SCL TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP: Trojans lose SCL Tournament showdown to Sonoma in nine innings

Petaluma High school’s baseball Trojans let a six-run lead, and ultimately the game and Sonoma County League Tournament championship, slip away Thursday night at Arnold Field in Sonoma.|

Petaluma High school’s baseball Trojans let a six-run lead, and ultimately the game and Sonoma County League Tournament championship, slip away Thursday night at Arnold Field in Sonoma.

In a clash of the SCL co-champions, the Dragons walked off with an 8-7 victory in nine pressure-filled innings to claim not only the tournament title, but also the SCL’s automatic berth in the North Coast Section playoffs.

The loss, while hurting, was not overly disastrous for the Trojans, who will still receive an invitation to the NCS dance when the pairings are announced Monday.

After recording its own walk-off win a day earlier with a 2-1 victory over Analy, Petaluma seemed on its way to the tournament title Thursday, scoring three runs in the second inning and building a 6-1 lead through five innings.

The wheels dropped off the Trojan hopes in the sixth, when Sonoma Valley erupted for six runs against Petaluma starting pitcher Will Nevin and reliever Luke Wheless for a 7-6 lead.

Petaluma pushed across a run in the seventh to prolong the game. After a scoreless eighth, Sonoma loaded the bases with no outs before Shane O’Malley dropped a hit into center field to drive home the winning run.

Ty O’Donnell and Logan Douglas led Petaluma at the plate with three hits each, with O’Donnell belting a double. Ben Sanderson had two hits. Harrison Royall drove in two runs with a hit and Tyler Williams also contributed an RBI hit.

Sonoma sophomore Ethan Vitale slugged four hits for the Dragons, while CJ Vitale had three.

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