Petaluma offense goes big

For photos from Friday night’s game click here. (Photos by Emily Farmer)

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

On a night when everything seemed to go wrong for the Yountville Robins, everything seemed to go right for the Petaluma Piratas.

Petaluma struck early, and struck often as the Piratas continued their successful season atop the Sonoma South Division with a 16-2 win over the Robins at Golis Park on Friday night.

“The win was important for us because we were able to see some guys get some hits (off the bench),” said center fielder Nate Durkin. “We got guys in the game who haven’t been playing a whole lot.”

Indeed the Piratas (11-3) had help from the entirety of their lineup with two-hit games from Sammy Bruno, Durkin, Tuck Nommsen, Ryan Check, Dave Hunt, Dan Mulderick and Aaron Wilgus.

Wilgus pitched four solid innings, allowing one earned run, on one hit with eight strikeouts. Michael Miller earned the win, shutting down Yountville (1-10) through the first five innings, allowing only two hits and striking out eight Robins.

Most of the damage came in the first two innings. Petaluma scored five runs in the first inning and eight more in the second to take a 13-0 lead after two innings.

Ziggy Gutierrez was one of the few bright spots for the Robins. Gutierrez made several nice plays throughout the game, including a pair of sliding, run-saving catches in the fourth.

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.

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.

Santa Rosa overpowers scrappy Piratas

Top: Luis Matamoros races to first after a bunt in the third inning. Bottom: Santa Rosa starter Greg Pease struck out fourteen through eight innings in the Giants 10-1 rout of Petaluma on Saturday.

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

It was a game that was slated to be one of the most highlighted contests of the month, but it quickly turned into a slugfest.

The problem for the Piratas was that only one team was doing the slugging. And it wasn’t them.

The Santa Rosa Giants overpowered the Piratas with relative ease in a 10-1 rout at Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa.

“We had another great outing from Greg Pease,” said Santa Rosa coach Mike Hernandez  “A lot of guys bats woke up, today. We actually earned those runs.”

Pease was stellar indeed for Santa Rosa, this time shutting down a scrappy Petaluma offense with eight innings pitched, 14 strikeouts and six hits allowed.

The onslaught started in the second inning when Casey Hillman singled and then scored on an error. Then in the third inning the Giants (10-1) did the real damage.

Santa Rosa struck six times in the third on only two hits and three more times in the seventh, this time on a walk, hit batsman and a single.

As Hernandez alluded to, the Giants’ offense was well spread out. Dustin Emswiler was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs, Nick Vercelli 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and Hillman 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Petaluma’s sole run came in the second on a double by Kyle Altomare that drove home Nate Durkin, who had reached on an error to leadoff the inning.

Petaluma (7-3) began the week with a 10-9 win over the Windsor Wonders on Wednesday. The Wonders’ who entered the week with the second best league record, lost again on Saturday, this time to Napa.

After beating Windsor and losing on Saturday, Petaluma’s record is now even with the Wonders’ as they share the league’s second best record. But Petaluma still has a ½ game lead over the Sebastopol Apples in their division, so their playoff hopes are very much alive.

Meanwhile Santa Rosa sits firmly atop the North Sonoma County division, with a 3 ½ game lead over Windsor. Saturday’s win was definitely an important one because it helped the Giants keep their distance over the Wonders.

While Santa Rosa had high hopes to win the crucial game, Hernandez had to admitt that the final box score was a bit surprising.

“We didn’t expect it to be that big,” Hernandez said. “But we definitely needed that to stay on top of Windsor.”

Petaluma holds off Wonders, 10-9

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

The Petaluma Piratas entered week 11 of Wine Country Baseball with perhaps the toughest week schedule off any team this season. And they started it all off with yet another dramatic win at Arnold Field.

Despite leading for the entire game, a few costly defensive and pitching errors put the Piratas’ hopes for a big week in jeopardy. But Petaluma (7-2) staved off the Windsor Wonders in a shaky, time constrained, eight-inning 10-9 win on Wednesday night in Sonoma.

Both teams entered the game with plenty to prove. Windsor was riding a seven game winning streak and Petaluma who barely beat Sonoma last week after a disappointing loss to Oakville two weeks before.

The win was a big boost for the Piratas who face the league leading Santa Rosa Giants on Saturday at Cardinal Newman High School.

“We knew this was a big week,” said Piratas’ manager Nate Wall. “We wanted to get at least get one win, to split. Now we’re going for two.”

Petaluma’s Jaymes Manos got the win with a short start. He threw 3 2/3 innings but was forced out of the game after he experienced pain in his elbow.

Sammy Bruno was one of the key components of a Piratas’ offense that showered 11 hits through eight innings. Bruno finished 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and scored three runs.

TJ Drotleff and Vince Ambroselli also contributed, both went 2-for-4, Drotleff with a pair of RBIs and Ambroselli with one run batted in.

For the Wonders (8-2), Victor Hernandez swung the potent bat as he went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. The Wonders also saw big days from Nick Borowicz who was 2-for-5 and Riley Sullivan, who drove two runs home with a long double in the first inning.

The Wonders, who started off the season with an 11-9 hiccup of a loss against Sebastopol had since been unbeaten. That is, until Wednesday night.

Despite the loss the Wonders remain in second place in the league with a half game lead over the Piratas. The Giants remain in first, their only loss on the season coming against Windsor.

Piratas steal win in bottom of the ninth

By Matt Hanlon

Wine Country Baseball.com

It was a dangerous situation the Sonoma Crushers thought they were out of. With two outs and runners on first and third in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, pitcher Mike Simpson nearly picked off a sleeping Nolan Pearson with a surprise snap throw over to first.

A pitch later, Simpson tried again, hoping to catch Pearson off guard. But this time, it was the Crushers that got caught sleeping.

A second after Simpson turned and threw over to first, Nate Wall suddenly took off from third, sliding precariously wide of home plate as the throw came home. But Wall brushed the base with his hand just in time to beat the sweeping tag from catcher John Garcia, to steal a win from Sonoma in a heart-stopping 4-3 Piratas victory at Arnold Field on Wednesday night.

As the Piratas’ bench erupted, a stunned Crushers’ defense trickled slowly off the field amidst loud jeers towards the umpires coming from the stands. For Petaluma coach Dave Hunt, the win offered a perfect example of his team this season.

“We (knew that we) just had to do whatever it takes,” he said. “ We caught them sleeping. It was just smart baseball, smart base running… This is kind our kind of game. We haven’t blown anyone out all season, we’ve only had one high scoring game. We’re a scrappy team.”

Both teams saw complete game efforts from their starting pitchers. Mike Miller, who earned the win for Petaluma, allowed two earned runs on four hits with 14 strikeouts. Simpson was equally dominant, tossing 148 pitches through nine innings in the loss, allowing six hits while striking out 12.

Petaluma had to comeback from a one-run deficit late in the game, as they trailed heading into the eighth inning. But an RBI single to right field by T.J. Drotliff scored Miller to tie the game at three, setting the stage for the dramatic ninth inning.

The Crushers (4-4) led 2-1 for most of the game after taking the lead in the third inning. Sebastian Hernandez scored on a fielder’s choice by John Garcia, who later scored on a single by Simpson.  The Crushers added another run in the seventh when Josh Buhagiar scored on an error.

The Piratas (6-2) are no strangers to close games. Six of the Piratas’ eight games this season have been decided by fewer than three runs. For the scrappy Petaluma ballclub, this experience made a big difference in the tight situations at the end of the game.

“We knew they had some pitchers that throw strikes,” Miller said. “We knew it was going to be about execution. It came down to who wanted it more.”

(Photos coming soon)