Windsor shuts out Sebastopol 5-0

Jon Martinez throws in the eighth inning of the Wonders’ 5-0 shutout of Sebastopol at Cardinal Newman High School on Saturday.

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

Facing a tough Apples’ team Windsor needed a win to stay firmly in second in the Sonoma North Division standings. They got exactly what they needed.

Strong offense and perfection in the field fueled the Wonders 5-0 win over the Sebastopol Apples on Saturday at Cardinal Newman High School.

Windsor saw a strong start from Jon Martinez who pitched eight scoreless innings for the Wonders, striking out six and allowing six hits. Martinez saw plenty of help from his defense.

“I had a great defense behind me,” he said, after the game. “And I needed to get those first pitch strikes. Granted I had a couple 2 out walks but I battled through it. But the defense was definitely key.”

The Wonders (10-4) scored two runs in the fourth on a double by Kevin Cramer. Cramer scored on an RBI grounder by Derek Ferrell later in the inning.

Ferrell brought home two more runs in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Ferrell and an RBI groundout by Riley Sullivan. Ferrell had another RBI double in the sixth and finished with 3 RBIs.

Alex Bell started for Sebastopol (6-7-1)and allowed four earned runs in eight innings on five hits while striking out eight and walking five.

Matt Raichart was 2-for-4 for the Apples, and Thomas Alva was 2-for-3.

Dominic Coca strides home to score a run in the fourth inning. Photos by Matt Hanlon

Healdsburgh rallies early in win over Apples

Owls’ starter Josh Cimino throws in a rain soaked first inning of Healdsburgh’s 13-10 victory over Sebastopol at Cardinal Newman High School on Saturday.

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

With the disparity between the two teams’ records, when Sebastopol jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the first inning, things didn’t look good for Healdsburgh. In the past the Owls would have caved beneath a four-run deficit, but not anymore.

Healdsburgh slugged its way back into the game with four-run third and fourth innings in a 13-10 win over Sebastopol at Cardinal Newman High School on Saturday.

The Owls scored first, after Matt Archer reached on an error and then scored on Justin Herrguth’s double later in the first inning. The Apples (7-6-1) answered with five runs on four hits in the bottom half of the inning, including a solo shot over the left field fence by Tom Harris, putting Healdsburgh in a hole.

But the Owls (4-10) didn’t stay down for long. They took the lead in the third inning, and never relinquished it.

“We hit well today,” said second baseman Manny Delao, who was 3-for-6 on the day. (Josh) Cimino threw a good game. He settled down after the first inning. He pitched better than the score.”

Cimino settled down indeed, throwing nine innings and 170 pitches to earn the win. He allowed ten runs on 16 hits, but the effort was enough.

The Owls combined for 19 hits including four off the bat of Herrguth and three off bat of Tyer Ketteman. Both players finished with three RBIs.

The Apples had plenty of offense as well. Harris finished with two home runs and three hits while Thomas Alva and Mario Ausiello had three hits nd a combined three RBIs.

St. Helena rallies from behind late in win

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

The St. Helena Angels entered Thursday night’s game with their stakes in the playoff race in jeopardy. That proved to be more enough motivation.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Angels scored four runs to keep their playoff hopes very much alive as they defeated the Rohnert Park Dragons 6-3 at Golis Park in Rohnert Park.

An error, a bunt single and then an RBI bunt single led to the first two runs of the eighth, giving the Angels (6-7) the lead. John Ahlers followed with a two-RBI double, giving St. Helena all the insurance that was needed.

Josh McIntosh went the distance on the mound for, striking out 13 to earn the victory while allowing only two earned runs on five hits.

“It was just my day today, I was consistent and throwing strikes,” he said. “It was a solid team effort.  We had a couple good bunts. We normally like to hit the ball… but when it comes down to it, we got a win.”

Matt Kasch put the Dragons (5-6) on the board when he scored on an error in the first inning. St. Helena took the lead in the bottom half of the inning on a pair of walks, a wild pitch and an error.

Rohnert Park tied it in the fifth on a single by Jake Halady that scored Eric Walker and then took the lead two innings later on another Halady single. But that was the last time the Dragons would cross the plate.

