Analy softballers forge Sonoma County League co-championship

There were few surprises in the final week of the Sonoma County League softball season, as the Lady Tigers closed it out with wins over El Molino and Piner to forge a co-championship with Petaluma at 11-1.
At press time the top four finishing league teams were gearing up for the SCL playoff tournament hosted by Analy, which runs from May 17-19. The number-two seeded Tigers will play a first-round game against number three Sonoma Valley on May 18, with the winner taking on the victor of Petaluma-Healdsburg in the title clash on Thursday, May 19 (4 p.m.).
Should Analy win more games in the SCL tourney than Petaluma, it will gain an automatic North Coast Section playoff berth.
Tigers close it out
Heading into the final week of the regular season the Lady Tigers needed two wins to seal at least a share of the SCL title and took care of business beginning with a May 10 meeting with visiting El Molino.
With pitcher Saja Spearman-Weaver (5 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 7 Ks) in full command, the Tigers tallied three runs in the first, six in the third and pushed across two more in the fifth to force an early stoppage in an 11-0 win.
Pacing the Analy attack were Crystal Gevas (3 for 3, 2B, 2 runs, 2 RBIs), Claire Nelson (2 for 3, 3B, 2 runs, 2 RBIs), Kaiya Ming (2 for 3, 2 runs), Payton Cords (1 for 2, 3 RBIs), Kelsi Roman (1 for 3, run, RBI) and Gemma Gonzalez (1 for 1, run, RBI).  Cynthia Hernandez (1 for 1) collected the lone hit for El Molino.  
The Tigers were locked in a closer-than-expected battle with visiting Piner in the league finale on May 12, with the game deadlocked at 1-1 after three. Analy pushed across solo runs in the fifth and sixth innings, giving Spearman-Weaver (7 IP, 3 hits) ERs, 10 Ks) all she’d need en route to a 3-1 win.
Leading Tiger hitters were Carson Rasmussen (2 for 4, HR, run, RBI), Ming (2 for 4, RBI), Makeyla Kraemer (1 for 3, 2B, run), Gevas (1 for 3), Cords (1 for 2) and Nelson (1 for 3).  
Lions gain split
The Lady Lions (4-16, 4-8) wrapped up the 2016 campaign with a split in a pair of games, rebounding from the loss to Analy with a 9-4 romp over visiting Elsie Allen in the league finale on May 12.   
The suspense was over early when El Mo played host to winless Elsie Allen on May 12, exploding for five first-inning runs to gain early separation. The Lions added four more along the way in an eventual, 9-4 rout.
Freshman Ericka Olson fanned eight batters to earn the win, while top hitters included Risa Scott-Smith (2 for 3, RBI), Sierra Fiddler (2 for 4, RBI), Kristine Daniels (1 for 3, 3B), Lily Krauss (1 for 4) and Olson (1 for 3, 2B, RBI).