By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com
Napa Valley College had its five-game winning streak end as it fell at home to Yuba College-Marysville in the third and final game of a Bay Valley Conference baseball series, 18-8, at Storm Field on Thursday.
Napa Valley (6-16 overall, 5-1 Bay Valley Conference) was ahead, 4-2 in the first inning, but could not hang on, as Yuba's offense produced 21 hits, with five home runs, three doubles and a triple.
Yuba had a nine-run fourth inning.
Napa Valley also scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, followed by two runs in the ninth inning.
The Storm left 10 runners on base, had three errors, struck out eight times and walked five times against Yuba pitching.
It was the second home game of the season for Napa Valley.
The Storm is still in first place in the Bay Valley Conference and is 6-4 over its last 10 games.
College of Marin-Kentfield and Solano Community College-Fairfield are tied for second place.
Los Medanos College-Pittsburg is in fourth place and Yuba is in fifth place.
The Storm got two hits from Jorge Lopez-Rios, Vincent Lencioni, Raisean Avila-Dorsey, Cole Van Stone and Owen Nelson.
Napa Valley was led by Lopez-Rios, 2-for-5, run scored; Lencioni, 2-for-5, double, RBI, run scored; Avila-Dorsey, 2-for-5, two RBIs, run scored; Van Stone, 2-for-4, two triples, three runs scored; and Nelson, 2-for-5, double, two RBIs.
Also with hits were Peyton McGowen, who was 1-for-4, run scored, and Connor Ray, who was 1-for-1 with a double and two RBIs.
McGowen and Van Stone each had a stolen base.
In Napa Valley's first inning, it was Avila-Dorsey with a single, driving in two runs; Nelson with an RBI single; and William Tokar with a sacrifice RBI fly-out to center field.
Nelson had an RBI double in the fifth inning.
Lencioni had an RBI single in the sixth inning. Ray had a two-run double in the ninth inning.
Samuel Anderson took the loss. Anderson made the start and pitched 3 1/3 innings, facing 22 batters.
Lopez-Rios pitched in relief, throwing 4 2/3 innings and facing 29 batters.
Isaiah Franco threw one inning, facing five batters.
NVC pitching allowed 17 earned runs, walked nine and struck out five batters.
Tristan Ogles, Carter Jones, Devon Conway, Nick Baltz and Jaden Thames each homered for Yuba.
Evan Hilleary had a triple.
Jones, Sam Thawley and Caleb Sumison each had a double.
Jones was 3-for-4 with four RBIs, Conway was 3-for-6 with three RBIs, and Baltz was 3-for-6 with one RBI.
For the season, Napa Valley is averaging 5.9 runs per game.
The Storm has a .253 batting average, .377 on-base percentage, and .343 slugging percentage.
Napa Valley begins a three-game Bay Valley Conference series against College of Marin on Tuesday, March 26 at 2:30 p.m. in Kentfield. * 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.