Bad start cost Trojans loss to Pumas

Several little things added up to a loss for Petaluma’s baseball Trojans on Friday afternoon. Maria Carrillo’s Pumas prevailed on their home diamond, 4-2, in a game that was even closer than the final score showed.

In a contest between perhaps the two best teams with losing records in the Redwood Empire, Maria Carrillo scored three runs in the opening inning and made them stand good for its second win against three losses. Petaluma is now 2-4.

After Maria Carrillo’s first-run uprising, the teams settled in to play a solid game of baseball.

Each team managed just five hits, with four of Maria Carrillo’s coming in what proved to be a decisive first inning.

Petaluma pitcher Nick Andrakin took the blows in that bad beginning, mixing two walks with the four hits. The Pumas sent their entire starting lineup to the plate in the inning.

But there were extenuating circumstances. The first Puma hit, a double to left by Raymond Rabago, was a high fly that probably should have been caught. The second hit, a two-base smash down the left-field line by Patrick Gavin, just eluded the glove of diving Trojan third baseman Connor Richardson. The fourth was an infield roller by Dominic Riggio with the bases loaded that was so slowly hit that no Trojan infielder could reach it in time to make a play.

Andrakin pitched out of a still bases-loaded situation with a strikeout and a ground out, and went on to pitch 4? innings, allowing no more hits, although he kept himself in trouble with six walks.

Jake Duda came on in the fifth inning after an error, a series of wild pitches/passed balls and a sacrifice fly had given the Pumas an important insurance run.

Petaluma, meanwhile, was hitting several balls well, but not in the right spots to produce much offense.

Maria Carrillo handed Petaluma a run in the second inning when Puma starting pitcher Noah Rennard made back-to-back throwing errors on routine comeback grounders.

Petaluma’s second run was more legitimate, coming in the fourth inning on Devin Gotschall’s solid single to right, a passed ball and Logan Douglas’ clutch two-out double to left field.

That was that.

Bradley Smith led off the seventh with a well-hit single to left off Maria Carrillo reliever Cade Sheets, but the next three Trojans went harmlessly on a pop-up and two routine bouncers to short.

Trojan pitchers benefited from some excellent glove work by second baseman Porter Slate, who had a hand in six putouts, either catching or assisting. Included were three tough grabs of high pop-ups.