Petaluma American AAA All-Stars Win Championship

By Leonard Sbrocco

It’s the best way to finish any season … as champions. 

The Petaluma American AAA All-Stars ran the table at the Mark West Tournament, winning all five games and taking the District 35 championship. 

The tournament with 14 Sonoma and Marin County teams competing, including four from Petaluma, took place June 16–23 in Santa Rosa. Petaluma American started with two come-from-behind victories over talented Rincon Valley teams, winning 13-12 and 8-5.  

Brady Coons closed out both games, recording two saves. The Petaluma All-Stars then turned a close 3-3 game against Sonoma into a rout, scoring four runs in the 4thinning and six more in the 5th.  

The game ended 13-3 at the end of the 5th with the umpires calling the game under the 10-run lead “mercy” rule. In the championship round semi-final game, Petaluma American again started slowly, but pitcher Mikey Aikins kept it close through four innings, tied 3-3.  

The Petaluma All-Stars then exploded for eight runs in the 5thinning, led by Cade Butler who finished with three doubles.  The final score was 11-3. The championship game El Molino was never close as Petaluma American had everything working.  

Pitcher Antonio “Tio” Graybill allowed only four hits and one run, while Kobe Krnaich and Jacob Sullivan led the offense with five hits and seven runs batted in.  The game was called after only four innings by the mercy rule with Petaluma American on top, 11-1.

Petaluma’s 13 AAA Little League All-Stars celebrated with their trophies as true champions, outscoring their opponents by 35-7 in the final three games of the tournament.