Redwood Baseball

3/30/23:  The Redwood Varsity Baseball Giants went flat on Thursday, letting the Peregrine Falcons of Archie Williams come back, hang around, and then finally win an extra-inning contest in San Anselmo, 3-2.  Although the Giants managed 10 hits over 12 innings, and only struck out twice, their contact never converted into scoring, as they stranded 16 runners on the day. 

Things seemed to start off well for the Giants, who came in riding a 6-game winning streak, as they got on the board in the top of the 2^nd against Falcon starter Charlie Scola.  Center fielder Gavin Soper and left fielder Tyler Sofnas both reached base on infield singles, before catcher Rory Coughlan poked a seeing-eye grounder up the middle to score Soper.

Right fielder Jack Moseley followed with a spinning bunt that was about to die on the third base line. Falcon catcher Gilly Roth pounced on it late, firing wildly past first baseman Sam Black,  scoring Sofnas, making it 2-0 with runners on 2^nd and 3^rd and only one out.

But while their fortunes looked bright at that moment, the Giants were unable to score further in the inning, and in fact came to bat a whopping ten more times without scoring. 

Meanwhile, Giants’ starting pitcher Rory Minty was enjoying a typically effective game, allowing no hits through the first three innings, and only one hit through five. The Falcons had only three baserunners through five innings, and one was just temporary.  With two outs in the 3^rd inning, Minty walked Falcon left fielder Max Lefferts, only to watch catcher Rory Coughlan gun him down at second two pitches later. 

In the bottom of the 4^th, Scola led off with a slow roller just past the mound, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Evans. Black’s towering foul pop brought first baseman Ben Resnick all the way over to the side fence, where he deftly reached above the out-of-bounds marker to snare the ball for out number two, with Scola reaching third on the tag. The Rory-Rory battery came through again for the Giants, though, as Minty fired a fastball past third baseman Henry Hanavan, with Coughlan handling the foul tip to retire the side.

Things didn’t go the Giants’ way in the bottom of the 6^th. The Falcons quickly loaded the bases on singles by right fielder Luca Genovese and Lefferts, followed by a well-placed bunt single by Scola. Minty, facing his first real threat in a while, responded by striking out second baseman Jack Evans on three pitches, freezing Evans in his shoes with a dastardly curveball for strike three.

Now with one out and the bases still loaded, cleanup hitter Black lifted what looked to be a routine fly ball out to Gavin Soper in center field. With the normally sure-handed Soper camped under the ball, the question became whether Genovese would score on the tag, or whether Soper would throw him out, preserving Minty’s shutout.  As Black’s ball arrived, Soper set his feet and began shifting his momentum forward to optimize his throw. But unfortunately, at that moment, and unbeknownst to the crowd, Soper was not 100%. In fact, earlier in the day on the basepaths, Soper had hyperextended his left knee while scoring Redwood’s first run.

And as he stepped forward for the throw, Soper’s left cleat caught in the Archie outfield turf, aggravating his knee. Wincing in pain, Soper lost track of the ball, which bounced off of his glove and fell to the ground at his feet, allowing Genovese to score. Instead of being out of the inning up 2-0, the Giants were now up just 2-1, still with only one out, and the bases still loaded.

Giants shortstop Danil Wells dove to his right to corral Falcon third baseman Henry Hanavan’s sharp grounder in the hole, then threw ahead from the seat of his pants to third baseman Rex Solle, forcing Scola for out number two. Unfortunately, Lefferts scored on the play to tie the game 2-2, but things could have been worse.  The Giants finally got out of the inning when pinch-hitter Tiernan Bratcher-Mahon tapped a slow roller to second base, where Theo Trono waited just long enough for first baseman Ben Resnick to get back to the base and make the play.

Down to their last out in the top of the 7^th, the Giants put together something of a threat. Moseley beat out a grounder to short, then stole second. Trono followed with a walk, then both orchestrated a double steal, putting runners on second and third, and bringing Solle, the Giants’ leading hitter, to the plate. Sadly, Solle’s squib down the first base line was handled easily by Black, retiring the side.

