Errors costly for Lady Dragons

Petaluma scores twice in 7th to win|

The Lady Dragon softballers kept fighting back Wednesday in their first round Sonoma County League tournament game against Petaluma.

In a game that featured five lead changes, the Lady Dragons took a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh but the lead and the game slipped away in the bottom of the inning as Petaluma scored twice – the result of two Sonoma errors – and walked off with a 6-5 win.

Petaluma moved on to face Analy Thursday in the SCL championship game, results not available at press time, while the Lady Dragons have to wait until Sunday to see who they face next week in the North Coast Section playoffs.

Petaluma got on the board in the bottom of the first but the Lady Dragons tied it up in the top of the second.

Sonoma took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third when freshman Kennedy Midgley walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Ally Alcayaga and scored on a double by freshman Kaliyah Hensic.

But the lead didn’t last long as the Trojans scored three times in the bottom of the frame – and it could have been worse as Petaluma had runners on second and third when junior pitcher Alissa Orr fanned a Trojan batter for the third out.

Sonoma tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the fifth when junior Jaya Garcia singled and scored when Ally Alcayaga homed over the center field fence.

Meanwhile Orr was breezing through the Petaluma batting order.

Freshman Abby Alcayaga led off the top of the sixth with a single and eventually reached third, but the Lady Dragons couldn’t score. Petaluma threatened in the bottom of the sixth when their leadoff hitter singled and reached second on a sacrifice bunt, but that was as far as she got.

Sonoma took the lead again in the top of the seventh when Garcia came through with a leadoff single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Midgley and scored when Ally Alcayaga doubled. Hensic walked, and both Hensic and Ally Alcayaga moved up on a passed ball giving the Lady Dragons runners on second and third with only one out. Junior Lyndsey Lee and Abby Alcayaga recorded infield outs and left the two runners stranded.

But the Dragons had a 5-4 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, the first two Trojan hitters reached – on a single and an error. Both of them moved up when the next batter laid down a sacrifice bunt putting runners on second and third. The next batter hit a sacrifice fly, scoring the runner from third and knotting the game again. But then the runner on second decided to take third, there was an overthrow to third and she continued her sprint to home with the winning run.

And in the blink of an eye it was over. Petaluma had a 6-5 win.

The loss drops the Lady Dragons to a 19-5 overall record – with four of those five losses coming at the hands of Petaluma and Analy.

The Lady Dragons will find out Sunday who they play and when in next week’s North Coast Section.

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