Sonoma’s Little League season finally ends in sectionals

The clock finally struck midnight for Sonoma’s Cinderella run as a late rally fell short against Mill Valley on Tuesday night.|

Though the Sonoma All-Stars succeeding in capturing three consecutive District 53 titles with their win last Saturday against Vacaville, their good luck came to an end in the much tougher sectional play this week.

Monday night, they met cross-county rivals from Petaluma – a traditional favorite in post-season play – and the Petaluma Americans demonstrated why that is by shutting out Sonoma and handing them an 8-0 loss.

Sonoma’s starter Nick Sebastiani gave up five unearned runs in the first inning, struggling with his control. He did however get the sharpest hit of the night for his team with a solid single into left.

But it was one of only three hits the team had in the game, as they were unable to break through starter Wyatt Abramson or relievers Austin Steeves and Kalen Clemmens.

Five fielding errors didn’t help matters for Sonoma boys, and the loss sent them to face Mill Valley the next night for what proved to be the season-ender.

Again, it was an early deficit that would prove to be their demise. After falling behind 8-1 in the top of the fourth, a flurry of singles by Grant Boydell, Mikey DeWitt, Ben Sebastiani and Nicolas Scevola, along with some heads-up base running, all contributed to a 4-run bottom half of the frame.

Then the fifth saw Andrew Bonfigli and Bear Melendez reach base with no outs, putting them in a good position to close the gap. But they were left stranded without crossing home, and Mill Valley closed it out to make the final score 8-5.

The 11-year-olds and under also took their season into the sectionals, but they also dropped two at that level, again to Petaluma and Mill Valley.

But those same kids will be back next year, with eyes on the prize and the experience to make their post-season dreams come true.

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