Minty, rebounding from his rough patch in the 6^th, retired the Falcons in order in the bottom of the 7^th, sending the game into extra innings, but also nearly maxing out his pitch count, and finishing his day.

The Giants went down in order in the top of the 8^th (and in 3 of the 5 extra innings), but the Falcons weren’t as quiet in the bottom of the 8^th against reliever Chas Veley, as Lefferts worked an 0-2 count into a leadoff walk, advancing to second on a passed ball, then to third on a comebacker.

With one out, and the winning run on third, Evans lifted a fly ball to center eerily similar to the one Soper had dropped two innings ago. This time, Soper made the play cleanly, holding Lefferts at third, and bringing cleanup hitter Black to the plate with two outs.

Black and Veley had squared off before.  Now, in 2023, in the bottom of the 8^th, Veley came up big, striking out Black with a curveball away to retire the side. The score remained tied 2-2.

In the bottom of the 9^th, the Falcons caused another minor scare, putting two runners on with two outs. Roth reached on a slap single up the middle, which Wells reached but had no play on. Then Falcon DH Hudson Lofrano hit what looked to be a routine ground ball to Solle at third. 

By this time, the San Anselmo afternoon sun had nearly set out in left field, and was so low in the sky that Minty was blinded on Solle’s throw across to first, dropping it and putting the winning run in scoring position. Fortunately, Veley again came up with the stop, striking out Genovese to retire the side.

After 11 innings, with the sun fully gone behind the trees, the coaches and umpires agreed to play at most one more inning. If the game remained tied after that, it would be resumed at Redwood the following day before their regularly-scheduled rubber match.

With that in mind, the Giants seriously threatened in the top of the 12^th against Falcon pitcher Nick Forrest (now working his 5^th inning in relief). With one out, Mosely, already with two hits on the day, worked a walk, advancing to second on a beautiful bunt single by Trono. Solle followed with a single up the middle, sending Moseley racing around third towards the plate. Unfortunately, Falcon starting pitcher Scola was now in center field, and uncorked a perfect throw to gun down Mosely by two steps, leaving runners on second and third with two outs.

With the infield and outfield in, and tensions high, the Falcons elected to intentionally walk known quantity Minty to load the bases and get to Veley. But their gamble appeared to fail when Veley stirred the crowd with a line drive to right-center that looked to break open the game.  But the breakthrough was not to be. Maddeningly for Giants fans, Genovese had been playing well off the line in right field, and was able to race over, make the catch and retire the side.

Leading off the Falcons’ final at-bat in the bottom of the 12^th, pinch hitter Ryan Smith-Stewart slapped a grounder into the hole. Catlike, Solle skittered to his left to cut the ball off and make the play. The sun had been gone for at least 30 minutes by now, so Minty’s main concern at first had changed to handling Solle’s throw in the dark, which he did for out number one.

Genovese followed with a sinking liner up the middle, which Trono dove for and managed to knock down, but couldn’t make a play on. Perhaps a bit rattled, and now facing the top of the order, Veley walked Lefferts on four pitches, putting runners on first and second with one out, and the dangerous Scola (already with two hits and two walks on the day) coming to bat.

At this point, needing a stop, Head Coach Mike Firenzi brought in Solle to replace Veley. Even though Firenzi had slated Solle to start the following day, the current situation allowed a maximum of three more batters. And coming off of a dominating 15-strikeout performance, Solle seemed a perfect fit for the occasion, dealing heat in the dark to strike out Scola looking on four pitches.

Alas, with only one out needed to shut the door on a long day, the momentum turned against Redwood. Solle couldn’t find the plate, walking Evans on five pitches to load the bases, then Black on four pitches to end the game. The Falcons mobbed Black at first, right in front of the Redwood dugout, as the Giants trudged off in the dark, smarting at their first MCAL loss of the year.

