2019: The year that was

The decade comes to a wild finish|

So ends another year and another decade.

The passing of 2019 is perhaps a fitting way to wrap up the decade. Like many of the last 10 years, it had its share of triumphs, turmoil and tragedy.

The Argus-Courier is taking a different approach in reviewing the local sports year we are less than a week from abandoning. Instead of a Top 10 or a list of wins and losses, both on and off the playing fields, we are going to look back chronologically.

By the month here is what happened in Petaluma sports this (soon to be last) year.

January

Back when 2019 was new, the year began with a court showdown between Petaluma and Casa Grande basketball teams. Casa Grande won both. The Gaucho boys scored the first 18 points of the game and romped to a 56-34 win over the Trojans. The Casa girls were equally dominant, running to a 44-30 triumph.

Before the month was out, the Petaluma and Casa Grande girls met again, but with different results. This time around, the T-Girls played one of their best games of the season, winning, 45-38.

Petaluman Dario Zea started the new year by completing the HURT100, a 100-mile run through a mountainous tropical jungle on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

St. Vincent junior Gio Antonini was chosen to the Cal-Hi Sports All-State football team. The 6-2, 245-pound junior was named to the Small School second team as an offensive lineman. He was also an outstanding defensive player.

February

The Petaluma High School girls soccer team squeezed out a tough 2-1 win over rival Casa Grande High School in a victory that crowned the Trojans champions of the Vine Valley Athletic League’s in inaugural season.

Petaluma completed its dominance of the first VVAL wrestling season by winning the league tournament. Petaluma not only clinched the VVAL championship, but also qualified 11 wrestlers for the North Coast Section championships.

The Casa Grande girls basketball team, after finishing second to Vintage in the VVAL standings, defeated the Crushers, 41-37, to win the first league tournament.

Petaluma High’s Connor Pedersen and Casa Grande’s Justin Naugle wrestled their way into the state tournament. Naugle finished second in the 196-pound class and Pedersen third at 152 pounds in the North Coast Section Tournament to reach the state tournament.

Casa Grande High’s Lillian McCoy won the 235-pound weight class in the North Coast Section girls wrestling tournament and advanced to the state tournament for the third consecutive year.

Former St. Vincent coaching legend Gary Galloway joined the Casa Grande football coaching staff as an assistant for new head coach John Antonio. Galloway, who also coached baseball and basketball at St. Vincent had a 214-145-1 record and won 12 league championships and four North Coast Section championships in 38 seasons at St. Vincent.

March

Jake Lee, who had the difficult job of replacing the popular James Forni, stepped away as Casa Grande boys basketball coach after four years of leading the Gauchos.

April

Petaluma High boys basketball coach Scott Behrs, much against his will, was dismissed from his coaching position after three years running the Trojan program.

Casa Grande wrestler McCoy took the gold medal in the 225-pound class in the U.S. Marine Corps Girls Folkstyle Wrestling National Championships.

The legacy of James Forni continued at Casa Grande High School when another former player, Chris Gutendorf was chosen to replace Lee as head of the Gaucho program.

The long-anticipated Miracle League North Bay diamond facility at Lucchesi Park opened. The Miracle League facility is designed to give children with special needs a chance to have a place to play and have fun on a diamond designed especially for them. It also includes a special playground.

Casa Grande’s Mario Taormina pitched a perfect game to beat rival Petaluma, 7-0 to highlight local team’s efforts in the prestigious Boras Classic baseball tournament. Taormina missed a perfect game by one walk. He struck out six.

May

Sean O’Keefe, a long-time youth softball coach and father of Petaluma High School varsity players Mandy and Mallory O’Keefe passed away after a battle with cancer. O’Keefe was one of the community’s leading softball advocates and youth coach to hundreds of young players on both sides of town.

Petaluma High School’s Sydney Dennis set a school and meet record in the North Coast Section Redwood Meet, winning the triple jump with a leap of 37 feet, 5 1/4 inches. She was also third in the long jump and fifth in both the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles.

