Sports
Late Rally Sends Petaluma to American Legion World Series Finals
The Leghorns are two wins away from the title.
Underestimate the Petaluma Leghorns at your own peril.
A team that opened the double-elimination American Legion World Series in Shelby (N.C.) on Friday with a dispiriting loss faced a seemingly insurmountable deficit on Monday.
But the Leghorns rallied from a four run deficit going into the sixth inning for a resounding 14-4 victory over previously unbeaten Brooklawn (N.J.).
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The victory sends Petaluma to the final round. The Leghorns will play Northwest Region champion Waipahu (Hawaii) today at 2 p.m. (Pacific time). The winner of that game will play Mid-Atlantic regional champion Brooklawn in a title game scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
All games can be streamed for free on ESPN3.
Find out what's happening in Petalumawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Anthony Bender had two hits and three runs scored and Charles Parnow had two hits and three RBI to lead the Leghorns offensively.
Petaluma trailed 4-0 going into the top of the sixth when Bender lef off the innign with a solo home run to left field, turning the momentum of what was starting to seem like a lost cause.
Parnow singled in a run later in the inning to make it 4-2.
Petaluma took a 7-4 lead in a wild seventh inning rally, as the Leghorns scored five runs six walks, a hit batsmen, a sacrifice fly, no hits and no errors.
Robert Busse added a two-run single and Weston Bryan an RBI double in the ninth, when the Leghorns broke the game open with a six-run inning.
Nicholas Marks pitched one scoreless inning in relief for the win and Dominic Garihan pitched three shutout innings of no-hit ball for the save.
Leghorns starter Connor Littleton allowed four runs (two earned) in five innings.