With the loss, the Giants move to 10-2 on the season (6-1 MCAL). The teams are set to square off again tomorrow at Redwood, where Solle will get another chance to see the Falcons’ lineup, this time in broad daylight.

3/16/23:  The Redwood Varsity Baseball Giants spun an instant classic at home against their crosstown rivals the Tamalpais Red-Tailed Hawks, rallying from behind three times in dramatic fashion, and eventually walking them off 6-5 in the bottom of the 9^th.

The Hawks arrived at Moody Field with a not so fond memory from last year , having been knocked out of the MCAL playoffs by Redwood (also by the score of 6-5). They brought their ace to the mound, 2022 All-MCAL pitcher Tyler Buxton, who held the Giants to three hits over his first four innings, including striking out the side in the 4^th. Unfortunately for Buxton, however, his mastery would not last much beyond that.

On the hill for the Giants was Jerry Omara – from Kampala – who held Tam to one run and two hits on 3 2/3 innings of work, but was also a bit too effectively wild, issuing five walks.

The Hawks got on the board right away, as leadoff hitter Kalden Dossa (another 2022 All-MCAL selection, at shortstop) walked and stole second, scoring on a single by Hawk center fielder Carson Frame, despite a strong throw by Redwood’s own center fielder Gavin Soper. With runners now on first and second, the Giants escaped further damage when third baseman Rex Solle picked a screamer from Buxton off of his left shoelace, throwing over to a leaping Theo Trono at second base to double off Hawk DH Charlie Blau.

In the bottom of the 2^nd, Giants shortstop Danil Wells led off by laying down a perfect bunt single, a foreshadowing of heroics to come. Wells advanced to second on a soft grounder to Dossa, then to third on a balk by Buxton, but was left stranded when Hawk third-baseman Tito Feirsten, playing in, was able to reach DH Quinn Miller’s tapper and throw him out to retire the side.

In the top of the 4^th, Omara’s fifth walk ushered in reliever Chas Veley, who caught Dossa looking with a fastball on the outside corner to get the Giants out of the inning. In the top of the 5^th, however, two walks and a hit batsman later, Veley gave way to sophomore Matt Knauer with two outs and runners on second and third.

Knauer waleked his first two batters to force in a run, making it 2-0 Tam. With the bases still loaded, Redwood held their collective breath when Feirsten shot a line drive into right center, then exhaled when Soper arrived on the run, making the catch for out number three.

The Redwood got to the highly-touted Buxton in the bottom of the 5^th, starting with a Soper single up the middle. But was then caught stealing at second.  Buxton then proceeded to walk pinch-hitter Wyatt Turkington, then allow a single up the middle by Giants right fielder Jack Moseley, before Trono advanced them both with a soaring sacrifice fly down the right field line.

With two outs and Solle at the plate, Buxton uncorked a wild pitch to score Turkington and break the shutout, then hitting Solle to put runners on first and third, bringing first baseman Rory Minty to the plate. Minty, a 2022 second-team All-MCAL pitcher himself, stood in and watched as Buxton released two more wild pitches, scoring Moseley and Solle, and handing Redwood the lead 3-2. 

The Hawks refused to collapse further, though. After a leadoff walk in the top of the 6^th led to Solle coming on in relief, Wells shined on defense, making a circus play on Dossa’s smash up the middle. Fully extended three feet off the ground, Wells snow-coned the high hop, somehow bouncing up and wheeling into a beautiful feed to Trono at second, who nearly turned a 6-4-3 double play.

Dossa, having reached safely, stole second before advancing to third on Hawk second baseman Colin Lam’s grounder to Trono for out number two. Blau’s rocket into the gap in left-center scored Dossa to tie the game at 3-3, and would have scored another too, had it not been for Wells’s magic. Putting a bookend on his inning in the field, Wells quashed Blau’s attempted steal of second, taking catcher Ben Resnick’s strong throw on the short hop, and slapping a nifty tag on the sliding Blau to retire the side. 

