Petaluma baseball lineup on all-league first team

Led by Most Valuable Player Nick Andrakin, Petaluma’s league-champion Trojans placed an entire team on the All-Sonoma County League baseball team as selected by the league coaches.

Nine Trojans and their coach were selected to the first team and two more were named to the second team.

(Note: All statistics are SCL statistics only.)

Andrakin was chosen the league’s MVP for both his pitching and his hitting. As one of the best pitchers in the Redwood Empire, he had a 4-0 record with a 1.27 earned run average. He struck out 31 batters in 22 innings.

As a hitter, playing third base, the outfield and designated hitter when he wasn’t pitching, he batted .514, with a .800 slugging percentage that included four doubles, two homers and 14 RBIs.

Every one of Petaluma’s starting nine made the all-league first team. Receiving honors around the horn were catcher Jack Gallagher, first baseman Sammy Brown, second baseman Porter Slate, third baseman Andrakin and shortstop Garrett Lewis, along with starting outfielders Danny Marzo (left), Kempton Brandis (center) and Bradley Smith (right). With Andrakin at third, Blake Buhrer could take over on the mound without missing an all-league first-team beat.

When Andrakin pitched, David Haulot, an all-league honorable mention selection, could play second, with Slate sliding over to shortstop and Lewis holding down third.

Buhrer had a dominating season on the mound for Petaluma, with a 0.82 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 17 innings. He won two games without a defeat.

Gallagher took over behind the late, freeing Andrakin to concentrate on pitching and other positions as needed. Not only was Gallagher an excellent defensive catcher, gunning down 62.5 runners who tried to steal on him, he also provided a big bat at the bottom of the Petaluma lineup, hitting .455.

Brown, a sophomore, provided power in the heart of the Petaluma lineup, batting .469, with a .756 slugging percentage. He had four doubles, two homers and 10 RBIs.

Slate was the glue in the Petaluma infield, playing excellent defense at second base while batting .324 with five doubles and a home run.

Lewis, a freshman who played like a veteran, broke into high school baseball with a .459 batting average, .756 slugging percentage, eight doubles, a homer and 14 RBIs. He played both shortstop and third base.

The outfield was superb, especially with the bats.

Marzo led the team with a .500 batting average, hitting four doubles and a home run and driving in 11 runs from the leadoff spot.

Brandis anchored the outfield defensively in center field and provided a strong bat, hitting .353 with three doubles and a home run.

Smith provided all sorts of power, batting .438 with four doubles, two homers and 12 RBIs.

Freshman Gavin Ochoa was impressive on the mound in limited appearances, pitching the Trojans to one of their most crucial victories of the season when he beat Analy 12-0 on a two-hitter in Sebastopol.

It took awhile to find a spot for Devin Gottschall in the bat-loaded Petaluma lineup, but by the end of the season, the senior second-team choice was firmly established as the team’s designated hitter, and down the stretch was one of the team’s most consistent RBI producers.

David Haulot played a lot at second base for Petaluma with Slate at shortstop, and provided a steady glove and a timely bat.

Jim Selvitella, in his second year as Petaluma head coach, guided the Trojans to an 18-9 record, the Sonoma County League championship, the Sonoma County League Tournament championship and into the North Coast Section playoffs. His efforts were recognized by his peers, who selected him the SCL Coach of the Year.