Americans survive late Sonoma rally, reach finals

Petaluma club earns gutsy 4-3 victory to reach 9-11-year-old Section 1 final|

In what has become their modus operandi, the Petaluma American Little League 9-11-year-old All-Stars dominated Sonoma, but they had to grimly cling on for a 4-3 victory in a key Section 1 Tournament game Monday night.

The victory, the second in succession for the District 35 champion Americans, moved them into the tournament championship game Wednesday evening at the American Canyon Little League complex.

Results of that game were not available at press time.

Monday night, Petaluma Americans’ fire-throwing Brody Ruoff was untouchable through four innings and three batters before he was stopped by the Little League pitch-count rule.

Ruoff didn’t allow a hit during his tour on the mound, striking out eight, including the first three batters he faced.

However, after a quick 17-pitch, three-strikeout opening inning, his control faltered and he walked five, including three in the second inning when Sonoma touched him for a run on the walks and the hustle of Cayden Waldrop, who scored on an errant throw back to the pitcher.

Aside from that blip, there wasn’t much for Sonoma to cheer about until things started to get dicey in the fifth frame.

Petaluma batters put some good swings on the tosses of Sonoma starting pitcher Norman Shinn, but they never really broke the game open, leaving runners stranded in every inning except the fifth.

Petaluma got a run in the first inning on a leadoff single by the bat-hot Brady Laubscher and a clutch single by Ruoff, but lost a chance for more when the Americans had a runner caught between second and third.

Two more American runs counted in the second when Luke Bell belted a ball right through the Sonoma first baseman to drive home Tyler Dunlap and Laubscher, who had cracked a double for his second hit in as many innings.

Batting against Sonoma relief pitcher Anthony Detorres, Petaluma had a walk and two singles, along with a Sonoma error, but managed only one run in the fourth inning, leaving the bases loaded. Walk-based Bell scored the run on a two-out single by Ryan Rice.

Leading, 4-1, and needing just six outs, Petaluma looked to be in command, but things got considerably tense over the final two innings.

In the fifth, after a strikeout to start the inning, a dropped pop up and a walk put two Sonoma runners on base and moved Ruoff to shortstop as he reached his allowable pitch count and was forced off the mound.

Danny Mercado, who had already caught and played shortstop, came on to strike out two batters, but before that could occur, Sonoma scored twice on a Petaluma error and a clutch two-out single by Hudson Giarritta.

Suddenly, it was a 4-3 game, and nerves in both stands were fraying.

Those nerves were stretched to the breaking point when Sonoma’s Noah Givanelli led off the sixth, and in Little League the final scheduled inning, with a shot down the right-field line for a double.

Vinny Girish put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move a potential tie to third base with one out.

At this point, the coolest person in the place appeared to be Mercado, who calmly got a called strikeout and a weak pop-up to end the tension.

In their first section game, the Petaluma Americans made an impressive start, downing Lafayette, 6-2.

While Petaluma broke open its first section game with some heavy hitting in the fifth inning, it was strong pitching and steady defense that were really the difference.

Laubscher worked three innings and a strikeout. Although he gave up the Lafayette runs in the third inning, one scored on the only Petaluma error and the other on an opposite-field double that was barely fair. He whiffed seven, including the side in the second inning.

When Laubscher was removed with one out in the fourth to preserve him for later tournament work, Rice came on to shut Lafayette down the rest of the way, although he, too, had some anxious moments. Rice finished with five strikeouts, including three straight in the fifth frame.

The first four innings of the contest, played in a near-coat cool breeze, were tense and swiftly moving.

Lafayette blinked the scoreboard first, getting the game’s first run on a walk, a single and an overthrow at third base. Wyatt Cooper, a left swinger, dropped a double down the left-field line to drive home a second run.

Petaluma tied the game in the fourth on a single by Bell, Mercado’s hard-belted double and a sacrifice fly by Rice.

A third run was nullified when a runner was ruled to have left third base before a would-be sacrifice fly by Drew Bugbee was caught.

Aggressive base running and hits by Jasper Farrar, Drumm, Bell, Mercado and Rice sparked the Americans’ decisive fifth-inning rally.

The most impressive belt in the assault was Mercado’s second double in as many innings. He finished with three hits and two runs in addition to playing a superb all-around game behind the plate.

Bell had two hits in the contest.

Rice struck out the side in the fifth before getting into trouble in the sixth with a walk and a single. He solved that little problem with a pair of strikeouts.

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