NCS PLAYOFF: Montgomery brings Petaluma season to an end in NCS playoff game

The Petaluma High School baseball season came to its inevitable end Wednesday afternoon when the Trojans were beaten by Montgomery’s Vikings, 10-1, in the first round of the North Coast Section Division 2 playoffs.

“Every team except the six division winners ends with a loss,” pointed out Petaluma coach Paul Cochrun. “I am proud of our players. We had some very positive things happen.”

On their way to a 16-10 record against some of the best teams in the section, the Trojans compiled a 10-2 Sonoma County League record to finish second in league, were the only team to defeat champion Analy in league, beat the division’s No. 1 seed Casa Grande and won the spring-break A.L. Rabinowitz Tournament.

The NCS gane was not one of the Petaluma season highlights.

The Trojans managed just six hits off Montgomery pitchers Nick Smith and Colin Prince. Half of those came in the fifth inning, when they loaded the bases with no outs, but still didn’t score.

Montgomery’s offense was more of the drip variety, with no big outbursts until the end, but a constant tortuous drop with runs in six of its seven innings. The Vikings finished with 14 hits against a trio of Petaluma hurlers.

Montgomery scored single runs in the first and third innings, added two more in each of the fourth and fifth, and finished off its victory with a four-run rally in the seventh. Highlight of the seventh-frame explosion was a bags-jammed, three-run double by Prince, and a follow-up double by Nick Smith. Both blows were to dead left and were monster drives.

Petaluma had a few chances, but could never get a run-producing hit.

The only Petaluma run came in the sixth inning when the second of two Conner Richardson hits put force-out boarded Drake Paretti in a position to score when Luke Wheless out-ran a throw to first base for an infield hit. It was the third hit of the senior’s final game as a Trojan.

Petaluma’s best chance for a bust-out inning came in the fifth, when Richardson, Wheless and Porter Slate opened the frame with consecutive singles to load the bases.

But, Prince, on in relief, struck out the next two Trojans and got the third out on a bouncer to short for a force.

As has been the case for the last few games of the season, Petaluma highlights were mostly with the glove. In the third inning, Petaluma went around the horn from third baseman Richardson to second baseman Paretti to first baseman Tyler Williams for a double play. The Trojans also threw two overly adventuresome Vikings out at third base, and catcher Nick Andrakin nailed another trying to steal second.