No-hitter highlights local efforts in Boras

A no-hitter and a pride-salvaging final-day win highlighted local schools’ participation in the Boras Classic, a baseball tournament featuring some of the best high school baseball teams in Northern California played last week in Sacramento.

Both Petaluma and Casa Grande high schools finished with 1-3 records in the prestigious tournament.

The highlight of the tournament for local teams and one of the highlights of the entire tournament came in the third round when Casa Grande’s Mario Taormina pitched a near-perfect-game no-hitter to beat rival Petaluma, 7-0.

Near perfection

Taormina was one walk away from perfect in his magical game. He had six strikeouts on his way to his masterpiece. Casa Grande gave its pitcher all the run support he needed with two runs in the first inning on an RBI single by Cole Santander and a sacrifice fly by Elijah Waltz.

The Gauchos erupted for five more runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by Joe Lampe’s three-run, inside-the-park home run. Casa slammed five doubles in the eruption.

Noah Bailey and Taormina each had two hits for the Gauchos.

Bad beginning

Casa Grande dropped its first two games in the classic, losing to Sacred Heart High School from San Francisco, 12-1, and the Oak Ridge Trojans, 10-2.

Playing in intermittent rain throughout the day, the Gauchos fell behind early to Sacred Heart, 3-0, in the first inning.

Walks and costly errors combined with key Sacred Heart hits to put the game out of the Gauchos’ reach.

Casa batters often hit the ball sharply and deep, but their drives were run down by Sacred Heart outfielders.

Chris Sanchez started on the mound for Casa Grande, and was followed by Patrick Sharp, Connor Klemenok, Payton Baxter and Taormina.

Joe Lampe and Russ Davis each had two hits for Casa Grande.

The loss to Oak Ridge was similar to Game 1, with the Oak Ridge Trojans scoring four runs in the top of the first inning, which included a two-run homer by Tino Bethancourt.

Casa Grande battled back in the bottom of the first. Noah Bailey opened with a walk and Lampe followed with a single.

Santander scored Bailey on a ground out to second, and Waltz singled Lampe home to cut the Oak Ridge lead to 4-2.

But that was all there was for the Gauchos, as Oak Ridge chipped away at Casa pitchers for six more runs over the next six innings.

Santander had three hits for Casa and Cameron Downing added two.

Casa Grande ended the Classic with a 10-1 loss to Frontier from Bakersfield.

The Gauchos had just five hits in that game, with Lampe continuing his hard-hitting ways with a triple. Bailey, Klemenok, Jake McCoy and Waltz each singled.

Sanchez pitched five innings for the Gauchos, allowing four runs and seven hits. Four Casa relievers gave up six runs over the final two innings.

Tough Trojan start

Petaluma’s Trojans had their own tough beginning in the Classic. Not only did they go hitless against Taormina and the Gauchos in their third game, they also lost their first two contests, falling to Pleasant Valley, 6-3, and Davis, 7-4.

Pleasant Valley pitcher Conner Pelletier allowed Petaluma just three hits and shut the Trojans out until the Petalumans rallied for three runs in the sixth.

Petaluma’s only hits were doubles by Sam Brown and Jack Gallagher and a single by Mark Wolbert.

Davis built a 7-1 lead over the Trojans through the first four innings of Petaluma’s second game. A three-run fifth-inning rally wasn’t enough to offset the early Petaluma deficit.

Petaluma had six hits by six different batters in that game, with Sam Jacobs hitting a double and Sam Brown, Gallagher, Nate Zimmerman, Garrett Lewis and Mario Zarco all singling.

After the frustration of their first three games, the Trojans ended the Classic hitting and smiling, rapping 10 hits in a 13-2 five-inning dunking of Tracy.

A nine-run third inning earned Petaluma a much-needed tournament win.

Garrett Lewis led the Petaluma assault with a pair of doubles that accounted for four runs, two he drove in and two he scored.

Jack Gallagher also had a pair of hits for the Trojans.

Petaluma pitcher Julian Garrahan gladly accepted the support, although it all wasn’t really needed as he pitched the required five innings, allowing two runs (only one earned) on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts.