High school notes: Rancho Cotate’s Reilani Peleti reaches milestone

Even though Piner’s boys soccer team lost Friday night 6-3 to Sonoma Valley, a rarity was witnessed on the field: The Prospectors’ Elmer Pineda scored a goal directly off a corner kick.

“Never in my career have I seen that,” Piner coach Sean Sutherland said. “It was pretty remarkable to see.”

Pineda’s corner kick goal was a low drive that hit the back post net. While it wasn’t a game-changer, since the goal came in the 65th minute to trim Piner’s deficit to three goals, it certainly was unconventional.

“It was unintentional.Elmer was trying for a crossing pass,” Sutherland said with a chuckle. “No player is going to try to score off a corner kick.”

LAYTONVILLE SURGE

The Laytonville boys basketball team took a three-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s NCL III game against visiting Anderson Valley.

The streak kept the Warriors riding atop the league standings entering the final two weeks of the regular season.

Senior guard Manish Khatri has been the leader. He’s averaging 19.9 points per game and 5.5 rebounds.

A PANTHER IN ISRAEL

Gabe Cramer, a Santa Rosa High graduate and a right-handed pitcher in the Kansas City Royals organization, was placed on the 28-man roster to participate in the World Baseball Classic as a member of Team Israel.

Cramer, who graduated SRHS in 2012, pitched at Stanford before being signed by the Royals in 2015. In the offseason this fall he completed his undergraduate degree.

CAN HE MAKE THE CUT?

Brady Scott’s dream of playing in the FIFA Under-20 Men’s World Cup is one step closer.

Scott, a 17-year-old Petaluma native and devoted goalkeeper, is currently in Orlando, Florida, at a training camp for the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team. The camp started Jan. 31 and ends Feb. 10; when it’s done, coach Tab Ramos will trim his roster from 24 players to 20. That team will compete at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in San Jose, Costa Rica, later this month and, should they advance from that tournament, at the World Cup in South Korea in May.

Scott, who spent two years at Petaluma High but now takes classes online to accommodate his travel schedule, is the youngest player in the camp. The other two goalkeepers both play in college.

PELETI HITS MILESTONE

Rancho Cotate senior Reilani Peleti is the newest member of the 1,000 career points club.

Peleti, a multi-sport athlete who is headed to Chico State next year to play softball, passed the milestone Jan. 24 against North Bay League leaders Cardinal Newman. Peleti, who is averaging a team-leading 11.5 points, 7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 blocks per game, scored 11 points on the night.

Kerry Benefield, Phil Barber and Richard J. Marcus contributed to this report.