Elevens stay unbeaten, capture sectioncrown

Great defense supported good pitching and enough hitting to give the Petaluma American 9-11-year-old All-Stars the Little League Section 1 championship.|

The Petaluma American Little League 9-11-year-old All-Star team continued to get the job done last week, winning its eighth straight tournament game by beating Novato South, 7-2.

The latest win was a big one, coming in the finals of the Section 1 Tournament played at the American Canyon Little League complex in Napa County.

Petaluma hit and pitched well in the section championship game against a good Novato team, but in the end it was defense and a five-run inning built on bloops and bloopers that decided the game and the tournament.

The Americans had nine hits against a duo of Novato pitchers, but left seven runners stranded, resulting in only the one big inning.

Novato put some good swings on the hard throws of Petaluma pitcher Ryan Rice but was thwarted by quality pitches in the clutch and an exceptional American defense.

Petaluma received especially quality play from outfielders Drew Bugbee, Brady Laubscher and Tyler Dunlap and Max Drumm, alternating in right. Drumm made an exceptionally outstanding play with a diving snare in the third inning.

Novato gave an indication it wasn’t going to go quietly on the highway home when its first two batters swatted singles. Clutch catches by Laubscher and Bugbee, along with a come-backer to Rice, prevented a score and provided the first of many frustrations for Novato.

Although there was much excitement left after it was done, the game was decided in Petaluma’s second inning on three hits mingled with two walks and some dicey Novato glove work to score five runs.

The hits were by Bugbee, Dunlap and Laubscher. Only Bugbee’s was struck hard. Dunlap’s never left the infield and Laubscher’s was of the bloop variety, Still, when Novato finally quelled the uprising, Petaluma had five runs.

Petaluma added a run in the fourth when Laubscher’s solidly struck single went through the Novato outfielder and the American ended up at third. Luke Bell brought the run home with a ground out to second base.

The final Petaluma run was counted in the sixth on Danny Mercado’s single and two wild pitches sandwiched around an error.

Meanwhile, Rice and the Petaluma defense kept Novato away from the plate until the fifth frame when the Americans’ defense hiccuped. After a pair of walks started the inning, Petaluma let two consecutive catchable pop-ups escape, one when an infielder and outfielder collided, and the other as two infielders stared at one another while the ball dropped untouched.

The result was two Novato runs and some squirming in the Petaluma bleachers.

The squirming resumed when Rice reached his pitch limit one out into the sixth inning, and increased when Novato’s Lucas VonBallen slashed a double into right field.

Mercado turned the squirming into squeals of delight with a strikeout to end the inning, the game and the tournament.

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