It’s hard to believe that outdoor games are still being rained out in late April, but such is life in these unpredictable times.
The baseball schedule has long shown a Saturday day game up in Willits last week, to keep the boys sharp for the last two weeks of league ball. But that April 26 game was canceled due to the weather, and since it was an “extra” game on the calendar, it won’t be rescheduled.
But the Greyhounds have their plates full anyway. Last week they recovered from the double losses to league-leader Analy by taking it out on the last place Mustangs from St. Vincent, not once but twice.
The April 23 game in Petaluma saw the Greyhounds hold on to a narrow lead from the first inning, and heading into the seventh the score was 3-0.
But the Mustangs would not be so easily corralled and scored twice in their half of the inning to make it close; final score was 3-2. Noah Wong again delivered a sterling performance, striking out five in six innings of work; reliever Eric Nielsen only worked an inning but struck out two of the four batters he faced.
Hayden Mariani and Xander Harms both doubled, and Frank Rea stole a pair of bases but was left stranded both times. Altogether Healdsburg left 11 runners on base, unable to bring them home.
Two nights later the competition moved back to Healdsburg. Nielsen was the starter, and went six strong innings without allowing a run. Alex Mauro-Manos returned to the mound after several weeks off, giving up the only Mustang run in the seventh inning.
Mariani tripled and Harms hit another double, and the Greyhounds were better able to keep the runners moving around the circuit. They came away with a 6-1 win.
The wins even more firmly established the Redwood league standings: Analy (11-0) on top, Healdsburg and Montgomery behind them (both with 7-4 records), followed by Santa Rosa (6-5), Piner (2-9) and St. Vincent (0-11).
Coming up are two games back-to-back against Santa Rosa, a team the Greyhounds defeated 9-4 earlier in the season. The first of those two games is Wednesday in Healdsburg (results too late for press time) followed by a May 2 game in Santa Rosa.
The season ends with two games against Piner, on May 7 (in Healdsburg) and May 9 (at Piner). League and division playoff schedules are yet to be announced, but the Greyhounds have had good luck in post season play in recent years, under coach Mark Domenichelli.
‘Lady Hounds’
Healdsburg’s girl softball players are holding their own in the Redwood league, where the run totals are often insanely high: After beating St. Vincent 6-3 on April 17, they fell to Novato 15-2 and lost to Maria Carrillo 22-9. One reason is that doubtless the diamond is smaller, with only 60 feet between bases instead of 90.
But they turned the tables on Montgomery with an 11-0 shutout on April 22. Freshman pitcher Mia Halvorsen dominated with seven strikeouts in six innings, not allowing a run.
Junior Izzy Osborn continues to be the offensive sparkplug, with 23 hits, 18 runs batted in, five doubles, two triples and a slugging percentage of .526. Also strong at the plate are Claire Berry (.373 batting average) and Hannah Levine Smith (.395 batting average). All three girls also sport error-free 1.000 fielding percentages.
Monday’s scheduled game in Santa Rosa turned into a win for the 11-8 (5-4 in league play) Greyhounds, as Santa Rosa was unable to field a full team and had to forfeit.
This week the softball season winds down with a Wednesday game in Willits, followed by two home games against Redwood rivals Ukiah (May 1) and Elsie Allen ((May 6).
