Victory for Americans

The Petaluma American League beats Rincon Valley twice for the District 35 Major League championship.|

Petaluma American cobbled together a clutch 3-run rally in the bottom of the eighth inning in walk-off fashion to capture the Little League District 35 Majors Tournament title with a thrilling 7-6 win over Santa Rosa American at Rincon Valley Field on Sunday.

The Americans earned the right to move on to Section 1 play, and will open at the Vacaville Central Field on Sunday after an opening-round bye.

Petaluma trailed 6-4 going into the second extra frame against Rincon Valley but came up with one run on a base hit by Kalen Clemmens. Clemmens’ hit followed solid safeties by J.T. Summers and Wyatt Abramson and set up the game-winning blow that sent American fans into a frenzy.

Tegan Camilleri provided the final thrill of the afternoon when he shot one up the middle that skipped off the second-base bag and plated two runs and the dugout exploded. It was a clean base hit, and the winning run scored without a close play. All his teammates searched wildly for Camilleri following the hit as the celebration began on the field.

Petaluma American had a 4-1 lead going into the final scheduled inning, but starting pitcher Abramson noticeably tired, and Santa Rosa came back gamely to knot the contest at 4-4.

With reliever Jacob Untalan on the mound, Santa Rosa broke through again on a two-run homer to the opposite field two innings later by lanky Nolan Frost. Frost had two earlier strikeouts, but he managed to get good contact, and ball cleared the high right-field fence.

Untalan, who pitched well in an earlier tournament contest against Petaluma Valley, appeared unfazed, and he went on to retire the side. It might have saved things as he was eventually declared the winning pitcher.

“That’s actually what I told him after the game,” noted Petaluma manager Blaine Clemmens. “He kept us in the game.”

Petaluma outhit Santa Rosa, 11-8, with Abramson leading the way with three hits, and Austin Steeves adding two more. Abramson pulled a no-doubt home run far over the left-field fence to open the scoring in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Steeves saved the Americans’ bacon in the top of the fifth inning when he gunned down the potential go-ahead run for Santa Rosa with a perfect throw from right field to catcher Jack Larson.

It was a tough loss for a good Santa Rosa club that was paced with two hits by Sam Lawson.

However, the District 35 championship banner will fly proudly at Lucchesi Park and the Petaluma American season continues.

No-hitter

Clemmens tossed a no-hit set-up to Sunday’s game with a 6-0 Petaluma win over previously unbeaten Santa Rosa American. The result left both teams with one tournament defeat.

Clemmens was near perfect as he wasted few pitches in facing only one batter over the minimum. The right-hander went six innings for the complete-game victory. The lanky hurler had everything going in keeping all of his pitches near the strike zone all afternoon, striking out eight. The game took less than 1½ hours. Most of his pitches were fastballs in the upper half of the zone with an occasional spinner that kept Santa Rosa hitters off balance.

Petaluma got enough offense to win the game when it bunched three hits to score the first run of the contest. Ethan Arellano was pushed across the plate on an infield ground-ball single by Jack Larson when the hustling catcher got to the bag ahead of Santa Rosa pitcher Sam Lawson.

A four-run outburst by the Americans in the top of the fourth inning put the game out of reach. Nicky Gonzalez-Dachev smashed an off-field three-run homer over the high fence in left-center to provide the big punch. Arellano had another RBI with one of his three hits on the afternoon.

The Petaluma Americans were not through on offense when Abramson clubbed a solo home run on what may have been the hardest hit ball of the afternoon. Abramson also had a double to complete a solid day at the plate.

On defense, Clemmens needed little help, but it was a short-hop grab-and-throw by shortstop Giacomini that preserved the no-hitter.

Manager Blaine Clemmens was pleased with the extended work of the younger Clemmens and Larson behind the plate.

“We didn’t have to use any other pitchers and Abramson is ready to pitch tomorrow,” he said.

Petaluma showdown

The Americans rallied for two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to knock Petaluma Valley out of the tournament with a gritty 5-3 win on Friday. Valley jumped to a 3-0 advantage in the first inning, and might have scored more but American starter Jordan Giacomini got the final out on strikes with the bases loaded to end what might have been a game-determining rally.

It was a long and winding road for the Americans, who won their third consecutive game in the tournament, but had to use six pitchers in the stressful process.

Middle reliever Untalan was especially effective in holding Valley scoreless for two frames, and it gave the Americans a chance to go ahead after tying the game in the bottom of the second on only one hit. Abramson also acted as a stopper in the second inning, and he shut down Valley momentum with a couple of quick innings of work.

With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth, Steeves ripped a triple down the first-base line and made it into third base without a play. Giacomini followed with a solid single that plated the eventual winning run.

The Americans were not done. Leading hitter Summers stroked a two-out base hit that drove home a much-needed insurance run.

With pitching at a premium, and the season on the line, manager Blaine Clemmens turned to Kalen Clemmens to get through the final frame. The younger Clemmens didn’t disappoint, pitching to four batters, and the game ended on a ground-ball force play off the bat of the dangerous Lucas Miles.

Petaluma Valley had trouble making contact as nine of its batters were retired on strikes. It was the second consecutive game that Valley failed to force a lot of activity on the bases.

The victory evened the season series between the two Petaluma clubs, but this one spelled the end of the line for Valley, which finished with a 3-2 tournament record.

Nico Antonini tripled and scored in the big Valley first inning. Cade Rea and Ferrando had RBI hits in the same frame. Ferrando had a big tournament with key hits along the way.

After the first inning, Petaluma Valley was limited to only one base hit the rest of the way by the rotating American staff.

The three-run rally for the Americans in the second frame came as a result of four walks, an error and a clutch RBI hit by Camilleri. Overall the Americans had five hits.

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