June

Excellent seasons came to an end for both the Casa Grande boys and girls lacrosse teams when both were beaten in the second found of the North Coast Section playoffs.

The Casa Grande boys suffered a heart-breaking 11-10 loss to Redwood in Larkspur, while the girls were beaten at Piedmont, 20-8. The loss for the Gaucho boys was the only one in a spectacular 23-1 season that included the VVAL championship and follow-up VVAL Tournament title. Casa Grande’s girls finished 17-7, but swept undefeated to the VVAl chmpionship and also won the postseason VVAL Tournament.

Hoopa Valley scored the winning run in the top of the seventh inning without benefit of a hit and held on for a 4-3 win over top-seeded St. Vincent to capture the North Coast Section Division V softball crown.

Anton Lyons who has a wealth of basketball playing and coaching experience was chosen to be Petaluma High head coach. A former league Most Valuable Player at Santa Rosa Junior College, Lyons coached at Las Lomas and Northgate in the East Bay and was an assistant coach at Windsor High School.

After leading Petaluma lacrosse to CIF status and Casa Grande High School to promience in Bay Area competition, Ben Hewitt moved up to coach the Sonoma State University men’s program.

Maria Carrillo cooled off what had been a red-hot Casa Grande baseball team, ending Casa’s season with a 7-1 victory in the semifinals of the North Coast Section Division 2 playoffs. Casa had been on a roll going into the game, winning its last five games in a row and eight of its last nine.

The loss on the Maria Carrillo diamond not only stopped the streak, but put a wrap on the Casa season. The Gauchos finished with a 15-12 record and 8-4 league mark, good for a share of the Vine Valley Athletic League title with Petaluma and Sonoma Valley.

Petaluma also enjoyed a fine season, sharing the VVAL championsjhip with Casa and Sonoma Valley and finishing with a 14-11 record.

St. Vincent won the North Central League II championship with a 13-1 record and finished 21-5 overall. The Mustangs lost in the NCS finals to The Bay School, 4-0.

The Casa Grande baseball program continued to be in family hands as Pete Sikora took over for Chad Fillinger. Sikora has been something of a wayward son, but he is definitely of the proper lineage as he replaces Filling, who was in charge for just two years after succeeding 20-year coach Paul Maytorena.

For the second time in as many seasons, Casa Grande High School graduate Spencer Torkelson was nanmed a unanimous All-Amercan baseball players

The former Gaucho was the Pac-12 home run leader for the second season in a row, finishing the season with 23, good for fifth in the nation.

He is the first Pac-12 player to lead the conference in homers in back-to-back seasons since Oregon State’s Michael Conforto in 2012-2013.

He is only the third player in Pac-12 history to have back-to-back 20-homer seasons. Torkelson ranked in the Top 10 in the Pac-12 in numerous categories, including homers, first with 23; walks, eighth with 41; hits, third with 85; runs, third with 69; RBIs, second with 66; slugging, third at .707; and total bases, first with 171.

July

When Petaluma High School was desperate for an athletic director two years ago, football coach Rick Krist stepped into the potential void and kept the Trojan athletic program on course. Krist, a physical education teacher at the school, ended the AD tenure, stepping down, but remaining as the school’s head football coach. “I just can’t do everything,” Krist said. “It really was about time commitment. It was about the amount of time I was taking away from my family. It wasn’t fair to them. It takes a lot of time just being head football coach.”

In June 2012, Petaluman Doug Sanders attended a San Francisco Giants baseball game with then friend and now wife, Jennifer. What they saw was a dream - Matt Cain’s perfect game. In July, 2019 Sanders completed his dream - riding a bicycle across country.

August

A team from Roswell, New Mexico rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning to turn back the Petaluma American Intermediates (50/70) team, 10-9, in the second round of play in the Intermediate World Series in Livermore on Tuesday afternoon.

A long home run over the left-field fence by Jack Peterson of Roswell was th crushing blow in the deciding frame, and Petaluma never recovered.

