Petaluma Intermediate Stars are District 35 champions

Petaluma’s Intermediate Division Little League All-Star team guts its way to the District 35 Tournament championship.|

Petaluma’s Intermediate Division Little League All-Star team gutted its way to the District 35 Tournament championship on June 22, holding off tournament host Rincon Valley, 9-7.

The Intermediate Division for 12- and 13-year-old players is a middle step between the Major Little League and Junior/Senior Leagues. It uses a 50-foot pitching distance and 70-foot base paths. Leading off base is permitted.

The June 22 win represented a bounce-back for the Petaluma team after it had lost to Rincon Valley, 9-8, the night before.

The game was a breath-holder of a roller-coaster ride from first pitch to last. Rincon Valley rallied for three runs in its final two at bats to make the game close until a final called third strike thrown by Petaluma relief pitcher John Romano.

Perhaps the ultimate difference between two evenly matched teams was the ability of the Petaluma outfielders to catch the baseball and hurry base hits back to the infield.

Petaluma right fielder Exemi Martinez was a baseball magnet in the early going. He was responsible for the first five Rincon Valley outs of the game with sure-handed snares of soaring flies. Left fielder Quinten Lopez made a nice grab of a line drive on his knees. By contrast, Rohnert Park outfielders let several catchable flies drop for base hits, crucial mistakes in a close game.

Petaluma pitchers Justin Sullivan and Romano, although not overpowering, generally pitched well for the district champions.

Petaluma seemed to take charge early, rallying for three runs in the second inning with Romano delivering key two-run single in the rally that gave Petaluma a 5-2 lead. It was the third of his four hits.

Rohnert Park got close (5-4) with two runs in the fifth inning, and then came one of the wildest innings of the tournament.

The top of the sixth inning started spectacularly for Petaluma, with two sparkling plays on the infield to retire the first two Rincon Valley hitters.

First, second baseman Nathan Berniklau raced into short right field to make a brilliant, back-to-the-infield grab of a pop-up. Third baseman Joey Alioto followed that play with a stop of a hopper behind his bag and a strong and accurate throw to first base.

With two outs on outstanding defensive plays, the Petaluma defense inexplicably fell apart. The Petalumans committed four errors on the next three Rincon Valley hitters as the host team scored two runs to move to within a run of the Petalumans at 7-6.

Petaluma answered back in its half of the sixth. An error opened the door and Sullivan and Romano took advantage with singles. Romano’s hit drove home two runs, giving him five RBIs for the game.

Sitting on a 9-6 lead, Petaluma had to survive an inning-starting double for Rincon Valley in the seventh inning, a hit that produced a run on a pair of wild pitches before Romano ended things with a nice catch by Sullivan at shortstop and two strikeouts.

The Petaluma season came to an end in the Section 1 Tournament in Walnut Creek over the weekend where they lost to Tiburon Peninsula, 13-7, and Alameda, 21-9.

Petaluma was in the game against Tiburon until a three-run homer in the sixth inning broke open the contest, sending Petaluma into the losers’ bracket.

According to coach Al Romano, the contest against Alameda wasn’t so much a case of the winners slugging the ball, as it was fielding lapses by the Petlumans.

Alameda scored 15 runs in two innings, with the majority of the runs coming with two outs and Petaluma needing just an out to stop the bleeding.

Sullivan, John Romano and Jake Meininger each had two hits for Petaluma.

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