Storm loses two one-run games on final day to finish third at National Qualifier in Stockton, CA

A three-year development program aimed at landing a berth in the 2005 Class C National Tournament may finally be paying off for Gary Dower, major sponsor of the Santa Rosa, CA, Storm men’s fastpitch team. The Storm finished a surprising third in the National Qualifier in Stockton after defeating Country Club Villa of San Jose, 8-1; Pride of San Juan, 7-5; and Elk Grove Fastpitch, 5-4 in nine innings before losing 9-8 to eventual champion McLaughlin Air of Stockton and The Rounders of Southern California, 4-3. Dower, who plays third base and occasionally pitches for the Storm, sponsors two teams in Santa Rosa¹s Tuesday Night League, The Farm, whose lineup includes a number of up-and-coming young stars of the game, and the older and more established IDM (It Doesn’t Matter) team.

The top players off the two teams play in the tougher Wednesday Night League as The Storm, and that team competes in the Pacific Coast Travel League along with McLaughlin Air, A-1 Tank, West Coast Financial, Bonanza Air, Native Americans, Neilson Realty Gamblers, Italian Athletic Club, Pride of San Juan, Oroville Braves, Romie¹s Angels, King Real Estate, Elk Grove, South Stockton Outlaws, Mission II, Country Club Villa, Rez Sox (out of Gardnerville, NV), Dry Creek Chiefs of Santa Rosa, Gaines Liquors, Al’s Roofing, Bay Area Hi Reach, Mel’s Plumbing, and two more Santa Rosa League teams, Quality Fence and Wally’s Bail Bonds.

The Storm currently rests in a tie for ninth place in the point standings with Elk Grove. A-1 Tank, McLaughlin Air, IAC, King Real Estate and West Coast Financial are the top five teams. At Stockton, the Storm got quality pitching from lefthander Jim Vargas, who pitched the Storm¹s first 27 innings before finally tiring against McLaughlin Air. He was 3-0 with a 3.37 ERA. As a team, the Storm hit .359, led by Giuliano (Jewells) Valesi (.600), Rick Kane (.500), Mike Mathewson (.429), Jim¹s son, Mike Vargas (.412), Brian Osborn (.389), Rick Faccini (.375), Gary Dower (.333), Jim Vargas (.300) and Tony Lopez (.278). Valesi, who played only on Sunday, was retired only one time in going 5-for-6 against McLaughlin Air and the Rounders. Kane, the season leader with 30 RBI and 17 runs scored, had nine hits and Osborn drove in six runs.

Game 1: Storm 8, Country Club Villa 1 (1-0)

Country Club Villa, always one of the top hitting teams in Northern California, was shut out until the sixth inning by Vargas, who scattered eight hits, walked one and struck out four. Faccini doubled across a run in the second inning, Kane hit a two-run homer in the third, and Lopez singled across one run and Jim Vargas doubled in two more in the fourth to make it 6-0. The Storm added two runs in the seventh on singles by Mike Vargas and Brian Osborn and an RBI double by Tom Dower. The Storm had 12 hits.

Game 2: Storm 7, Pride of San Juan 5 (2-0)

Kane singled across a run in the first, but San Juan scored once in the first and added two runs in the third to take a 3-1 lead. Kane started a four-run rally in the fourth with a single, and after two were out, Tom Dower got a clutch double to drive in a run to make it 3-2. After a walk to Faccini, San Juan made two infield errors that led to three more runs and a 5-3 lead. San Juan rallied back with two runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 5-5, but in the bottom of the inning, Kane led off with a booming triple and scored what proved to be the winning run on a single by Mike Mathewson, who was in the game only because shortstop Mike Vargas had been ejected. After two were out, Faccini singled to drive in Mathewson to make it 7-5. San Juan failed to get a hit in either the sixth or seventh inning off Vargas.

