SONOMA 10, PETALUMA 9 Sonoma upsets T-Girls?in SCL Tournament

Sonoma Valley rallied twice in the late going to upset Petaluma, 10-9, in the finals of the Sonoma County League post-season softball tournament last week in Sebastopol.

The Lady Dragons trailed the regular season co-champions, 5-0, in the fourth inning, but battled back to tie the contest aided by a couple of critical errors and some clutch hitting by Maggie Lentini.

Petaluma regained command briefly with single runs in the fourth and fifth, but Sonoma exploded with a four spot in the seventh frame that proved to be the difference between the two teams. It was the second consecutive surprising win for the Dragons (17-9), who stunned favored Analy the previous day.

Although Petaluma out-hit Sonoma, 14-9, it was the ability of the Dragons to bunch their hits and aggressively run the bases that made the difference. On three occasions Sonoma base runners took extra bases on balls within reach of T-Girl defenders. Two deciding runs came across the plate in the sixth on short wild pitches.

Ava Chabot, the second of two T-Girl pitchers on the afternoon, suffered the defeat after relieving starter Emily O’Keefe in the sixth inning. O’Keefe struck out six batters.

Petaluma hit the ball well all afternoon. The T-Girls had no trouble with Hayden Pearce who had shut out Analy on Wednesday. Run producing hits by O’Keefe and Alexis Silinonte led the way to 5-0 lead after three innings. Chabot chipped in with a long fly ball home run over the left field fence - her seventh of the current campaign.

The T-Girls didn’t exactly kick the ball all over the lot in the big fourth-inning rally by Sonoma, but it was the timing of consecutive errant throws to first base that set up the Dragon comeback.

Petaluma trailed 10-8 in its final at bat, and the T-Girls nearly made a come back of their own by punching across a run on a looping single by Silinonte. Three close plays in the infield all went in favor of the Lady Dragons, however, and the upset was recorded.

The T-Gils had defeated Sonoma Valley twice in regular season play by identical scores of 3-0.

Lentini went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Sonoma, while the dangerous Pearce was limited to one single.

Silinonte had three hits for the T-Girls, including a home run over the center field fence that appeared to give them some insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Chabot and first baseman Grace Ghiradelli each had two hits for Petaluma, while Mia Pariani knocked in a game-high three runs.

The T-Girls finished the regular season with a record of 16-10.