, Coffee drilled between second and third base, which Farias could not handle, allowing Watson to jog home from third base.

Second baseman Michael Chambers turned a double play on a Storm fly ball to end the inning, but the Comets were deflated after giving up the lead to NVC (7-7, 1-1 BVC).

Storm starting pitcher Trevor Diskin finished the game by sitting down the last three Comet Batters.

He forced Comet batters Daniel Skinner and Cameron "CJ" Doorn into ground outs and sat down Doorn with a looking-strike out to end the game.

The Comets play Solano Community College at home on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

"We just didn't play up to our potential," Quilici, a freshman, said. "I think when coach got thrown out, our intensity really stepped up."

The Storm regained momentum after the late-game error. The infield-umpire ejecting Webb ignited the Comets for three innings.

Leading CCC 3-0 in the sixth inning with one out and a runner on second base, Diskin snagged center fielder Tyrone Bowie's hit and made the throw to first baseman Matt Barsetti, trying to beat Bowie's headfirst dive at the bag.

The umpire called him out.

Wearing a shiny blue helmet, a navy windbreaker and white baseball pants, Webb strutted from the third base foul line toward the pitcher's mound to dispute the call.

"The guy was clearly safe. It wasn't a bang-bang sort of play," Webb said. "The umpire said he was in the air."

During the argument and without warning, Webb said, he was ejected after accusing the umpire of blowing calls in the first five innings.

Webb's ejection, however, brought life to a game that was as quiet as it was slow.

For the rest of the inning, the two teams tried to make more noise than the other dugout after each pitch called their way.

"It was a well-played game," Storm coach Bob Freschi said. "Both pitchers did a great job."

Diskin, a sophomore who pitched his second complete game of the season, retired CCC batters in order in the first four innings as well as the ninth.

After Webb was tossed, however, the Comets scored a run in each of the next three innings and caught up to the Storm by the middle of the eighth.

"It was just a wake up call (to) wake everybody up a little bit," Webb said. "We were sleep-walking."

Chambers, designated hitter and pinch runner Charles Lyte and Bowie worked their way around the bases to score in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, respectively.

Bowie, who had the game-tying run in the eighth, was walked in four pitches and matriculated from bag to bag.

With Mark Mills at the plate, Diskin tried to pick Bowie off at first, but the ball got away from Barsetti, allowing Bowie the time to steal second base and then third.

On a 1-1 count, Mills hit a single to shortstop Richie Rhodes. Rhodes threw to catcher Ryan Rudstrom for the tag out, but the ball went wide right, giving Bowie room at home to tie the game.

"Coach woke us up in the sixth inning," Bowie said. "We fed off that."

Two batters later, left fielder Angelo Simmons was about 10 feet short of giving the Comets the go ahead run with two outs later in the inning.

The sophomore got behind a pitch and hit a long ball to centerfield, but it landed in the warning track and bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double.

But with two Comet runners in scoring position, Lyte hit a ground ball and ended the inning with Mills and Simmons stranded on base.