The defending champion Analy Tigers captured their second straight Sonoma County League baseball title this week, soundly defeating El Molino, Petaluma and Elsie Allen to complete an unbeaten league season.
Analy (12-0, 20-4) proved the class of the league with a perfect combination of pitching, defense and timely hitting, building momentum as the year progressed. The Tigers will now take a full head of steam into the all-important postseason, beginning this week as the top seed in the SCL Tournament.
“The league title definitely signifies one of the goals we set at the beginning of the year,” Analy head coach Jeff Ogston said. “It’s not something we ever take for granted and to be able to go undefeated was pretty special. I think ultimately the kids realize that this is just step one to what we ultimately want to accomplish, which is to win NCS.”
At press time the Tigers were preparing to open the SCL playoffs against fourth ranked Piner on May 16, with the winner slated to face the survivor of the Petaluma-Sonoma Valley in a 7 p.m. tilt on Thursday, May 18. All games will be played at Arnold Field in Sonoma.
Also looming on the horizon is a likely low seed and at least one home game in next week’s NCS Division 3 playoffs. The NCS seeding committee will meet this Sunday, May 21 to fill out the tournament brackets.
Tigers roll in league finales
Analy played host to second place Petaluma in a titanic rematch on May 11, a game that would ultimately decide the league pennant. The Tigers called on senior hurler Jack Newman for the task and he didn’t flinch, putting up zeroes for the first four shutout innings as Analy took an early 1-0 lead.
With the game knotted at 1-1, the Tigers mounted what proved the winning rally in the decisive fifth, erupting for five runs highlighted by a three-run triple from Jordan Parks to open up a 6-1 cushion. The Trojans fought back with one run in the sixth and two more in the seventh, but would get no closer as Analy hung on for an 8-4 win.
Newman (6 IP, 5 hits, 2 ERs, 5 Ks) notched the win, while Drew Valez (1 IP, 1 hit, 2 Ks) earned the save. Danny Marzo took the loss for Petaluma. Top hitters for the Tigers included Todd Noonan (2 for 3, 2B, 2 runs, 2 RBIs), Parks (1 for 3, 3B, 3 RBIs), Keaton Bates (1 for 3), Andy Noonan (1 for 3, 2 runs) and Jeff Pearson (1 for 2, run, RBI).
Analy took care of business in Friday’s SCL finale against visiting Elsie Allen, pounding out 17 hits in a 20-2 rout. Evan Peelen picked up the win while Evan Alvarez led the attack with three hits. Collecting two hits apiece were Luke Tollini, Carson Pforsich, Bennett Simpson, Kevin Eling, Austin Alvarez and Joe Bogdan.
Lions looking for playoff spot
El Molino should be a good bet to land an NCS playoff berth on Sunday, based on an outstanding 10-3 record within Division 4. The Lions (3-9, 10-12) finished up a strong campaign in their May 9 visit to Analy, trailing 1-0 until the Tigers exploded for six runs in the fourth inning en route to a 9-0 Analy win.
Logging mound duty for the Lions were Garrett Crane (4 IP, 5 hits, 4 ERs), Jack Belli (1 IP, 0 hits, 2 ERs, 4 BBs, K) while Mason Snodgrass (3 IP, 1 hit, 0 ERs, 3 Ks) notched the win for the Tigers. Hitting safely for El Mo were Shane Spelman (1 for 3), Jake Peter (1 for 2) and Bradley Swinney (1 for 3). Leading Analy hitters were Newman (2 for 3, 2B, run, 2 RBIs) and Todd Noonan (2 for 4, run, RBI).