The game remained knotted into the 7^th, with reliever Max Paul standing in for the Giants. Frame raked Paul’s first pitch well into right center, but the ever-alert Soper raced over to make the catch. Buxton, however, laced a ball which even Soper couldn’t reach, bouncing a double off the wall near the ‘350’ sign. 

In a replay of the previous day against San Marin, Wells picked lead runner Buxton, taking Hawk first baseman Colin Day’s grounder and throwing ahead to Solle (now back at third base) for out number two. Day – now representing the go-ahead run – then stole second, moving to third on a passed ball. With the infield in, Fiersten then sent Hawk fans into a frenzy with a grounder into right field, regaining the lead 4-3. Again, were it not for Wells’s heads-up play, the lead would have been greater. 

Down by a run, in the bottom of the 7^th, Redwood’s top of the order came out fighting against Hawk reliever Dossa, whose over-the-top delivery took some getting used to. Trono figured it out quickly, dropping a single into left field, while Solle watched a few  curveballs go by before slapping his own single into the hole.

Minty’s fly ball into left center couldn’t advance the runners, but Resnick worked a walk to load the bases. The free pass was especially delightful to Redwood fans, as Dossa – apparently fearful of the speedy Trono and Solle (representing the tying and winning runs, respectively) – had made a total of ten pickoff attempts on them in the inning, and now had advanced them on his own.

With one out, Wells stood in, lofting the first pitch he saw deep enough into right field to score Trono and tie the game, 4-4, while also advancing Solle to third. Resnick held at first, but quickly stole second, raising the pressure on Dossa with two outs and the winning run 90 feet away.  Unfortunately for rhe Giants, Dossa picked that moment to find his groove, striking out Sofnas to end the 7th, and sending the game into extra innings.

Both teams went quietly in the 8^th, as if taking a breather late in a boxing match, receiving treatment in their respective corners before coming out for the final round. And the Hawks came out punching in the top of the 9^th. Giants reliever Resnick, making his first appearance of the year, decided to follow Coach Firenzi’s pitching advice: “Throw strikes and let your defense make the plays.”

Tam seemed to approve of this philosophy, as Frame sent Moseley back with a deep fly ball to right, before Buxton continued his redemption bid with a double down the line, well out of Moseley’s reach. Resnick reached back to strike out Day for out number two, but Hawk left fielder Mike Gensler wouldn’t cooperate, slashing a double down the left field line to score Buxton, and propelling Tam into the lead for the third time, 5-4. Wells helped Resnick out of the inning with a fine play on Fiersten’s sinking liner. Sizing up the trajectory, Wells decided not to take the ball on the hop, instead falling forward and stretching towards the infield grass to make the catch on the fly.

The bottom of the 9^th arrived with Dossa still on the hill, and daylight fading fast. Down to their last at bat once again, the Giants knew that it was now or never. Solle set the tone with a single up the middle, promptly stealing second, and ratcheting up the pressure yet again on Dossa, who  grazed Minty’s jersey, sending Minty to first.

With two men on and no outs, power hitter Resnick surprised the crowd with a sacrifice bunt, putting both the tying and winning runs into scoring position, and bringing Wells to the plate. With the infield in, tension high, and Solle dancing and feinting off of third base on every pitch, Wells worked the count full. It was then that Firenzi picked his moment to strike.

As Dossa delivered the payoff pitch, Solle came crashing down the line on a classic squeeze play. Wells squared to bunt, dropping the ball eight feet in front of the plate, where only Dossa could make the play.

Racing in, Dossa leaned down with his glove hand and shoveled the ball towards Hawk catcher Tristan Diecks, who was steeling himself for the imminent arrival of Solle, the tying run. Runner, ball and catcher all converged at the plate in a blur, and before anyone could tell exactly what had happened, the ball was seen dribbling off to the third base side, all the way to the backstop. The score was definitely tied.