Game 3: Storm 5, Elk Grove 4, nine innings (3-0)

In yet another nail-biter, the Storm and Elk Grove battled through nine innings before Santa Rosa prevailed. Elk Grove put together two hits and a walk to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, but a diving catch in right field by Mike Vargas prevented further damage. The Storm tied the game in the bottom of the first as Kane and Mike Vargas got back-to-back singles, and Jim Vargas doubled to drive in Kane to make it 1-1. Elk Grove scored an unearned run in the top of the third on a pair of infield errors and a double to take a 2-1 lead, but in the fifth, Gary Dower singled, Valesi beat out a bunt hit, and Kane got an RBI single to make it 2-2. Vargas retired seven hitters in a row before Elk Grove got the tiebreaker runner on second in the top of the eighth inning, and things looked bleak when Vargas was tagged for a two-run homer to make it 4-2. In the bottom of the inning, Valesi was placed on second base and after two were out, Jim Vargas got a walk. With the speedy Mathewson running for Vargas, Osborn worked the count to 3-2, and down to his final pitch, he lashed a double down the left-field line to driove in two runs to tie the game at 4-4. Elk Grove failed to score in the top of the ninth, and with Tom Dower running in the bottom half of the inning, Faccini laid down a perfect bunt to move him to third, and he raced him on a fly ball to shallow right-center field by Lopez for the final 5-4 margin. Vargas allowed only six hits, walked two and struck out one in notching his third win.

Game 4: McLaughlin Air 9, Storm 8 (3-1)

With a berth in the Nationals at stake, The Storm scored in each of the first four innings to take an 8-6 lead over McLaughlin Air in the winner¹s bracket finals but wound up losing 9-8 after two costly errors in the sixth inning. After McLaughlin scored three runs in the top of the first, the Storm came back with four in the bottom half on infield hits by Gary Dower and Valesi, RBI singles by Kane and Mike Vargas, an error, and a sacrifice fly by Osborn. In the second, Lopez doubled and scored on a single by Gary Dower to make it 5-3, and after McLaughlin cut the deficit to 5-4 with a run in the third, the Storm scored twice in the bottom of the inning when Osborn walked, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on a single by Tom Dower. Dower took second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Faccini to make it 7-4. The scrappy McLaughlin team battled back to score twice in the fourth against the weary Vargas on a triple and a two-run home run to make it 7-6, but in the bottom of the inning, Valesi walked, took second on a sacrifice bunt by Kane, and scored on a single by Mike Vargas to make it 8-6. Lopez relieved Vargas in the fifth, and after retiring the side in order in that inning and getting the leadoff hitter in the sixth, a fly ball to deep center was dropped. Lopez got the next hitter for what should have been the third out, but McLaughlin took advantage of the miscue and got back-to-back singles to make it 8-7 and after a hit-batter loaded the bases, a fly to shallow right field was also dropped to let in another run. The Storm got only one hit the rest of the way and failed to get a runner to second base. So it was off to the loser¹s bracket finals for the Storm and a guaranteed berth in the Nationals for McLaughlin Air.

Game 5: Rounders 4, Storm 3 (3-2)

Tom Dower got the starting job against the Rounders, but he had control problems early and walked seven and hit one in just 2.1 innings before giving way to Lopez with the bases loaded and one out in the third. The Storm led briefly 1-0 when Tom Dower singled to lead off the second, went to second on a single by Faccini, took third when Carl Carr bounced into a tag play at second, and scored on a bunt hit by Mathewson. The Rounders got even in the bottom of the inning as Michael ³Spanky² Thomas was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a walk, and scored on a single. The Rounders took a 3-1 lead in the 3rd inning when Mark Villalobos walked and scored on a double to center by Linnell Culver, who scored on a sac fly by Michael Thomas. Lopez relieved Dower with the bases loaded and retired the side on two force plays at home, and he shut the door on the Rounders until he walked two in the sixth and then yielded an RBI single that made it 4-1. With one out in the top of the seventh, Valesi got his third straight hit, and after Lopez and Kane singled, Gerald Pyle entered the game in relief. Mike Vargas forced Valesi at home, but Osborn lashed a singled to left-center to drive in two runs to make it 4-3. With runners on first and second, Tom Dower bounced a ball over the pitcher¹s head but second baseman Jimmy Crotzer made the final putout of the game, grabbing the ground ball and tagging the runner coming from first to end the game. With the win, the Rounders clinched second