Email  Print

Sonoma splits tourney pair, soph Cole sparks win over Rancho, nipped by Ukiah

 

After a series of washouts, the Sonoma Valley High School varsity baseball boys finally saw some diamond action in Sonoma County League rival Casa Grande’s rain-altered annual Adam Westcott Memorial Tournament, which was moved from the Petaluma to Cardinal Newman’s all-weather field in Santa Rosa.

On Monday, the Dragons battled rain, hail, and a strong foe in defending North Bay League champion Rancho Cotate and rode the arm and bat of southpaw sophomore Brennan Cole to a dramatic 5-4 come-from-behind victory.

Entering the bottom of the seventh-inning trailing the Cougars 4-3, Sonoma put together an impressive rally which started with an infield single by junior Sam Morgan, who advanced to second on an out and scored the tying run on junior Will Rose’s RBI single.

Rose then stole second base – Sonoma had four stolen bases in the game – reached third on a botched pickoff play, and scored the game-winning run on, who else, Cole’s RBI single, which earned him his second win of the season.

Offensively, the Dragons were led by Cole’s two-for-three, including a double, two RBIs, a stolen base and a run scored; hot-hitting senior Kevin Deely’s two-for-four with a double; junior Will Rose’s two-for-three with an RBI, two runs and a stolen base; senior Sean Daly’s two-for-three with a run and stolen base; junior Sam Morgan’s two-for-three with a run; and sophomore Jonah Son’s single and stolen base.

With a Southern Oregon school pulling out of the tourney because of the weather conditions, all the remaining teams played two games instead of three.

In their second tournament game on Tuesday, the Dragons faced another solid NBL opponent in Ukiah and had the tables turned on them.

Leading 3-0 behind their pitching ace Sam Alton, Sonoma ended up being caught and passed by committing costly errors, stranding runners on the bases, especially at third, and eventually yielding four unearned runs which enabled the Wildcats to pull-out a 4-3 win.

Alton was the unfortunate losing pitcher despite throwing a complete-game six-hitter, yielding no earned runs, while striking out eight and walking only one.

Sonoma was paced by Deely’s three-for-four with an RBI and run; Cole’s double and run; Morgan’s and junior Sam Keechler’s single each; and and junior Will Murphy’s run.

The Dragons (3-3) – who hope to reschedule their five rainouts – open the SCL season this Tuesday afternoon, March 29, at Windsor, before returning home to host league foe Healdsburg at 7 p.m. next Friday, April 1, under the Arnold Field lights.

Sonoma’s varsity boys will be holding their inaugural Sonoma Green and White Alumni Baseball Game at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, at Arnold Field, with a pre-game get-together and alumni batting practice session set for Friday, April 8.

Any Dragon alumnus interested in playing can contact Sonoma varsity head coach Don Lyons at 996-7030 or dlyons@sonomavly.k12.ca.us.