High hopes that the Healdsburg Greyhounds would pull off an upset to the NBL-Redwood final standings didn’t get very far. The North Bay League holds a championship series following regular play in which the top four teams play a tournament to see if who finished first can beat their league’s best. That’s how it worked for the girls basketball team just last season, when the second-place Greyhounds defeated first-place Ukiah in the February playoff.
No such luck this time. A fired-up Montgomery team scored twice in the first inning and three times in the second, chasing starter Eric Nielsen and saddling him with the loss.
Alex Mauro-Manos came in to stop the bleeding, and succeeded in holding the visitors scoreless. But Healdsburg didn’t get on the board until the sixth inning, a single run scored on an RBI single by Nova Perrill II. Damon Smith went 2 for 4 with a double, but offensively the team could not make it happen. Final score was 5-1.
“Montgomery jumped on us early, and we had our chances to come back but it just wasn’t our night,” said coach Mark Domenichelli.
The loss to Montgomery should not have been a complete surprise. Though the Greyhounds ended the season with a strong 17-7 overall record, 11-4 in the league, two of those losses (one a non-league matchup) were to Montgomery—and the other two to Analy, the eventual winner of the playoff tournament.
With this season’s NBL play now passed, the team looks forward to the North Coast Section tournament of the top 16 teams in each division. Healdsburg is seeded #8 in Division 4, and will play #9 seed St. Patrick’s-St. Vincent of Vallejo on Wednesday of this week. Although playoff games generally are played on the higher-seeded team’s field, preparations for the FFA fair (which begins Thursday) mean the game will be played in Vallejo.
Winner of that game, however, faces the division’s #1 seed, Arroyo, in the quarterfinals on Saturday, May 24.
For the softball team, the NCS playoffs also begin this week. The Lady Hounds, however, complete in the D5 division, where they are seeded #10. They played #7 seed Terra Linda on Tuesday and in an exciting game came out ahead, 12-11, after the full seven innings. Next up is a real test, #2 ranked Kennedy on Friday night, May 23.
Go Hounds!