It was a disappointing outcome for the Americans, who went into the double-elimination tournament with 19 consecutive tournament victories and a claim to the Western Regional crown.

Petaluma’s Leghorns were beaten by the Albuquerque Post 13 Blue Jays, 6-5. The end for the Leghorns came on the final day of the West Regional Tournament being played in Fairfield.

When Petaluma Realtor Kathie Hewko completed her first Golden Gate Bridge Swim in 1976, it was big news; when she completed her 94th journey underneath the length of the Bridge at age 72 this month, it was big news. It will be beyond big when she makes the 1?-mile trek for the 100th time sometime before her 75th birthday in 2022. That 100th crossing has always been her goal, and she moved closer to the ultimate with a near-perfect swim.

September

Petaluma and Santa Rosa high schools put the wild back into the west in a shootout that ended with Petaluma’s Trojans the last team standing with a 53-34 victory. The 87 scoreboard points are just the start of some mind-boggling numbers. Petaluma rushed for 543 yards and had 587 total yards. Two Trojans, Dante Ratto and Joey Alioto, each rushed for more than 200 yards, with Ratto running for 224 and Alioto for 211 and four touchdowns. Randall Braziel added another 95 ground yards. Santa Rosa had 423 total yards, led by quarterback Trevor Anderson, who passed for 367 yards, completing 11 of 27 passes. Five of his connections were for touchdowns.

Casa Grande rallied for 26 unanswered points in the second half and ran past host Montgomery, 32-10.

The win evened the Gaucho record at 1-1 for the season and was the first victory for new head coach John Antonio.

When Petaluman Taylor Battaglia stepped up to the first tee at Petaluma Golf and Country Club on Sept. 15, he entered the “No Bogey Zone,” a place few have ventured in the 97-year history of the historic club. Before his 18-hole day had ended, the 25-year-old had collected 10 birdies and 8 pars for a 10-under-par round of 60. It is believed to be a course record.

October

“My job is lacrosse,” says Charles Henry. It is a job he happily works at morning, noon and night. Henry works days teaching youngsters as North Bay Director for All West Lacrosse, a premier lacrosse training and club program.

After school, he works with more advanced junior high-age players.

Now, he will spend his evenings practicing and directing high-school athletes as new head coach of the Casa Grande High School lacrosse program.

Football game officials called a halt to a seemingly festive homecoming contest at Arnold Field in Sonoma when a fight suddenly broke out between Vine Valley League opponents Petaluma and Sonoma Valley. The Trojans were comfortably ahead, 35-14, when a melee involving several players from both teams began on a Dragon kickoff with more than 11 minutes remaining in the game. Sonoma Valley ultimately had eight players suspended and canceled its final game against Vintage. It wasn’t exactly last minute, but time was ticking away when the 2019 Egg Bowl was finally cleared for kickoff.

The rivalry game between Casa Grande and Petaluma was believed canceled Tuesday because of the impact of the Kincaide fire, but was then reinstated Wednesday morning. The announcement of the non-rescheduling of the Egg Bowl came shortly after an announcement from the North Coast Section saying it would back up the start of its playoff games one week to the weekend of Nov. 9.

St. Vincent High School’s Mustangs were the last team scoring and the last team standing in a wild 51-44 win over California School for the Deaf. Playing under temporary lights in their Yarbrough Field home, the Mustangs scored on a 68-yard pass connection between quarterback Jacob Porteous and wide receiver Jeremy Bukolsky with just 55 seconds remaining in the game to pull out their ninth victory in 10 games.

November

Casa Grande’s High School Gauchos took advantage of Petaluma Trojan injuries and faulty execution to dominate the 2019 version of the Egg Bowl. Senior Matt Herrera, playing with an injured shoulder that had forced him to miss the prior week’s game, scored three touchdowns to lead Casa to a 27-3 win in the annual rivalry game.

