American Canyon ends T-Girl winning streak

American Canyon’s Bolton shuts down T-Girls offense|

American Canyon’s Lisa Bolton threw a roadblock in front of Petaluma High’s undefeated Vine Valley Athletic League softball season Saturday afternoon, blanking the T-Girls, 4-0.

Petaluma had opportunities to score but managed only six hits against Bolton, who upset the T-Girls’ timing to the point where they made very little solid contact. She struck out eight.

Petaluma pitchers Mandy O’Keefe and Rachael Bles didn’t pitch badly, combining to allow seven hits, but that was more than enough for the Wolves.

The blow that effectively ended Petaluma’s six-game season-starting winning streak was struck by Katherine Montuya in the third inning when she swatted an O’Keefe pitch over the left-field fence with a runner on base to stretch a 1-0 American Canyon lead to 3-0. Just to be sure, the Wolves tacked on another run off Bles in the seventh inning.

Meanwhile, the T-Girls left runners stranded and frustrated in five of their seven innings.

Petaluma put runners at second in the first and fourth innings, but nothing became of either budding rally.

The T-Girls’ best chance to score came in the fifth when a one-out infield error, a walk and, one out later, another free pass loaded the bases with two gone.

Emma Weiand smacked the ball on the nose and on a line to right field, but it was right at the American Canyon right fielder and the T-Girls came away with the scoreboard still empty.

One bright spot for Petaluma was the strong play of its defense, with Logan Pomi a particular standout with several strong plays at third base.

Although still a solid 6-1 for the season, the loss was a Vine Valley Athletic League contest for the T-Girls, who now face a critical home game against Sonoma Valley on Thursday.

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