‘Season 2’ begins with Casa Grande contests

Sonoma Valley’s student-athletes turn toward Season 2, another shorter-than-normal series of games to round out the irregular 2020-21 school year. Several second-season sports have already begun play, as last week Sonoma Valley met teams from Casa Grande with mixed results.

Some of these sports have their first games scheduled this week, including the boys baseball team that will return to Arnold Field on Wednesday, April 21, for a 6:30 p.m. game against Casa Grande. Sonoma’s Alcaldes, Kimberly and Simon Blattner, will be throwing out the first pitch. Ferne Alvarez will sing the national anthem.

Due to the current COVID ordinances, attendees must obtain advanced ticket reservations from GoFan.co (gofan.co/app/school/CA23061), according to varsity coach Rich Blanchard.

The Dragons' last baseball game was on March 10, 2020, just before the COVID shutdown. The Dragons beat Piner 6-5 on that date.

Soccer

Also beginning local competition this week is the girls soccer team, who will play their home games at the Adele Harrison field. There’s only a varsity team under Coach Ellie Ceja, and no boys soccer, due to limited turnout. Their first home game comes on Friday, April 23, when they meet American Canyon at 6 p.m.

The soccer girls won their first game, 2-1, against Justin-Siena last Friday, April 16; Caroline Studdert scored both goals. They meet Napa in Napa on Tuesday, April 20.

Wrestling also begins competition this week when they meet Petaluma in Golton Hall on Wednesday, April 21 at 6 p.m. Coach Nico Saldana will coach the six-match season.

Softball

In softball, on April 14, Sonoma Valley took a 3-0 lead at the end of the first inning, and held onto it even as Casa Grande scored 4 in the top of the fourth, with the Dragons still ahead 5-4. But the team’s four fielding errors counted against them and the Gauchos team was able to erode the Dragon lead.

The Gauchos scored at least once in the next four innings to come away with the 9-6 victory in the season’s first game, played at Sassarini Elementary School. The Dragons will play all home softball games at Sassarini, as the new softball fields at the high school are still being developed.

Kayla Amormino, a freshman, batted first for the Dragons and was the leader of the offense, getting three hits and driving in 2 runs. Two other 9th graders also produced, with Natalie Broderick getting two hits and a pair of RBIs, and Kassedy Midgley two hits and a single RBI. Grace Keiser, a senior, also had two hits and a run batted in.

This week’s games: Tuesday, April 20 at Vintage; Thursday, April 22 vs. American Canyon in Sonoma.

Girls Basketball

The Sonoma Valley varsity girls basketball team won Friday's away conference game against Casa Grande, 36-32. Leading scorers included Jovana Saldana with 18 points; Sophie Lucchetti and Siena Hoban with 6 points each; and four players with 2 points each. Hoban got 11 rebounds, Kathryn Juuhasz had 10.

Coach Jann Thorpe was pleased with how well the team played, with only three players with varsity experience from last year. “They played as a team. We did a good job on the boards and shot the ball decent. We will continue to work hard and look to improve even more next week.”

This week’s games: Wednesday, April 21 vs. Napa at Pfeiffer Gym; Friday, April 23 vs. Petaluma at Pfeiffer.

Boys Basketball

The boys had a tougher time of it, losing their season opener on the road in Petaluma, 65-61. High scorers for the Dragons were Dom Girish (25), Anders Mathison (13 including 3 rebounds and 3 assists), Will Breall (11).

This week’s games: Tuesday, April 20 vs. Napa at Pfeiffer Gym; Thursday, April 22 vs. Petaluma at Pfeiffer.

Volleyball

The first game of the season was a win for the Dragons, as they defeated the Casa Grande girls in straight sets, 25-15, 25-14 and 26-24 at home in Pfeiffer Gym.

Team leaders included Katie Brenninger, with 16 kills, 2 digs, 2 aces; Lola Martin with 9 kills, 2 digs, 1.5 blocks; Nelli Jimenez with 11 digs, 2 aces; Sophia Riebli with 28 assists, 2 digs, 1 ace; and Ruby Capriola, 3 blocks, 3 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace.

This week’s games: Tuesday, April 20 vs. Napa in Napa; Thursday, April 22, vs. Petaluma in Petaluma.