High school softball: Analy, Petaluma to share SCL crown

Analy and Petaluma both won on Thursday and will share the Sonoma County League softball crown.

On the final day of the regular season, the Tigers took care of visiting Piner 3-1, and the host Trojans defeated Sonoma Valley 3-0. That leaves each school with an 11-1 league record.

Petaluma got the only run pitcher Ava Chabot would need in the third. Indya Smith singled and scored later in the inning on Emily Corda's hit.

Chabot struck out nine. At one point, the freshman fanned six in a row.

The Trojans lost five starting seniors to gradation after last season and coach Kurt Jastrow was concerned his team might not be up to repeating as league champs.

“Three of those five seniors from last year went on and played college ball,” he said. “I knew we had some solid upperclassmen coming back but I didn't know how fast the pitching would come around.”

He needn't have worried. Chabot and Emily O'Keefe have developed into two of the best pitchers in the league.

“They've improved and so has our defense,” Jastrow said. “On offense, we've been able to scrape enough runs together to win.”

Analy also has solid pitching with Saja Spearman-Weaver carrying the load. She struck out 10 Piner batters en route to a complete game.

Carson Rasmussen, the Tigers' lead-off hitter, deposited the first pitch she saw over the left-field fence.

The Prospectors came back to tie the game in the third only to have the Tigers take the lead for good in the fifth. Mackenzie Evangelisti singled, stole second and came home on Kaiya Ming's base hit.

There's a chance Analy (20-4) and Petaluma (14-9) will meet next week in the SCL Tournament.

In other games:

UKIAH 9, WINDSOR 5

At Ukiah, the Wildcats spotted the Jaguars a 5-2 lead before rallying for the victory.

Ukiah scored seven in the fourth. Rylee Rickel's triple knocked in two runs while Ali Dale batted twice in the inning and had two hits and two RBIs

Dale, Rickel and Kennedy Lynch wound up with three hits each.

For Windsor, Shay Mendoza was 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

Ukiah finished the regular season 11-12 after starting off 3-9.

“The girls have definitely improved,” coach Gary Venturi said. “Our turnaround coincided with putting Rickel in the leadoff spot. She's jump started our offense, Also, Pedersen has pitched better.”

RANCHO COTATE 6, CASA GRANDE 4

At Rohnert Park, the Cougars claimed sole possession of the North Bay League championship.

Rancho finished with a 13-1 record in league and 17-5 overall.

KT Hager hit a home run for the Cougars and the team finished the regular season with 35 round-trippers.

“I didn't expect we would have this kind of power,” coach Tracey Poeu-Guerrero said. “I'm just hoping we can continue to play strong through the playoffs.”

The Cougars have the NBL Tournament coming up next week and then North Coast Section.

Rancho banged out 15 hits against the Gauchos (4-17, 2-12). Reilani Peleti had four hits including three doubles. Hager had a single and double to go along with her home run.

Casa had five hits off winning pitcher Brittney Scardina. Desiree Champagne-Terrell had two of those.

MONTGOMERY 17, SANTA ROSA 7 (5)

At Montgomery, the Vikings wound up the regular season with their best offensive game of the season.

The 17 runs represent a season high and the 16 hits were also tops.

After Santa Rosa took a 7-6 lead in the fourth, Montgomery erupted for 10 runs in the bottom of the inning.

Finishing with three hits apiece were Anna Zoia-Buescher, Sierra Shanoff and winning pitcher Jessica Valencia.

Valencia's record is 10-1.

For the Panthers, Megan Fassold had an outstanding game. She hit two home runs and collected five RBIs.