High school baseball: Petaluma defeats Windsor 14-1 to win AL Rabinovitz tournament

At this rate, Petaluma High's baseball program might run out of room to display trophies from the A..L. Rabinovitz Tournament.

The Trojans took home another piece of hardware on Thursday as they defeated Windsor 14-1 in the championship game played at Montgomery.

That marked the fifth time in 12 years Petaluma has captured the Rabinovitz top prize. The Trojans also prevailed in 1992, giving them six first-place finishes in tournament history.

Petaluma took the drama out of the 2016 title game from the start. After three innings, the Trojans led 10-1.

In the first, Petaluma cashed in doubles by Luke Wheless, Logan Douglas and Danny Marzo for three runs. The Trojans then added four runs in both the second and third.

Lucas Dentoni was the recipient of the offensive onslaught. He pitched the first four innings and then gave way to Cole Petersen.

Windsor's only hit was by Sam Penning.

The Jaguars banged out 25 hits in winning two opening-round games on Wednesday.

Dentoni didn't play baseball last year and has been brought along slowly.

“He's got a good, live arm,” coach Paul Cochrun said. “We're taking our time with him. I thought he pitched great against Windsor.”

The Trojans' pitching was excellent throughout the tournament. While winning three games, the staff allowed five runs in 21 innings.

“That was key,” Cochrun said. “Playing three games in two days can put pressure on your pitching if the team gives up a lot of runs.”

The offense collected 11 hits off Windsor pitching. Douglas had three of those and knocked in three runs. Wheless had a double and triple and two RBIs while Marzo picked up a pair of hits and three RBIs.

“We got good pitching, hit the ball well and played good defense,” Cochrun said. “It was fun.

“We always look forward to playing in the Rabinovitz. It's usually the start of spring and the weather is changing. February can be tough with rain, putting the team together and getting the basketball players coming out late.

“The tournament comes at an exciting time of the season.”

The Trojans (5-4) are off until April 1, when they begin Sonoma County League play against Piner.

In other tournament games Thursday:

MONTGOMERY 8, UKIAH 3

The Vikings finished in third place by scoring five runs in the top of the seventh to break open a 3-3 game.

Nick Smith was Montgomery's winning pitcher and top hitter. The junior had two of his team's five hits. The others were by Colin Prince, Jack Stelzner and Travis Sheffer.

CHICO 8, PINER 0

The Panthers collected the consolation championship trophy behind the hitting of Mike Farley. The senior belted a homer and knocked in four runs.

Creed Smith was the winning pitcher and Ricky Christensen took the loss.

NORTHGATE 5, SONOMA ACADEMY 2

In the seventh-place game, the Broncos trailed 1-0 after one inning but took the lead for good by scoring two runs in the second.

The Coyotes collected five hits, two by Dan Brown.