By KEVIN JAKAHI
Herrera resilient;
Hawaii hangs on
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
The Sonoma County Grapes played the role of the hare, waiting until the last minute to score their runs. But the slow and steady pace of the tortoise, played by the Hawaii Stars, won out with one more run and exciting relief pitching.
Hawaii Stars reliever Ramon Martinez struck out George Ban with the bases loaded in the ninth inning to preserve a 9-8 victory in a North American Baseball League game on Wednesday night before 300 fans at Wong Stadium.
The story should have been Bryan Herrera, who delivered a lesson on the art of pitching without your best stuff, an experience of trepidation for fans and teammates alike with the crafty left-hander dancing in and out of danger.
Through five innings, the Hawaii Stars No. 2 pitcher kept pulling the string on the Grapes, but a 9-2 lead heading into the eighth disappeared on Sonoma’s six-run rally, keyed by Mark Micowski’s three-run homer.
In the ninth, Martinez allowed two hits and a walk before he got a game-ending strikeout. Then a shoving match between an umpire and Sonoma County riled up the late-night fans before it eventually simmered down.
With Tahitian drums at Edith Kanaka’ole Multipurpose Stadium providing background music, the Stars won their third straight game on the strength of Herrera’s resilient pitching, an avalanche of basehits and clutch work from Martinez.
The Stars (6-2) and Grapes (3-5) play at 5:35 p.m. today at Wong Stadium in the third game of a six-game series. A season ticket package for youngsters is $10 for all home games.
Hawaii’s bats were hot from the start and the hits never stopped falling. The home team scored at least a run in every inning until the streak was snapped in the seventh. The Stars feasted on Grapes pitching and finished with 16 hits.
The Stars jumped on Grapes starter Dan March for three runs in the second inning when the right-hander couldn’t finish hitters on two-strike counts.
Steve Tedesco led off with a single on an 0-2 pitch, went to second on an error, and scored on Reece Alnas’ RBI single off another 0-2 pitch — a slider that hovered over the middle of the plate.
One batter later, Matt Hibbert singled on another 0-2 pitch, putting two runners on. Jose Sanchez got a run in on a fielder’s choice RBI, and Adam Jacobs had a run-scoring single for a 4-0 lead. Sanchez and Jacobs were both behind on 0-1 counts.
The Grapes loaded the bases in the third against Herrera on a walk and two singles, and up stepped cleanup hitter Joe Lewis, who rarely cheats himself, taking really healthy Mighty Casey cuts at the plate.
It was a lefty-on-lefty matchup, and Herrera threw an inside fastball, Lewis swung hard, got jammed, but still belted a bullet to second baseman Anthony Williams’ glove hand. It glanced off his glove for an error, scoring two runs and cutting the score to 4-2.
In the bottom of the third, the Stars tacked on a run when Reece Alnas walked with two outs and later scored on Arnoldo Ponce’s run-scoring single to right field. It was March’s last inning and he ended with ugly numbers: three innings, five runs (one unearned), on eight hits and three walks.
At least he got nine outs. Javan Williams, a left-hander who had control issues, couldn’t retire a single Star. He walked the first two hitters he faced — Jacobs and Lopez —and then his troubles started.
Brendan Davis and Tedesco followed with back-to-back RBI singles, chasing Williams for Vinny Pacchetti, who allowed a walk to load the bases before striking out Ponce to extinguish Hawaii’s rally.
By then it was 7-2, home team ahead, after four innings with the old control-issue theory — walks will eventually turn into runs — holding somewhat true.
To that point, the misfiring Grapes walked six, more than a batter an inning, and three scored. On the other hand, Herrera, through five innings, walked five and only one scored, albeit on an error.
In five innings for the win, Herrera allowed two unearned runs on three hits and five walks, and struck out three, showing perseverance for pitching in and out of trouble all night, stranding seven on base.
The fourth was his most interesting inning. After two outs, he yielded two walks and a single, but struck out No. 3 hitter DJ Dixon to squash the Grapes’ hope for a prosperous inning.
Herrera stands just 5 feet 8, inches. But he’s University of Texas tough, playing for his hometown Longhorns and being a member of the 2005 national championship team. Last year, Herrera, 29, pitched for Na Koa Ikaika Maui.
Alnas went 1 for 4 with an RBI. Hawaii’s other local product, reliever Michael Kenui, was lights out for two scoreless innings. He threw gas and struck out three, surrendering nothing more than a harmless single.
In the eighth, Micowski absolutely crushed a three-run homer that traveled a good 400 feet over the right-field off Josh Larson, who recorded one out and gave up four runs on four hits.
Sanchez batted 3 for 5 with two RBIs, and Davis 3 for 5 with an RBI to lead Hawaii.
Micowski went 3 for 5 with three RBIs to lead the Grapes.
Grapes 002 000 060 — 8 11 2
Stars 131 211 00x — 9 16 2