Elite Eight square off for city LL championship

The 2016 Petaluma Major Division Little League City Championships are coming down to a single-elimination conclusion.

The eight teams to come out of pool play square off this week in a single-elimination showdown that culminates Saturday at Petaluma Valley’s Murphy Field with the city championship game. A contest for third place begins at 10 a.m., with the championship clash at 1 p.m.

First-round games were played Tuesday, with Athletic Edge from the Valley facing Whitman from the Valley and McNear’s from the National taking on Century 21 from the Valley. Winners of those games will meet Thursday. Also on Tuesday, Roland from the Valley was to take on Lucky 7 from the National and Elks Lodge No. 901 was to meet Maselli & Sons from the American with those winners also playing on Thursday.

Tuesday night results were not available at press time.

Athletic Edge from the Valley League was the only team to emerge from pool play undefeated, earning the No. 1 seed in the Elite Eight Tournament with a 4-0 record. Athletic Edge both out-hit and out-pitched every team in the tournament, scoring 48 runs (an average of 12 per game), while allowing just three runs.

The only two-loss team to make the final eight was Whitman from the Valley. Whitman claimed the No. 8 and final seed by taking third in Pool C and earning a wild-card berth by virtue of a complicated tie-breaking formula.