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The Potters entered play on the back of a four-game sweep to the undefeated Healdsburg Prune Packers. On Thursday, the Packers threw a combined one-hit shutout and beat the Potters 5-0.

Looking to turn the Potters’ fortunes around, Peyton Stumbo (University of Nevada) made his third start this season. The Auburn, CA native had a 0.82 era with 15 strikeouts in only 11 innings entering tonight.

Stumbo cruised through the first three innings without allowing a run, but the Potters’ bats stole the show early tonight. Justin Olson (Austin Peay University) brought home the Potters first two runs in the first inning and Tyler Gerety (University of Kansas) added on another with a steal of home in the second. In the third, Olson launched his first home run of the season over the right field fence, pushing the Potters’ lead to 5-0 at the end of the third.

“Obviously Healdsburg took it to us and we needed to jump out on these guys early on, so I think [the early offense] was big and put us in the right direction for the rest of the game and the rest of the season,” Olson said about his two big hits in the first three innings.

Amid the loud contact made by the Potters, Stumbo was quietly pitching a gem himself. He held the Mudcats scoreless, only allowing two baserunners in seven innings to go along with six strikeouts. The former Placer High standout has undoubtedly proved himself as the Potters’ ace to this point in the season, only allowing a single earned run in his first 18 innings of work (0.50 ERA).

Brandon Forrester (Oregon State) also stood out tonight in his season debut with the Potters. With the Potters leading by seven in the bottom of the seventh inning, Forrester found himself at third after reaching base his fourth time in the contest. With two outs, Forrester caught the Mudcats off-guard, swiping home with relative ease. Team owner, Clifton Taylor said, “this was the first Potters’ naked steal of home in seven years- been waiting for a top G to take that bag for a while.” 

The Mudcats managed to put up three runs in the ninth, but Vincent Cicolello (UC Riverside) eventually slammed the door for the Potters, striking out the last two batters of the game on three pitches each. 

With their dominant play on both sides of the ball, the Potters easily put down the Mudcats by a final score of 8-3. Peyton Stumbo was credited with the win and now trails only Erick Diez Jr. (Bay Area Admirals) in league-wide total strikeouts during CCL league play. Stumbo also ranks first in league-wide ERA for pitchers with more than ten innings thrown.