Game Reports from Piedmont Baseball-Softball Foundation, April 22-29

By Matt Burge

Weekly game results for Piedmont Baseball Foundation teams are listed below. Game information from coaches and team representatives should be submitted by Sunday at 8 p.m. at www.piedmontbaseball.org using the “Game Publicity” menu item. Results below are from games played last week.

SOFTBALL U6

Black Cats vs. Silver Dolphins

After several weeks of wet weather, the Piedmont Black Cats played the Piedmont Silver Dolphins, and both teams had a great showing! For the Black Cats, Ginger Gardner ripped the ball into the outfield; Sadie Lahey Teare and Gretchen Gerhardy had very strong defensive plays at short and first. For the second game of the season, the girls were focused in that hot sun and had fun!

SOFTBALL U10

Piedmont Dragons 14, Oakland Blue Crystals 9

The Dragons topped the Oakland Blue Crystals Saturday at Witter Softball. First-time pitchers Becky Isaac and Chloe Tjogas did well in their debut. Key early hits by Camille Creighton, Rachel Elliott, Tjogas and Kelly Mitchell helped the Dragons jump to a 9-6 lead, but the Crystals came back to tie it at 9 in the 4th. In the bottom half, Angela Huang led off with a double. Lilli Nilsson and Jasmine Edwards both walked. Maeve Gilbert then singled, eventually scoring. Creighton also scored.

Piedmont Dragons 10, Oakland Blue Blizzard 12

The Dragons and Oakland Blue Blizzard traded the lead, with Nina Tafapolsky and Chloe Tjogas picking up singles and Naomi Fedor a double. With the score tied at 10, the Blizzard brought in their closer, who struck out the Dragons' side. Maeve Gilbert picked up 2 Ks in her inning pitching and Camile Creighton struck out 3. The Dragons also threw out a runner on catcher Chloe Tjogas's excellent throw to 3rd baseman Maeve Gilbert, who tagged the would-be thief out. The Dragons gave up a game winning single in the final at bat. Kelly Mitchell, Sophia Whitley, Becky Isaac, Jasmine Edwards, and Annabeth Meaney also scored runs for the Dragons.

SOFTBALL U12-U14

Piedmont Ball Hogs 6, Oakland #2 The Rush 8

The Ball Hogs suffered their first loss of the season in a tough game against the Oakland Rush. Sophie Reynolds pitched three good innings with 5 strike-outs. Pitcher Nicole Shoptaugh was "three up, three down" in two of the three innings in which she pitched. Strong offense was provided by Sydney Boxer (double, single and two RBIs). Annie Pellegrini had a great defensive play with a running fly catch in right field and a throw to first base to pick off the lead Rush runner.

SHETLAND

River Cats vs. Sea Dogs

It was a back and forth battle. Both sides felt the highs and lows of Shetland baseball. In the end, victory was less important than participation. Players of the game were Adan Sotelo and Miguel Long for the Seadogs, and Roen Youkstetter and Maika Hamer for the River Cats.

PINTO

Piedmont Cardinals 39, Orinda Screamers 9

The Cardinals played another great game with some fantastic hits and fielding against the Orinda Screamers. There were notable triples from Antonio Rivera, Brian Cain, Nico DeFazio, Max Young, Hollis Willliams, and Daniel McLaughlin. Consistent RBI's from Alex Tafapolsky, Cormac Whitney, Cole Pugsley, Kai Baudendistel, and Chaz Whitley and a double by Murray Davis when there were 2 outs led to an 8-run inning. Rivera, Baudendistel, and Whitney made great catches in the filed.

Piedmont Cardinals 19, Orinda Swing’ahs 14

The Cardinals showed tremendous teamwork at bat on on the field against the Orinda Swing'ahs this past Wednesday. Highlights include RBIs from Cole Pugsley, Antonio Rivera, Alex Tafapolsky, Brian Cain, Nico DeFazio, Cormac Whitney, Dean Cain, Daniel McLaughlin, Kai Baudendistel and Max Young. Equally impressive were multiple outs in the field, including a caught line drive and double play by DeFazio and a big catch by Pugsley in left field. The team worked together to retire the Swing'ahs in order with consecutive "1 2 3" innings when the game was very close.

