Sonoma Valley gets key hits to beat Justin-Siena to earn its first-ever VVAL sweep and tighten league standings

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By Kyle Foster

Kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews 

Baseball is a cruel game. You can hit the ball hard and get nothing out of it. There are also days when the hits fall and when they don’t. 

In Saturday afternoon’s Vine Valley Athletic League game at Braves Ballpark, this is what happened as Sonoma Valley beat Justin-Siena, 5-1.

The Dragons (10-9, 3-4 VVAL) began the game with a run in the first. Johnny Campbell singled and scored on a single by Luciano Hernandez.

In the fifth, Sonoma Valley added two more runs. Colin Buckley singled and scored when Campbell doubled into the right-center gap. A double into left-center by Mason Pucci brought in Campbell.  

Then, in the seventh, the Dragons added two more. Campbell reached on a fielder’s choice, and Cayden Waldrep singled. Both scored on a single by River Gilardi. 

Justin-Siena (13-6, 5-3 VVAL) scored its only run of the gam.e in the seventh when Connor Zuehlsdorff singled 

The Braves had numerous other chances to score in the game, but were unable to get the key hit when needed. They ended up leaving 15 runners on base in the game. 

“We just need to play a little more our brand of baseball, hold our breaths a little longer, and just rely on optimism, right?” Justin-Siena head coach Jeremy Tayson explained. “I think we had four pretty crucial lineouts there with runners in scoring position, and that’s gonna happen.”

In the game, Justin-Siena only had two players get hits. One of them was Griffin Messenger, who was 1-for-3 with a walk. 

Getting the win in the game for Sonoma Valley was Max Trexler. He worked the first 5 ⅓ innings, where he walked 7 and struck out 4. He gave up 2 unearned runs in the game. 

Taking the tough loss in the game for Justin-Siena was Zuehlsdorff. He struck out 3 and walked 2. The junior righty allowed 3 runs on 7 hits. 

At the plate, he led the offense by going 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored, and was the only other player to register a hit. 

“Goose did a great job,” Tayson said. “He wanted the ball. He’s doing a great job as a leader and competing for us, and he threw the ball well. They obviously had a couple of timely things fall in for them, but his presence was great.”   

With the win, Sonoma Valley earned its first league sweep over Justin-Siena in the seven-year history of the VVAL. 

“There are no easy outs in there,” Tayson pointed out about how tough the league is. “Credit to (Sonoma Valley head coach) Sean (Boisson), he’s brought a lot of energy back into that program as an alumni. They deserved to win. They deserved to do what they did this week.”  

The sweep also makes the race for the fourth spot in the league a lot closer. In a few weeks, the top four in the VVAL standings will play in the league tournament. 

Both teams will continue league play on Tuesday. Justin-Siena will visit Petaluma at 4:30, and Sonoma Valley will host American Canyon at 6 pm.