Lions, Tigers hardballers eyeing post-season runs

Local high school baseball teams are nearing the finish line in Sonoma County League play this week, as both Analy and El Molino look to position themselves for protracted postseason runs.
The Tigers (7-4, 14-8), winners of nine of their last 11 games, have just one date remaining on the league docket – a Friday, May 11 visit to arch-rival El Molino (4 p.m.).  Should the Tigers win they will secure a spot in the SCL playoff tournament next week (date and locations TBD). Analy is also a good bet to land an at-large berth in the upcoming North Coast Section Division 3 tourney in two weeks.
The Tigers are coming off an up and down stretch that began with a 14-1 shellacking of Healdsburg, but ended in a 12-0 loss to league-leading Petaluma.
Winning pitcher Brenden Medina made short work of the Greyhounds in a May 1 visit to Recreation Park, tossing a five-inning two-hitter. The Tigers busted the game open with eight runs in the fourth and never looked back en route to a 14-1 rout.  Top hitters for Analy were Alex Leopard (2 for 4, 2B, 2 runs, 3 RBIs), Jeff Pearson (2 for 4, 3 runs, RBI), Toni Siri (1 for 3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs), Will St. Martin (1 for 2, run, RBI), Evan Alvarez (1 for 4, run), Julian Marcel (1 for 3, run), Noah Rabin (1 for 2, 2 runs) and Austin Alvarez (1 for 3, run, RBI).    
It was a different story in Friday’s home clash with Petaluma, as the first-place Trojans took a 5-0 lead after two and added six runs in the sixth on their way to a 12-0 shutout. Luke Bertling (1.1 IP, 4 hits, 4 ERs) took the loss, while Evan Alvarez (4 IP, 6 hits, 5 ERs, K) and Thomas O’Brien (.2 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs) also saw mound duty for Analy.  Gavin Ochoa tossed a two-hitter for Petaluma. Hitting safely for the Tigers were Leopard (1 for 2) and Pearson (1 for 2).
Lions eye playoffs
The Lions also had their version of a rollercoaster stretch in recent SCL action, bouncing back from an 11-1 loss at Sonoma Valley on May 1 with a 10-0 romp over visiting Healdsburg on May 4.
At press time El Mo was preparing to host Petaluma on May 8, followed by the second and final season meeting with Analy on May 11 (Senior Day).    
The Lions dug themselves an early 7-1 hole in the May 1 visit to Sonoma and never recovered in an eventual 11-1 loss in six innings. Jack Belli (4.1 IP, 8 hits, 3 ERs, 4 Ks) and Bradley Swinney (1.1 IP, 6 hits, 3 ERs, K) logged mound duty, while top hitters were Patrick Atkinson (2 for 3), Wes Hamner (2 for 3), Sam Wilson-Mietz (2 for 4, run), Jordan Hamner (1 for 2, RBI) and Andy Junge (1 for 2).
The Lions roughed up Healdsburg pitching for eight runs in the first inning in Friday’s clash in Forestville and added two more to force an early stoppage in a 10-0, five-inning rout. Atkinson (5 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 2 Ks) earned the win while leading hitters included Atkinson (3 for 3, run, 3 RBIs), Wes Hamner (2 for 3, 2 runs), Shane Spelman (1 for 2, 2B, run, 2 RBIs), Curt Lewis (1 for 2, run, RBI), Wilson-Mietz (1 for 3, 2B, RBI), Belli (1 for 2, 2B, run, RBI), Cole Van Stone (1 for 1, RBI), Sam McMinimy (1 for 1, run) and Wyatt Stringfellow (1 for 2, run).