All eyes turned to Minty, who had been following Solle the whole time on the squeeze, and who now saw the unexpected chance to continue home and score the winning run, which he did uncontested. Dossa, standing at the plate in hopes of a last-second play which never materialized, put his head down, turned and walked away, while the Redwood bench emptied onto the field, their whoops and hollers piercing the dusk. The final score stood 6-5.

With the win, Redwood improves to 7-1 (3-0 MCAL), approximately one-third of the way through the 2023 regular season. Next up: the Giants and Hawks go at it again tomorrow in Mill Valley. Could it be another epic clash? Then, next Tuesday, the Giants hop over the hill to visit the Bulldogs of San Rafael.

3/03/23:  One crooked inning was all it took for the Gauchos of Casa Grande High School to hand the Redwood Varsity Baseball Giants their first loss of the young 2023 season. With Redwood up by 2-1 through five innings, the Gauchos scored five runs in the top of the 6^th, then held on to win by a score of 6-4. 

One day after shining on the road against the Petaluma Trojans, the Giants’ pitching couldn’t find the same mound magic at home. A quartet of Redwood hurlers issued 9 walks, hit 4 batters, and generally struggled to find the strike zone. 

Redwood starting pitcher Rex Solle ran hot and cold through four innings, walking the bases full in the top of the 1^st, but settling in by the 3^rd inning to strike out the side 1-2-3. Dishing a whopping 40 pitches in that first frame, Solle managed somehow to hold the Gauchos to just one run, blemished only by right fielder Zach Baird, who singled to right with the bases loaded.

Jack Moseley, the Giants’ freshman right fielder, helped limit the damage in the first as he ranged back on a long fly ball to right-center by stout Gaucho first baseman Alex Cruz. At the last minute, and with the wall fast approaching, Moseley raised his long left arm on the backhand to corral the blast.

Redwood hitters were busy at the plate all day, putting runners into scoring position in every inning but one. In the bottom of the 2^nd, catcher Rory Coughlin belted a triple into the gap in left-center off Gaucho starting pitcher Austin Steeves, but was thrown out at the plate on the very next play, trying to score on Giants center fielder Gavin Soper’s sharp grounder to third. 

In the 3^rd, Giants second baseman Theo Trono legged out a grounder to short, then moved to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt by shortstop Danil Wells (his first of two on the day). When first baseman Rory Minty dropped a single into center field, Trono came racing around to score, tying up the game 1-1 with a head-first slide.

Solle made things interesting again in the top of the 4^th, fanning Baird on a sweeping curveball before walking two batters, hitting one, and uncorking a pair of wild pitches to load the bases with two outs. The junior right-hander emerged unscathed, however, getting Gaucho catcher JT Summers to ground sharply to third, where Redwood’s Lucas Ghio fired across to Minty at first to retire the side. 

The Gauchos also threatened in the top of the 5^th against Giants reliever Matthew Knauer, but were denied by Moseley, who snagged a curving fly ball down the right field line for the second out, then reached down below his knees to pluck a sinking line drive from the air for out number three.

Sparkplug Trono got things going again in the bottom of the 5^th for Redwood against Gaucho reliever Wyatt Abramson, leading off with a double into the left-center field gap, then taking third on another perfect sacrifice bunt by Wells. Trono nearly scored when Abramson pitched wildly behind Minty’s back, and was forced to retreat only when the ball caromed directly off the backstop and back to Summers.

With one out, and runners on first and third, Resnick sent a grounder into the hole, where Gaucho shortstop Jordan Giacomini gloved it and wheeled to second in hopes of starting an inning-ending double play. But that was not to be, as Resnick narrowly beat out the throw at first, scoring Trono and eliciting a howl of protest from Casa Grande’s head coach. His arguments notwithstanding, the 5^th inning ended with the Giants up 2-1.

