The Justin-Siena baseball team improved its playoff chances and seeding with a 5-2 win over visiting Sonoma Valley in a make-up game on Wednesday.
The Braves wrapped up their fifth-place Vine Valley Athletic League record at 6-6 and improved to 12-9 overall, hoping to make the North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs when the brackets are posted Sunday at cifncs.org.
A two-spot by the Braves in the bottom of the first inning was all the scoring until they added another run in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Then they held Sonoma to two runs in the seventh.
Luke Giusto (three innings, two hits, walk, two strikeouts), who got the win, and Drew Sangiacomo (1 1/3 inning, one hit, one walk) held the Dragons scoreless in the first 4 1/3 innings before Everet Johnson (five hits, two earned runs, two walks, four strikeouts) threw the final 2 2/3 frames.
Justin-Siena was out-hit 8-6, getting hits from six players — Henry Meyers (1 for 3, home run, run scored), Emrys Davies (1 for 3, RBI, run scored), Giusto (1 for 2, RBI), Trevor L’Esperance (1 for 4, RBI), Braeden Butler (1 for 1, run scored) and Sam Denkin (1 for 2, double, walk, run scored). Johnson drew two walks and scored a run, Jake Fletcher had one walk and scored a run, and Cesar Avina was hit by a pitch.