By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com
The Napa Valley College baseball team opened a Bay Valley Conference series on Tuesday, beating host Yuba College, 13-11, in 10 innings in Marysville.
It was the fourth win in a row for the Storm (5-15 overall, 4-0 Bay Valley Conference), which swept a three-game series from Contra Costa College-San Pablo last week.
Napa Valley was behind early in the game against Yuba, trailing 4-0 in the third inning and 5-2 in the fourth inning.
Napa Valley was also behind later in the game, trailing 9-5 in the sixth inning and 10-7 in the seventh inning.
But the Storm came back, scoring four runs in the eighth inning, followed by a two-run 10th inning.
The game was tied, 11-11, after nine innings.
Napa Valley's 16-hit attack was highlighted by six extra-base hits, including a home run by Amari Sawhney, two doubles from both Vincent Lencioni and Owen Nelson, and also a double from Raisean Avila-Dorsey.
Six players for Napa Valley had multi-hit games, with Lencioni and Nelson leading the charge.
Lencioni was 3-for-4, scoring four runs and getting an RBI.
Nelson was 3-for-5, scored two runs and had two RBIs.
Peyton McGowen was 2-for-5 and scored a run.
Cole Van Stone was 2-for-5 and scored a run.
Avila-Dorsey was 2-for-6, scored two runs and drove in a run. Forrest Kistner was 2-for-5, scored a run and had one RBI.
Also, with one hit was Jorge Lopez-Rios (1-for-6, run scored, two RBIs) and Sawhney (1-for-6, run scored, four RBIs).
Napa Valley left nine runners on base, walked two times and struck out 12 times against Yuba pitching.
The Storm scored its first run in the fourth inning on Sawhney's infield RBI groundout.
Kistner singled, driving in a run in the fourth inning.
Sawhney hit a three-run home run for the Storm in the fifth inning.
In the seventh inning, Lopez-Rios plated a run on an RBI infield groundout and Nelson had an RBI double.
Napa Valley's eighth-inning rally was keyed by Lencioni's RBI single, Avila-Dorsey's RBI single, Nelson's RBI sacrifice fly-out to center field, and Lencioni scoring on a passed ball.
In the decisive 10th inning, the Storm scored on an outfield error and Avila-Dorsey scored on a passed ball.
Kyle Worden started for NVC and pitched five innings, facing 26 batters in a no-decision.
Nigel Clay worked two innings of relief, facing 10 batters.
Khyler Cabebe went one-third of an inning of relief, facing four batters.
Jameson Hogarth got the win. Hogarth went 2 2/3 shutout innings, facing 10 batters, allowing just one hit and striking out two batters.
Dillon Castellanos and Jaden Thames each homered for Yuba, which had 16 hits, left nine runners on base, walked seven times and struck out three times.
Yuba had four errors in the game.
Napa Valley is at home on Wednesday to face Yuba in Game 2 of the series starting at 1 p.m. at Storm Field.
* 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.