Justin Wade was the only Angel with a multi-hit game as he finished 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scores. Ahlers finished with three RBIs for the night.

Jarrod Dumont was given the loss for Rohnert Park but matched McIntosh with 13 strikeouts.

The win puts the Angels’ win column even with the Napa Knights for second place in the Napa Division, behind the Oakville Aces. The top two teams from each division advance to the playoffs, with the winner of the Napa division receiving an automatic berth to the championship series.

Napa wins five straight

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

ROHNERT PARK— The Knights were a struggling team. After a slew of losses, culminating in a numbing 18-0 loss to the Windsor Wonders on Aug. 5, Napa’s record was a meager 2-6.

But those struggles are long gone. Since the Windsor debacle, the Knights have quietly surged back, winning their last five games, including the most Saturday night’s game, a 9-3 victory over Sonoma.

“This team was 2-6,” said Napa manager Charles O’Hare. “We lost 18-0 to Windsor but we rattled it off. We put ourselves right back in the hunt. Sometimes it takes an ass-whooping…I’m just really pleased (with where we are), I contribute it back to that loss.”

The Knight’s offense continued to be potent, notching 15 hits in Saturday’s game. They held a comfortable lead for most of the game, but ran into a jam in the sixth inning.

A pair of errors allowed Corey Decker and Benny Soto to score narrowing the Napa lead to 5-3. The Crushers (4-9) looked to do more damage with two outs and the bases loaded when Brandon Meyers hit a hard line drive down the first base line, but it went right to O’Hare, who caught it to end the inning and the threat.

That was the last time that Sonoma threatened, as Napa broke the game open with three runs in the bottom half of the sixth. Wayne Wirt and David Heimbinger singled, Jason Zudell walked and all three scored.

Napa (7-6) added another run in the seventh as they cruised to the win behind the pitching of Pete Thorson. Thorson threw seven solid innings, striking out nine, allowing only one earned run on four hits and a walk.

Wirt, Zudell and Heimbeigner, Thorson and Kagen Davis had two hit games for the Knights.

Angels win big over Yountville

Top: St. Helena’s Justin Wade and Yountville’s Nik Gutierrez collide on a stolen base by Wade in the first inning. Bottom: Steve O’ Dell fields a bouncing grounder in the second inning.

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

ROHNERT PARK—Yountville’s Billy Hamilton may have received a loss on Friday night. But not for lack of effort.

Hamilton threw 167 pitches in a complete game start, but was unable to quiet a hot St. Helena offense. St.Helena came up big at the plate as they handily defeated the Yountville Robins with a 12-3 victory at Golis Park.

The Angels (6-7) scored often early. They reached the board first off of RBI singles by Josh McIntosh and Dave Bryant.

St.Helena went on to score a run in the second, three in the third and three more in the fourth. John Hays, Dave Bryant, John Ahlers, Ted Kearns and Kory Langwell all had two hit games in the win while Justin Wade contributed with three runs.

Josh McIntosh pitched six innings to earn the win, allowing one earned run and striking out nine.

Yountville (1-10) struggled both at the plate and in the field. The Robins had just four hits and committed six errors.

Santa Rosa gets on the board early in win over Oakville

Top: Luis Matamoros slides past the tag of Brett Williams to score in the sixth inning of Santa Rosa’s 8-3 win over Oakville on Thursday night. Bottom: Twilight settles over Golis Park as Greg Pease throws to the plate. Pease pitched six innings without allowing an earned run to earn the win. Photos by Matt Hanlon

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

ROHNERT PARK—The Giants got off to a fast start and never looked back. Santa Rosa scored early and never gave up the lead behind the strong pitching of Greg Pease.

Santa Rosa brought home three runs in the first inning and cruised to an 8-3 victory over the Oakville Aces at Golis Park in Rohnert Park.

“I think the boys rose to the occasion,” Santa Rosa coach Mike Hernandez said. “They came out hitting last night, this time we were able to earn our runs.”

Pease was solid through six innings to earn the win, allowing two runs and three walks without an earned run. He took a no hitter into the fourth inning until Matt Seibel singled to right.