MUSTANG

Bandits 3, The Other Team 2

The Bandits eked out a 3-2 win over The Other Team in a game that featured outstanding pitching from both teams. For The Other Team, Judge Williams threw two scoreless innings and Josh Eidam had a key RBI single in a game that featured very few hits. The Bandits got outstanding pitching from Ryan Tripp, Ellington Davis, Alex Hilton and Ben Halperin and two sensational outfield catches from Owen Colbert.

Piedmont Bears 16, Piedmont Knights 11

This contest featured multiple lead changes with the Bears ultimately coming out on top. Luke Barrett pitched two innings of shut-out ball, Jackson de Melo scored three runs, and Garrett Savage, Aaron Somers-Satue and Elliot Meeks contributed hits for the Bears. The Knights got solid pitching from Alan Rossi, Francisco Cheung, Justin Casey, Will Shields and Scott Ewing, and multiple hits from Kyle Spanier and Luke Harris.

Piedmont Polar Cats 8, Moraga Pirates 6

Down by 3 runs in the last inning, the Polar Cats staged a thrilling 5-run rally thanks to timely hits from Cutter Mitchell and Nicholas Lalli. Abe Barnes closed the door on the Pirates to close out the game.

Piedmont Bears 10, Piedmont Knights 4

The Bears won their third in a row with Eli Kleinmann, Brady Dunne, Matty Clavin, and Billy McNeil pitching quality innings. Cole Canine and Luke Barrett paced the offense with mulitiple hits and runs batted in. For the Knights, Luke Harris threw two shut-out innings, and Max Friedman, Jared Tsukahara, Scott Ewing, Soren Call, and Thomas Wilson provided offensive and defensive contributions.

BRONCO

Piedmont Red Raiders 11, Moraga A’s 7

Ben Barrett started the Red Raider’s scoring off with a RBI triple. They would go on to score two more runs in the first inning off a scorching base hit by Brett Ewing. The Red Raiders would hold the lead throughout the rest of the game. Cole Kingston threw three strong innings, striking out nine batters while allowing only one unearned run. Kingston also had a a pair of run scoring hits; a single and a double. Dinetz, Dalton, Pine, and Devroede all contributed hits to the offense.

Piedmont Red Raiders 1, Orinda Angels 9

Will Dalton pitched four innings allowing only two earned runs, but the Orinda Angels starter shut the Red Raiders down by pitching five scoreless innings. Dinetz, Pine, Wuebbens, and Conn all had hits in the game but it wasn’t until the sixth inning that the Red Raiders finally strung some hits together to mount an offensive attack with base hits by Kingston and Woolcott, yet they weren’t able to break through.

Piedmont Vipers 6, Orinda Angels 6

The Vipers jumped out to a 6-2 lead with strong pitching from Logan Vawter and Will Suppiger. The big blow was a 3-run over-the-fence home run by Trent Settlemier. The Angels tied the score in the 6th, but Patrick Aebi held them scoreless in the 7th and 8th to secure the tie.

Piedmont Vipers 15, Moraga Dodgers 8

Owen Levinson pitched three strong innings and had three hits to lead the Vipers. Sidd Gala had a successful first outing on the mound, and Aiden Dixon pitched two good innings and had a big double to put the game away. Jackson Cavenaugh also hit and fielded well.

Piedmont Aces 20, Orinda Rebels 16

With an offense that took off in the last 3 innings, the Aces battled for the win, 20-16. Grant Keating had 4 RBIs, Sam White scored 2 with 2 RBIs, Carson Lang and EJ Cheung both scored 1 and had 2 RBIs. Gabriel Liu scored 3 and had 4 hits. Jonah Sanders and Avery Von Herrman each pitched a 3 up, 3 down inning. Lucas Scherman denied a Rebel a double from center with his throw to second base. Andrew Newell had a strong throw from center to home for a successful tag out.

Piedmont Aces 8, Moraga Yankees 14

The Yankees scored 13 of their 14 in 3 innings to beat the Aces. EJ Cheung pitched a scoreless inning with 2 strikeouts; Andrew Newell only allowed 1 run in 3 innings with 4 strikeouts. Julian Turner had 3 RBIs. Grant Keating scored 1 and had 2 RBIs. Nick Moeller scored 2 from a double and a walk. Lucas Scherman scored 1 and had an RBI. Elan Valdez-Kaminsky scored 1 from a single.