Junior Leghorns win conference championship

The Petaluma Junior Leghorns 17-under American Legion baseball team battled its way to the Area 1 Conference Tournament title in Fairfield, earning advancement to the Area Tournament in Chico.

The Leghorns first opponent in the conference championship was Napa with the Leghorns prevailing,6-0. Petaluma went on to beat Davis, 10-3, and Ukiah, 5-1, putting it into the championship game against Davis. In a hard-fought battle in the heat, the Leghorns finished strong to win a slugfest, 19-11, for the conference title and advancement to the Area Tournament.

Leghorn Coach Joe Lampe said the season was a tale of two halves for hist team.

He explained that the Leghorns got off to a slow start in the first half. However in the second half of the season the team began to gel together. He said the season fell into the cliché of ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,’”

And finish strong is exactly what the Leghorns did.

The team is coached by Lampe, Dave Siembieda, RJ Busse and Mike Jacobs. The squad is made up of players mostly from Casa Grande High School, but also includes players from Petaluma High and St Vincent. There is a mix of freshman kids who are now sophomores and sophomores who are now juniors.

Team members are Joe Lampe, Nick Siembieda, Eric Fairbanks, Broc Burleson, Connor Klemenok, Jack Romano, Travis Morgan, Nate Busse, Clay Smedshammer, Jack Gallagher, Tony Sabella, Sam Jacobs, Ryan Ramos, Cole Powers, Cole Shimek, Cameron Downing, Joey Loveless, Mike Inglin and Nick Kamages.