Vintage’s third and seventh inning rallies lead to wild come-from-behind victory over Petaluma in VVAL Tournament semifinal
By Kyle Foster
Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Even though a win is a win, some feel like they carry greater weight than others. This seems like it’s true in games that go back and forth.
In Wednesday afternoon’s Vine Valley Athletic League tournament semifinal, No. 2-seeded Vintage showed how tough they can be as they beat No. 3 Petaluma, 8-7, in a game where each team had the momentum.
The Crushers (18-6) found themselves down 7-5 as the game entered the final half inning. To begin the inning, Aby Sims reached on an error that put her at second base and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Aliyah McDonald, and then scored on an Angie Rubalcava single. A walk to Noel Rofkahr put runners at first and second. With two outs, Ella Gomez roped a double into the left-center gap that brought in Rubalcava and Rofkahr to end the game in thrilling walkoff fashion.
All season long, Gomez has been clutch for Vintage. But this was arguably her defining moment of the season. In that game-winning at-bat, she was going up to the plate just trying to make contact.
“I was basically looking for any pitch that I could make contact with,” Gomez explained. “When Coach (Michelle) Hobbs gave me the power slap, I knew that that was what I needed to do, and then I just had to drive through the ball. I feel like I somewhat did that.”
In the game, the junior second baseman was 1-for-4 with that double and the 2 RBIs.
Vintage made its first comeback of the game in the third by scoring five times after finding itself down 2-0.
It all began when senior shortstop Aby Sims roped a solo home run over the fence in left field for her second round-tripper of the campaign.
“She’s very important to our team and plays a very impactful role in our success,” Gomez said of Sims, who is her double-play partner up the middle. “She starts us off, and she tends to always just drive the ball, and I’m so happy that she got her hit today. But yeah, she’s very important for us.”
Sims has been a key piece to the team as well, with her solid defense and good bat atop the lineup. In the game, Sims was 1-for-4 with a home run, an RBI, and 2 runs scored. She’s also done all of this after being a key bench piece last season and learning what it took to play at a top level.
“Aby Sims’ role is huge this year,” Vintage head coach Megan Lopez said. “Last year, she was on our team, kind of as an observer, watching Taylor Lauritsen at shortstop, watching our middle infield, and learning. This year, she stepped in such a leadership role, both verbally and physically. She holds it down in the middle infield, and then she’s so key to the top of our lineup. Time and time and time again, she has started a rally, continued a rally, found a way to scrap her way on base.”
Following the home run, McDonald and Rubalcava walked, and then Malina Viruet reached on an error to load the bases. A walk to Rofkahr brought in McDonald and kept the bases loaded. A wild pitch brought in Rubalcava and moved Viruet to third and Rofkahr to second. Both of them scored on a Carlee Carter single. Coming back has been the norm for Vintage this season, but they’ve had the grit to grind out victories even after falling behind early.
“This is the comeback team,” Lopez explained. “We do seem to go down a run or two and battle back throughout the game. We are full of some bumps and bruises, but plugging people into positions that we’re still confident in them and doing what we can to pull off wins.”
Others helping out the offense for Vintage in the game were Carter (1-for-3, 2 RBIs) and Rubalcava (1-for-2, RBI, 2 walks).
The Trojans (16-8) opened the scoring in the first with a pair of runs. Following a double into the left-center gap by Scarlett Fannin, Lauren Wilson came up and sent a 2-run homer way over the left field fence to give the visitors an early lead. This was her 7th home run of the season.
Petaluma scored again in the fourth when they got a run in. Bella Hudson reached on a fielder’s choice and then was run for by Harper Miles, who scored on a single by Kaylee Caselli.
In the sixth, the Trojans retook the lead with a 3-spot. Hudson walked and then got to second on a wild pitch, and then scored on a double to center field by Dallas Young. Young advanced to third on a passed ball, and Caselli walked and stole second. Runners were at first and third after Taylor Pellonari reached on a fielder’s choice and swiped second to put runners at second and third for Lilly Gemma, who singled in Caselli and Pellonari.
Bella Hudson extended the lead to 7-5 for Petaluma when she hit a solo home run to left field for her 4th home run of the season.
With the win, Vintage moves on to the VVAL Tournament Championship game, where they’ll face No. 1 Casa Grande on Friday at 5 pm at Sonoma Valley High School. In the three years of the VVAL tournament’s existence, the only two teams to meet in it have been Vintage and Casa Grande. This also marks the fourth straight season Vintage has finished in the top 2 in the regular season and the league tournament in the VVAL, which is a true sign of consistency.
Casa Grande won both league meetings this season, as they won 5-2 on April 8th and then 9-4 on May 2nd.
