St. Helena hands Mustangs first loss

St. Vincent victim of poor start in 13-2 loss to Saints in shortened game|

St. Helena exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the third inning to take any mystery out of its baseball meeting with previously undefeated St. Vincent as the Saints prevailed, 13-2, in a five-inning game at Yountville.

Opposing starting pitchers Robert Archer of the Saints and Dominic Pedersen of the Mustangs had things going their way in the quickly played opening of the game until St. Helena bunched six hits with three walks and a St. Vincent miscue to break things open.

The Mustangs might have escaped with no more than four runs, but a soft bases-loaded looping single by Arnold Rodriguez kept the St. Helena rally alive.

Pedersen was pulled in the middle of the inning and replaced by Liam Galten, but the Saint hits kept on falling. To make matters worse, there were two stolen bases in the inning, including a theft of home.

It was that kind of a day for the Mustangs, and it got even worse when starting shortstop and leading hitter George Sammon was ejected after some words with the infield umpire. By rule, Sammon will be forced to sit out the next St. Vincent game, scheduled Wednesday against the Bay School in San Francisco.

St. Helena kept rolling, scoring four more runs in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Galten was replaced by junior Reilly Tobin, who recorded the final out.

St. Vincent was limited to only two hits until the game got out of control, but the Mustangs put a couple of runs on the board in their last at bat of the game.

Hits by Tobin and sophomore replacement Jack Romano set the table for the rally. A hard-hit ball off the bat of Nick Vollert was mishandled, and the Mustangs recorded their first run. Vollert had a solid day at the plate with two singles.

Pedersen followed with a ground ball to record his team-leading 12th RBI of the season.

The Saints improved to 3-6 with the win on the pristine grounds of the Cleve Borman baseball facility at the Veterans Retirement Home. Both St. Helena and neighboring Vintage of Napa play selected home contests at the home, which are enthusiastically supported by the veterans.

St. Helena cleanup batter Dominic Collins had three hits and five RBIs in the victory for the Saints. Archer and Mark Martin chipped in with two hits each.

It was the first bump in the road for the Mustangs, who fell to 5-1 in the young season. St. Vincent will open North Central League II play at home March 31 against rival Tomales.

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