Little League: Petaluma Valley Juniors advance to state NorCal championship series

The Petaluma Valley Little League Junior All-Stars are headed to the state Northern California championship series.

After falling to Pacifica 4-1 on Tuesday, PVLL bounced back in Thursday night’s game with a shutout 5-0 win over College Glen. All five runs were scored in the fourth inning, while the Petaluma defense only allowed four hits.

Petaluma also got a runner on base in all but one inning, but it was the bottom of the fourth where things really took off.

It started when Callaway Haluska was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Tyler Pelissetti then reached on a fielder’s choice, which advanced Haluska to second.

Colt Cilia then ripped a double to center, scoring Haluska and advancing Pelissetti to third. Petaluma Valley was in business, and the bats were only getting hotter.

“We’ve been in a team slump the last couple of games, but today we strung together some hard-hit balls and had some good hustle plays early in the inning to set the table,” Petaluma Valley head coach Shawn Dooley said. “We are such a talented team and were waiting for those clutch hits to come. Once Colt hit that double, that pumped everybody up.”

Trevor Hermsmeyer then hit a two-run single to center, clearing the bases and extending PV’s lead to three. The ensuing batter, Noah Holley, then walked.

A strikeout and pop-out kept both Holley at first and Hermsmeyer at second, but Hermsmeyer stole third with Brandon Lozinto-Wyatt at the plate to put runners on the corners. Lozinto-Wyatt then walked to load the bases again.

The next batter, Jayden Perry, took full advantage of the situation, singling to left field and scoring two more runs to push the lead to five. And while a strikeout in the next at-bat ended the scoring, the damage had been done.

All the while, Pelissetti was dealing on the bump. He threw a complete-game shutout, allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out five.

“(Pelissetti) was nails like he’s been all season,” Dooley said. “He threw a lot of strikes and I think there was hard contact only once or twice. He also made some really good defensive plays himself.”

Petaluma Valley will rematch with Pacifica in the championship series, in which they will need to win two straight games to capture the title due to the earlier loss. Game 1 will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, and a second game, if necessary, will take place at the same time Saturday.

“It’s do-or-die for us tomorrow, so we can’t hold back and have to be aggressive,” Dooley said. “We have to do what we can to get ahead and stay ahead.”

“We’ll be ready. Our players will be ready; they’re pretty pumped up that we’re coming back tomorrow.”

You can reach Staff Writer Kienan O’Doherty at 415-887-8650 or kienan.odoherty@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @kodoherty22.