Seibel later scored, off an error by shortstop Brett Howard to chisel the Giants’ lead to 4-1. But Santa Rosa opened the game up again in the sixth on four hits and a walk.

The Giants had 12 hits, four off the bat of Jerome Godsey and two hits a piece off the bats of Luis Matamoros, Casey Hillman and Nick Vercelli. Hillman had two RBIs and Dustin Emswyler had three.

“It was an opportunity for us to kind of in a way to solidify the tie that we had last time we played them,” Hernandez said. “It was nice to come out and string some hits together and get some early runs.”

Healdsburgh wins three in a row

Cloverdale second baseman Kwame Clark shows the umpire the ball as the runner is called safe. Photo by Emily Farmer

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

Three games ago the Healdsburgh Owls were a team struggling to get their feet moving. Winless, and struggling defensively and offensively, each game was a slow improvement.

But Healdsburgh has won its last three games and appears to have emerged as the team it was supposed to be long ago. The Owls minimized the defensive mistakes and certainly had no offensive problems as they defeated the Cloverdale Bandits 12-4.

“It’s pretty sweet, starting out 0-9 and not thinking we were ever going to win a game to winning (three in a row),” manager Joe Stewart said. “Losing becomes contagious, but winning is too. It’s been great I think we’ve been pretty well as a team, our hitting and defense has definitely improved. I think (this game) was our best game so far and the score reflected it.”

The Owls (3-9) took an early lead when they scored four times in the second inning off four hits and an error from the Bandits.

Cloverdale (3-7) answered with two runs in the third inning on an RBI double by Albert Higgs to score Kwame Clark and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Tony Corkhill. But Healdsburgh broke it wide open in the bottom half of the inning, scoring eight runs on seven hits to take a 12-2 lead.

Ryan Surina was a big part of the win yet again, throwing seven innings and allowing two earned runs on six hits, striking out four to earn the win. Surina kept the Bandits off balance throughout the night with a big curveball that Cloverdale struggled to hit cleanly.

Manny Delao finished 4-for-6 with a pair of runs scored and two RBIs, Tyler Ketteman was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs and Jared Lunardi, Surina, Matt Archer, Rob Tosti and Beau Govig all had two hits.

Both Rigo Jacinto and Kwame Clark compiled two-hit games and scored a run for the Bandits.

Petaluma scraps another close win

Top: Mike Miller scores the game winning run for Petaluma in the top of the ninth as his teammates look on. Bottom: St. Helena starting pitcher Mike Cassady pitched 8 2/3 innings Saturday and was branded with the loss.

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

Some how, some way, the Piratas got it done again. With two outs, a runner on first, and trailing by two runs in the top of the ninth, Petaluma was in need of baserunners and runs.

But the Petaluma magic started and they got plenty of both as the Piratas scored four times in the ninth.

That lead was in jeopardy a few minutes later when the Angels loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth. But like the true escape artists that they are, the Piratas were able to dance their way out of the jam, deftly defeating St. Helena 8-6 at Cardinal Newman High School on Saturday.

“We made some errors, we missed some easy plays,” said pitcher Mike Miller. “We’ve had some close games…But as long as we win I don’t care how we win.”

Miller was the all around hero on Saturday as he pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief of Tuck Nommsen and allowed only one hit, striking out six and walking one. He came up big in the ninth striking out two batters and, amid shouts of “Miller time” from the Petaluma bench, getting a bases loaded groundout to end the game, stranding the tying run on second.

Petaluma (8-3) led for most of the game until St. Helena took the lead in the seventh. Steve O’Dell doubled to drive home Cam Cook and then John Hays singled home O’Dell and Dave Bryant.

The three-run inning gave the Angels a 6-4 lead. The Angels (5-7) held that lead and were only one out away from victory before the Piratas rallied in the ninth.

Miller did it with the bat too. he was 2-for-3 with a pair of triples and an RBI. TJ Drotliff was 3-for-5 with a double and Sammy Bruno and Vince Ambroselli each batted 2-for-5, Bruno with three RBIs and Ambroselli with one.

