Leghorns making a run

A summer packed with baseball and learning is rapidly heading for a pressure-packed climax for the Petaluma Leghorns Senior American Legion team.

The Leghorns begin an almost do-or-die run for a trip to the American Legion World Series on Friday in the Area Tournament being played in Chico. There are eight teams in that affair, with the top two, or possibly three, advancing to the State Tournament to be played in Yountville, with the winner of that tournament advancing to the American Legion World Series in Shelby, North Carolina.

The Leghorns go into the tournament with a 19-6 record.

Things have been a little different for the Leghorns this season, as the American Legion pared game length to high-school-sized seven innings down from the nine innings in past seasons.

“It is different,” said Leghorns’ coach Casey Gilroy, but he still isn’t sure whether it is different good, or different not so good.

On the good side, it saves on pitching, always a concern in the Leghorns’ concentrated season. On the other side of the plate, the Leghorns’ patient approach at the plate has always taken its toll on opposition pitching as games wore on.

“With nine innings we had two extra opportunities offensively to win games,” Gilroy pointed out. “We’ve won a lot of games in those last two innings. Now we don’t have that safety net to get us out of a jam.”

That doesn’t mean the Leghorns are going to change their approach at the plate. “We’re a team that likes to grind it out,” Gilroy said. “We want to make pitchers throw as many pitches as possible.

“We want our guys to be as effective with two strikes as they are when the count is 0-0. We want them to understand that they don’t have to chase with two strikes.”

The Leghorn players have bought into that philosophy, and this year’s team has an array of strong hitters.

“We have an outstanding group of offensive players,” Gilroy said. “From one through nine we can hit the ball.”

Joe Lampe, who had an outstanding season for Casa Grande High School, and Porter Slate, who had a similar outstanding year for Petaluma High, set the table at the top of the order.

They also form the heart of a strong defensive infield with Lampe at shortstop and Slate at second base. Slate has agreed to play for UC Davis, while Lampe, who still has a year of high school eligibility left, has made a verbal commitment to the same school.

Logan Douglas at third base and Nick Andrakin at first round out a strong infield.

Douglas, a former Trojan now at Santa Rosa Junior College, is playing his fourth season for the Leghorns. Not only is he an excellent glove man with a strong bat, but also a team leader. “He is a special young man,” is the way Gilroy explained Douglas.

Andrakin was the Sonoma County League Most Valuable Player after leading the Trojans to the league championship with his pitching and hitting.

“He is a tremendous offensive player,” said Gilroy. “He has a good understanding of what hitting is all about.”

Andrakin also is a versatile player. For the Leghorns, when he wasn’t pitching, he played the outfield in addition to first base. He was a catcher for his high school team during his junior season and played some third base for the Trojans this year.

Another Petaluma High all-leaguer, Kempton Brandis, anchors the Leghorn outfield and is also one of the team’s best hitters.

Now in his third season for the Leghorns, he carries surprising power in a slender package.

Another strong defender is Chris Latorre, one of two players from Maria Carrillo on the team. “He is an outstanding defensive outfielder and gets the hits when we need them,” said Gilroy.

When the Leghorns talk about power this summer, they begin with outfielder Bradley Smith, the team home run leader.

Playing for the Leghorns is another big step back for Smith, who almost lost an arm and his life in an off-road vehicle accident in 2015.

“To see where he has been, and where he is going to be is amazing,” Gilroy said. “He is getting close to finding his way into a college lineup. He has improved more than anybody on our team.”

Smith is on his way to Butte College, where he will be a roommate of Quenton Gago, one of his teammates on the 2012 Petaluma National Little League All-Star team that went to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Right in the middle of the strong-hitting Leghorn lineup is Cam Downing, an All-League catcher from Casa Grande.

Not only is Downing one of the team’s best hitters, he is cut in the mold of outstanding Leghorn catchers of the past, strong defensively and rugged enough to be behind the plate almost every game of the rigorous schedule.

Max Handron from Sonoma Valley High School is a versatile athlete who can play just about anywhere on the infield, and, according to Gilroy, “finds a way to get on base.”

Most of the team’s pitchers can help at other positions.

Gilroy said Casa Grande all-leaguer Nik Kamages is “Our No. 1 guy” on the mound. A durable, strike-throwing right-hander, he will be going to Cochise Junior College in Arizona this fall.

Gilroy has the luxury of paring Kamages with Petaluma High All-Leaguer Blake Buhrer, who has pitched very well over the second half of the season.

Andrakin might be as valuable on the mound as he is with the bat, giving the Leghorns three of the area’s top high school pitchers. “He throws strikes,” said Gilroy.

Shane O’Malley, a Sonoma Valley High graduate, is also a key Leghorn pitcher, but is also valuable as a first baseman and designated hitter. A third-season Leghorn, he red-shirted at Santa Rosa Junior College last spring, but Gilroy believes he has the potential to be a college scholarship player.

Travis Morgan, who was invaluable as a reliever for NBL champion Casa Grande, has provided a similar service for the Leghorns. “He is willing to take the baseball every day,” noted Gilroy.

Zeke Brockley from Maria Carrillo has been something of a closer for the Leghorns. “His ability to finish a game has been huge for us,” said his coach.

A pleasant surprise for the Leghorns has been Jake Duca from Petaluma High. “He didn’t get a lot of chances in high school, but he has had plenty of opportunities this summer and has really helped us,” noted Gilroy.

Jesse Robinson, a Casa Grande High School grad, provides a left-handed pitching alternative. “He just loves the Game,” said Gilroy. “He will do everything he can to be part of the team.”

Oscar McCauley is a pitcher/catcher from Sonoma Academy.

Gilroy has been around long enough to know that anything can happen once Area play starts and eight teams start battling for a trip to Yountville and the state tournament, but he likes the Leghorns’ chances.

“I really believe that offensively we have a great chance to win some playoff games,” he said.

“Ultimately for us, it is going to come down to pitching and defense.”