Mateo Fitzgerald of Santa Rosa slides back safely to second base after a pickoff attempt by Analy, Friday, April 3, 2026, against Santa Rosa. Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Donnie Rinkor of Analy slides back safely to first base after a pickoff attempt, Friday, April 3, 2026, against Santa Rosa. Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Gabe Franci of Analy, Friday, April 3, 2026, winds up against Santa Rosa. Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Micah Stiles of Santa Rosa lays down a bunt against against Analy, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Santa Rosa. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Analy first baseman Nicky Navarro tags out Micah Stiles of Santa Rosa after bunt attempt, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Santa Rosa. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Santa Rosa pitcher Anthonie Navarro delivers to an Analy batter, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Santa Rosa. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
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Mateo Fitzgerald of Santa Rosa slides back safely to second base after a pickoff attempt by Analy, Friday, April 3, 2026, against Santa Rosa. Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Analy’s red-hot baseball squad won its sixth game in a row Friday night, 5-1 over Santa Rosa, to strengthen the Tigers’ grip on first place in the North Bay League Redwood division.
Analy junior Gabe Franci went five innings in his start on the mound, allowing just one earned run and three hits while totaling five strikeouts to quiet the opposing Panthers.
“Having a nice defense behind me and having them make plays for me, it makes pitching a lot easier,” Franci said afterward.
He finished with 74 pitches before junior Benji Parodi was brought to close out the win in the final two innings.
“He was in the zone all day. He was composed all day.” Analy head coach Matt Stephens said of Franci. “He gave us a chance to win that game and we were able to pull it out.”
With the win, Analy (9-3, 5-0) remains undefeated in league play to top the NBL-Redwood standings. Santa Rosa (5-6, 2-3) currently trails the Tigers, Healdsburg and Montgomery in the league.
Stephens wanted to see more offense from his Tigers in Friday’s contest, despite the final score. Santa Rosa outhit Analy with four hits to the Tigers’ two.
Analy junior Conor Ipsen and senior Kyle Russel had the two hits for the visitors.
“We manufactured a couple runs, we took advantage of some of their mistakes, took advantage of some walks and scored when we could,” Stephens said. “We got lucky we scored when we did and we could have done a lot better at the plate.”
Analy’s first run came on a wild pitch that brought Hunter Thomas home in the first inning. The Tigers’ final two runs came on a dropped pop fly in the sixth inning.
“We’re better than what we showed today offensively,” Stephens said. “Hopefully next week we turn it around offensively.”
The Panthers finished with seven errors.
Santa Rosa pulled starting pitcher Julian Suarez in the top of the third for Anthonie Navarro, who got three outs, including two strikeouts, to end the inning. Suarez finished with 61 pitches and three runs allowed.
After taking over, Navarro was dominant for the Panthers with nine strikeouts through five innings.
“The best I’ve seen him throw ever,” Santa Rosa head coach Paige Dumont said. “It’s tough when you only give up two hits and they get five runs.”
Dumont called Navarro one of the high-energy players on the Santa Rosa roster and said his teammates feed off of that.
The sole run for the Panthers came in the bottom of the third inning from senior Daniel Mills, on an RBI single.
“We’re working on things,” Dumont said of his team’s offensive approach. “We just can’t seem to find the timely hitting right now when we’ve got runners on base.”
The Panthers left seven runners on base.
Senior Mateo Fitzgerald led Santa Rosa with two hits, along with two stolen bases.
Both teams’ next games come Wednesday. Analy plays at St. Vincent in Petaluma, while Santa Rosa hosts Piner.
The two squads will meet again for the final two games of the season in NBL-Redwood play.