The battle between two between rivals and , both unbeaten teams in the Sonoma County League, went to the Trojans Thursday afternoon 7-3 during a game at Casa Grande.
Behind the complete game effort of Petaluma ace Sara Soares and some timely hitting, the T-Girls, as they are affectionately known to their fans, improved their record to 12-2, 6-0 to take over sole possession of first place. "We tried to score as many runners as we could," said Petaluma coach Kurt Jastow. "We bunted them over and we got some key two out base hits."
The Trojans struck first in the top of the second when they got two runs on back-to-back run-scoring doubles from Gina Barnacle and Abby Balf. With the game still tight at 3-2, Petaluma strung a couple of hits together to score four more runs between the fifth and the sixth to cushion the lead.
Find out what's happening in Petalumawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"Having them score was a huge part of relaxing out there," said Soares, who bumped her record to 10-1 on the season. "It's really intense, a little nerve-racking."
Casa scored runs in each of the third through fifth innings, but could not take advantage of turning those into bigger opportunties, like leaving the bases loaded trailing 5-3 in the fifth. And the Trojan offense kept answering with base-hits and pressure that the Gauchos eventually gave in to. "They're the best hitting team we've played coming in and they proved it," Casa coach Louie Bruce said.
Find out what's happening in Petalumawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The offense was led by Barnacle, who had a pair of hits, a run scored, and three runs batted in. T.J. Watts, Dana Thomson, and Chelsea Martin each had a couple knocks to aid the effort. Despite the W, Jastow still pushes to be better. "We have yet to play our A-game," he said. "Once we do we can be very good."