For St. Helena Dave Bryant was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Hays batted in the eighth spot but provided plenty of offense as he was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

Mike Cassady started, throwing 8 2/3 innings allowing four earned runs, ten hits and striking out 12 in the loss for the Angels.

Windsor falls to Rohnert Park

Top: Windsor second baseman Derek Farrell dives for a ball in the fifth inning. Bottom: Rohnert Park shortstop Matt Kasch attempts to turn a throws to first over a sliding Jarrod Dumont.

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

After a heartbreaking 6-5 extra inning loss earlier in the week, Rohnert Park was desperately in need of a win. In order to keep their playoff hopes alive, losing wasn’t an option for the Dragons.

They came through, getting another outstanding complete game performance on the mound from Jarrod Dumont and two critical, late runs in the eighth inning as they defeated the Windsor Wonders 5-3.

“We saw some heads up play today,” coach Rene Torres said. “We played as a team today rather than as individuals. And we had some solid pitching again.”

Dumont finished with 12 strikeouts, allowing six hits without an earned run or a walk.

Rohnert Park (5-4) was on the board first, scoring two in the top of the first off of RBI singles by Scott McKenna and Brandon Bogges.

Windsor (8-4) was quick to answer, when Nick Borowicz scored on a groundout by Kyle Thomas.

The Wonders eventually took the lead on a pair of hits and a couple of errors. They held that lead until the eighth when the Dragons struck twice, off a single by Dumont and Cam Corneilson.

Rohnert Park added an insurance run in the ninth when Bogges hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Jake Halady.

Cerda had a big day for the Dragons, he batted 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Dumont helped his own cause finishing 2-for-5 with an RBI and Halady was 1-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.

For Windsor, Thomas was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Cramer was 2-for-3 with a run scored.

With the win, the Dragons stay in third place in the league on gaining ground on the teams above them if those teams lose.

“Losing one game, especially that one was a tough break,” Morales said. “The wins aren’t as important as the losses at this point because the teams above us need to lose (for us to secure a playoff spot). But still I think we’re hoping for a wild card.”

Petaluma holds off Sebastopol, 7-1

Mike Miller did it all for Petaluma on his birthday. He came up big on the mound, striking out 15 through nine innings, and at the plate, with an RBI triple and a run scored.

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

In what could very well be a playoff preview, the top two teams of the Sonoma South Division squared off at Golis Park. Coming off a big loss and a two week break, the Piratas had plenty to prove, while Sebastopol had hopes to of a win after a tie in their last game.

The bottom line of the game turned out to be pitching, as Mike Miller was able to silence the Sebastopol bats. The Apples did threaten in the ninth however, but after loading the bases they were held to just one run, stranding two baserunners and Petaluma prevailed with a 7-1 win over the Apples (6-4).

Getting the start on his birthday, Miller was nothing short of outstanding for the Piratas. He went the distance, allowing only one run on seven hits and a walk, striking out 14.

The win was a definite confident boost for the Piratas (8-3) who suffered a lopsided loss in their last game, against Santa Rosa at Cardinal Newman High School. It also didn’t hurt that the team had two weeks rest to prepare for Thursday night’s game.

“Last game was pretty bad,” said Petaluma coach Nate Wall. “Tonight we knew it was going to be a big game. They’re the second place team in the division… We had a great effort by Miller on his birthday, throwing (so many) strikeouts.

The eventual game-winning run came off the bat of Ryan Check early in the game, when his infield single in the second scored Tuck Nommsen. Two runs was all Miller would need to get the win over a powerful Apples’ offense.

Vince Ambroselli was an offensive catalyst yet again for Petaluma. He was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored. Nate Durkin, who was all over the basepaths, contributed with three walks, three stolen bases, three runs scored, and a sacrifice bunt

Miller seemed to do it all on his birthday, as he helped his own cause in the fourth with an RBI triple and a run scored.

Sebastopol was kept off the base paths for only two innings but could not score until the ninth when Travis Menke scored on a groundout by Alex Bell. Both Menke and Mario Ausiello had two-hit games for the Apples, but Menke was the only Apple who did not strikeout.

The sun sets over Golis Park on Thursday night.