One scintillating 35-yard run that never counted transformed a fun football game into an emotional event that will live forever in Egg Bowl lore. On an untimed down following the second half kickoff at the Egg Bowl Saturday afternoon, Petaluma High senior Aidan Spillane took a hand off following a fake pass and raced unmolested into the end zone. Aidan isn’t just another running back. He has a form of cerebral palsy called polymicrogyria (PMG) that has severely limited the use of his right arm and hand and given him a severe and noticeable limp. It has also limited his ability to speak, although not his ability to hear or comprehend. Petaluma coach Rick Krist, who had already added Aidan to the team roster, given him a jersey and sent him out as a team captain in an earlier game, came up with the idea of the special play and Casa Grande coach John Antonio quickly agreed. Players from both teams were totally on board with the plan.

Casa Grande’s Gauchos continued to write the book on VVAL cross country running in the league championships they hosted at Spring Lake Park in Santa Rosa So dominant were the Gauchos that they would have won the league meet against all other VVAL schools combined. Casa Grande placed all five counting runners among the top 10, totaling just 25 points.

The St. Vincent Lady Mustang volleyball team (25-8) fell to the host Colfax Falcons in five wrenching sets by a count of 3-2, in the first round of the Northern California Regionals, thus spelling the end to the volleyball season for the local netters. It was a notable season for St. Vincent as the Mustangs reached the North Coast Section finals for the first time since 1994. The top four finishers in the NCS advanced to the Nor-Cal playoffs, and St. Vincent punctuated its appearance with a 3-1 win over highly rated Vacaville Christian in the first round.

The Petaluma girls basketball team has a new, but certainly not unfamiliar, coach to take it into what looks to be a promising season.

Sophie Bihn was handed the leadership of the T-Girl varsity program less than a week before tryouts following the unexpected resignation of John Ratshin. The job is Bihn’s first as a head coach, but she definitely knows basketball and Petaluma High School. She grew up playing the game, and was a team captain for legendary coach Doug Johnson’s final Petaluma High team in 2013-14. She has coached seventh grade at Petauma junior high school and the junior varsity at the high school.

The Casa Grande boys cross country runners reached the pinnacle of their world, earning a trip to the California Interscholastic Federation state meet. The Vine Valley Athletic League champion Gauchos earned their spot at state by finishing third in the Division III race at the North Coast Section championships.

St. Vincent High School’s Mustangs contained St. Helena sophomore sensation Ivan Robledo sometimes, but couldn’t contain him all the time in the first round of the North Coast Section Division VII football playoffs. Playing on his shining home Bob Patterson Memorial Field in the heart of wine country, Robledo broke loose for 323 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Saints to a 44-22 victory. St. Vincent finished the season with a 9-2 record. Next year, the Mustangs move into the North Bay League Redwood Division against other Sonoma County League schools.

December

The Casa Grande High School cross country team finished 15th in its division in the CIF state cross country championships, culminating a season that saw the Gauchos win the VVAL championship for the second straight year and finish third in the NCS meet. It was a seemingly different leader in each big race for Casa. At state, the leader was Logan Moon, who finished 57th, running the 5K course at Woodward Park in Fresno in 16 minutes, 23 seconds. As always, the Gauchos received exceptional efforts from all their runners. Nolan Hosbein was 82nd in 16:41; Luke Baird 107th in 16:51; Jake Dietlin 126th in 17:02; William Hite 162nd in 17:33; Aaron Beaube 177th in 17:45; and Andrew Gotshall 191st in 17:58.

Winning world junior racquetball championships has become a habit for Casa Grande High School sophomore Heather Mahoney. Her win in the 14 and under singles in this year’s championships in Costa Rica was her fourth world title. She won 10 and under singles in 2015, 12 and under singles in 2017 and 14 and under doubles with Julia Stein in 2018.

Del Campo came on strong in the final minutes of the championship contest to overhaul Urban of San Francisco in a quickly paced 72-67 victory to claim the title in Casa Grande High School’s Brett Callan Memorial basketball tournament. Host Casa Grande took third place.

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