 That lead was short-lived, however, as Knauer started the 6^th inning by drilling one batter, then walking another, before giving way to reliever Max Paul with one out. Paul started no better, walking Steeves (now in center field; Steeves walked four times on the day, and finished 1-for-1 in 5 appearances) to load the bases. Summers then lifted a ball to Soper in center field, deep enough to score the runner from third, tying the score 2-2 with two outs, and bringing the hefty Cruz to the plate with runners on first and second.

When Cruz powered yet another ball out in the direction of Moseley, who had robbed him at the wall at the start of the game, it appeared that history might repeat itself, and that the Giants might escape the inning. This time, however, turned out differently. Moseley started in, then realized that backspin on the ball might carry it over his head. Shooting his glove up at the last minute, Moseley couldn’t contain the ball, and watched it squirt out of his grasp and roll behind him.

The runners, moving on contact with two outs, both scored easily, unlocking the score at 4-2. When Abramson followed with a line drive single to left making it 5-2, the wind seemed to have been sucked out of Redwood’s sails.

Paul gave way on the mound to Chas Veley, who promptly picked Abramson off at first (appearing to end the inning), but  was called for a balk . The breaks were all going the Gauchos’ way. Right fielder Kalen Clemmens then proceeded to take advantage of his free at-bat by dropping a flare just over third base and inside the left field line to pad the Gaucho lead at 6-2.

Redwood continued to battle, though, loading the bases in the bottom of the 6^th with one out.  Wells scored Solle on a grounder to third, drawing the Giants within 6-3, before Minty was called out looking . Satisfied with the call, and with his lead, the Casa Grande coach began to argue again – this time to call the game for darkness, while the clock continued to tick, and the temperature dipped into the 40’s. As before, his arguments went unheeded.

The Gauchos loaded the bases on Veley in the top of the 7^th, but Abramson’s fly ball to Soper finally ended their afternoon at the plate.

In the bottom of the 7^th, with two outs, in an eerie near-darkness, Soper singled up the middle to drive in Resnick and bring the Giants within two. And when Soper advanced to second on a passed ball, it seemed that maybe, just maybe, they had a chance to tie it up. But once Solle swung and missed at a last Abramson curveball, the dim red lights on the scoreboard reading 6-4 were all that was left to see.

The loss brings the Giants to 4-1 on the season (0-0 MCAL). They kick off league play next Tuesday in Novato at San Marin, before returning home to host the Mustangs on Thursday. 

2/25/23:

Redwood Giants Varsity stole the lead late and defeated Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory Varsity Fighting Irish 2-1 on Saturday.  The game was tied at one with Redwood Giants Varsity batting in the bottom of the sixth when Rory Coughlan singled on the first pitch of the at bat, scoring the game winning run.

The pitching was strong on both sides. Redwood Giants Varsity pitchers struck out eight giving up just one run, while Sacred Heart gave up just 2 runs.

Sacred Heart got things moving in the first inning.  Aaron Louis’s sac fly scored one run for the Fighting Irish.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Giants tied things up at one when Gavin Soper singled on the first pitch of the at bat, scoring one.   

Rory Minty was the winning pitcher for Redwood. The bulldog allowed zero hits and zero runs over two innings, striking out three and walking zero.

Chas Veley started the game for Redwood Giants Varsity. Veley surrendered one run on one hit over five innings, striking out five and walking zero.

Redwood Giants Varsity saw the ball well today, racking up six hits in the game.  Soper and Coughlan each tallied multiple hits for the Giants.  Coughlan and Soper each managed two hits to lead the team.  Redwood was sure-handed and didn’t commit a single error. 

Quinn Middleton went 1-for-2 at the plate to lead Sacred Heart Cathedral in hits.

The Redwood Varsity Baseball Giants got their 2023 season off to a rousing start. The Varsity beat Analy by a score of 19-2 , on a bright, chilly February morning in Sebastopol.  The Junior Varsity and Freshman teams also brought home victories in their respective games vs. the Tigers.  

