Petaluma sophomore mound squad shines

Trojans slug Napa twice.|

Petaluma High School’s sophomore squad of outstanding pitching shut down, without quite shutting out, Napa’s struggling Grizzlies on Tuesday afternoon, hurling the Trojans to an impressive 10-1 victory.

The win was the sixth straight for the Trojans, who are now 6-2 on the season, while the loss was Napa’s 11th without a win.

Tuesday’s contest, played to a seven-inning conclusion despite increasingly threatening skies, was a showcase for three of Petaluma’s sophomore hurlers.

Lefty Mark Wolbert started for Petaluma and baffled Grizzly hitters with a combination of fastballs and sliders for five innings. He allowed just one hit, struck out five, walked one and hit one. He gave up just one run, and that was unearned, put on base by an error. Even that unearned run was a gift as Petaluma traded the tally for a double play.

Even though Wolbert was breezing, Petaluma coach Jim Selvitella chose to give some work to two other sophomores, with Mario Zarco pitching out of a bases-loaded situation in the sixth, and Gavin Ochoa allowing only a harmless single in the seventh.

Meanwhile, Petaluma’s hitters broke things wide open with a five-run, two-out rally in the fourth.

After Napa starting pitcher Dylan Foster retired the first two batters in the inning, the Trojans jumped on a hit/walk merry-go-round and refused to get off.

In rapid succession, Wolbert walked and stole second, Joe Brown drove him home with a solid single to center, Sam Brown beat out an infield hit, Jack Gallagher drove home a run with a single, Garrett Lewis singled home two more runs, Ethan Wilson walked, Sam Jacobs singled off Napa relief pitcher Cooper Bass and Zach Clark singled before Napa finally got the elusive third out.

By the time the spinning finally stopped, Petaluma had scored five runs and led, 7-0.

Three more runs scored on the strength of hits from Joe Brown and Lewis in the fifth.

Petaluma finished with nine hits, two each coming from freshman Joe Brown and Wolbert.

The win set up a showdown against rival Casa Grande on Friday on the Casa home diamond.

The win was the second in Vine Valley Athletic League play for Petaluma following a 10-0 win over Napa last week in Napa.

For four innings in that one, Ochoa and Napa’s Omar Gonzalez hooked up in a pitching battle.

Petaluma scored a run in the first inning but got nothing more until the fifth, when it scored two runs and continued clubbing against four following Grizzly pitchers, scoring two more in the sixth and five in the seventh.

Meanwhile, Ochoa mowed down Grizzly batters. He finished allowing just five hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out seven.

Garett Gehring faced three batters in the seventh, striking out two of them.

Petaluma had 10 hits in the game, two by Sam Brown, who belted a double, scored a run and drove in a run. Ochoa also had a pair of hits and drove home two runs.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.