T-Girls rally late, get win over Sonoma Valley

Petaluma broke open a tight game with Sonoma Valley in the bottom of the fifth inning, and the T-Girls rallied for an important 5-1 Sonoma Counthy League softball win over the title-contending Lady Dragons on Tuesday. The win keeps Petaluma locked in a virtual tie with Analy for first place in the Sonoma County League race.

“Sonoma was fired up for this one from the very beginning,” Trojan coach Kurt Jastrow said. “They just came off a win over Analy last week, and all of their players are back after a few injuries this season.”

Jastrow had reason to be concerned as his pitcher Mandi O’Keefe and Sonoma’s Kennedy Midgley became locked in an old-fashion pitcher’s duel, with the score tied at 1-1 midway through the fifth inning. Midgley, a hard-throwing sophomore lefty, held the T-Girls hitless for four frames. The two teams had exchanged unearned runs until the big fifth frame for Petaluma.

O’Keefe had a tidy outing as she kept the ball low in the strike zone with an assortment of accurate fastballs mixed with a solid change that got better as the game progressed. Some terrific infield play keyed by third baseman Brooke Symons helped keep the Dragons off the scoreboard.

O’Keefe went the distance to pick up her seventh win of the season. She struck out six batters, including the side in the top of the first inning.

Symons made several inning-ending plays at the hot corner snagged a short pop fly and threw to second base for an inning-ending double play in the fifth.

Until the bottom half of the same inning, Petaluma might have had trouble squaring up the deliveries of Midgley, whose pitches came in from different angles. Many of the strikes called on T-Girl batters were by the home plate umpire without a swing by the Petalumans.

In the bottom of the fifth, things changed. Petaluma finally registered a base hit when left-hand-hitting Chandler Mevis rolled one through the right side of the infield. Grace Ghiradeli followed another hit by Kaleigh Weiand with a bouncer to second base that she legged out for a single with two runners aggressively scoring on the play.

Catcher Emma Weiand then doubled into the gap and another run scored for the suddenly hot T-Girls.

Shortstop Rachael Bles capped the scoring in the sixth inning when she drilled a solo line drive over the left-field fence. It was the fifth round-tripper of the season for the hard-swinging first-year player.

Sonoma Valley out hit the T-Girls, 6-5, with Ally Alcayaga finishing with a couple of knocks. The Lady Dragons slipped to 5-2 in the SCL.

The key return game against co-leader Analy will be in Petaluma on May 5.

Fun week

Last week was a fun week for Petaluma’s T-Girls, who won three games, outscoring their opponents by a combined total of 48-2.

The week started with a 20-0 pasting of Piner. Petaluma scored 11 runs in the first inning, and went on to play just five innings.

Twelve T-Girls had hits in the assault. Bles had four hits, scored four runs and knocked in 10. Chandler Mevis also had four hits. Maddie King, Symons and Indya Smith each had three hits and Mia Pariani and Grace Ghiradelli had two.

Pitchers O’Keefe and Pariani each allowed one hit, with O’Keefe pitching three innings and Pariani two.

Petaluma followed up that win with an 18-0 slugging of Healdsburg. A 10-run second inning decided that game.

The T-Girls slugged 19 hits with Mevis and Kalieigh Pate collecting three each and O’Keefe, Symons, Smith and Emma Weiand getting two apiece.

Bles and Pariani split pitching duties Bles worked three hitless innings with seven strikeouts. Pariani fanned five in two innings, allowing two hits and two walks.

Perhaps the T-Girls’ most satisfying game of the week was a 10-2 victory over North Bay League title contender Rancho Cotate.

Petaluma jumped on the Lady Cougars for five runs in the first inning and rode the pitching of O’Keefe and Bles the rest of the way.

O’Keefe allowed just three hits over five innings and only one run. Bles pitched two innings, allowing a run on three hits.

Mevis continued her hot hitting with three hits, driving in two runs. Bles also had three hits.