 Varsity Game Summary:

While the Giants needed a few innings to push a run across, they proceeded to post crooked numbers in each of the last four innings, consistently keeping the smallball line moving, with 20 singles, 6 stolen bases and only one extra-base hit on the day. Meanwhile, four Redwood pitchers combined to allow just one Tiger hit over seven innings, missing a no-hitter by a single out.

In the top of the first, talented freshman second baseman Theo Trono started things off for the Giants by lifting Dooley’s second pitch of the year into left field for a single, then immediately stole second. Next up, center fielder Gavin Soper raked a sharp liner up the middle to put runners on first and third with no outs, but was promptly picked off, at first.

Pitcher Rory Minty’s soft fly ball to shallow left couldn’t advance Trono, but it seemed Redwood would draw first blood anyway, when first baseman Ben Resnick powered a ball all the way to the fence down the right field line. Resnick had at least three bases on his mind when the home plate umpire surprisingly called the ball foul. The problem was that, with the morning dew heavy on the uneven outfield grass at this early-season game, Analy hadn’t yet drawn any foul lines beyond the bases, so Resnick’s ball was “down the right field line” in theory only, since there was no right field line. Visibly frustrated, Resnick returned to the plate, only to swing and miss on a slow curve ball, retiring the side.

The remainder of the first three innings passed uneventfully, as returning Redwood southpaw ace Rory Minty held the Tigers hitless, allowing just two baserunners on a walk and a throwing error.

The Giants finally broke through in the top of the fourth, pushing 6 runs across on four singles, two wild pitches and a walk. Left fielder Tyler Sofnas got things going with a single to right, stealing second, then combining on a double-steal with third baseman Lucas Ghio, who had walked. With runners on second and third and no outs, Giant shortstop Danil Wells singled sharply up the middle to score two, opening the floodgates for Redwood.

Catcher Rory Coughlin followed with a perfectly-executed hit and run. With Wells running, the right-handed Coughlin guided the ball straight through the hole vacated by Tiger second baseman Renzo Cantu. And when right fielder Jerry Omara walked to load the bases, it brought up the top of the order in the form of the hot-hitting Trono, who had been robbed in the 3^rd on a sinking liner to center field. The ball had been called a catch, but looked to have been trapped.

Trono more than made up for it, however, reaching out and poking Dooley’s latest offering into left field, scoring another two, as Coughlin tore around third on Wells’s heels, just beating the throw. After Omara scored on a wild pitch, Trono came in on what seemed like a routine grounder from Minty to the Tiger first baseman who fielded the ball well off the base, realized that his pitcher was not going to cover in time from the mound. He then turned and flipped to Cantu, who was also racing towards first from his position at second base. Cantu caught the toss somewhere in the general vicinity of first, then embarked on a kind of toe-tapping hunt for the bag, not really coming close to finding it as Minty rushed safely past. Nonetheless, the umpires decided to award the out to Analy, which was yet another tough call, but not heartbreaking, as the score now stood 6-0, and the Tigers were clearly on the ropes.

After Minty polished off his 4-inning tuneup with a 1-2-3 inning, Redwood took to the plate again in the top of the 5^th, batting around and pushing across eight more runs. Highlights included two more singles from Wells, Trono’s third hit of the game, and a bases-loaded smash from new left fielder Chas Veley over the right fielder’s head and to the fence, scoring Coughlin to make the score 10-0. The ball turned into the game’s longest single, however, as the coaches held the two runners in front of Veley, who was nearly to second when he realized the base wouldn’t be open, so was picked off easily on his forced backtrack to first. The out hardly squashed the rally, though, as Minty drove the next ball to center, scoring both runners and making the score 12-0. Incoming first baseman Harrison Lapic also contributed, singling and scoring run number 14 for the Giants.

Jerry Omara took the hill for Redwood in the bottom of the 5^th. Omara, a recent transfer originally hailing from the east African country of Uganda, came out firing, striking out the side after a leadoff walk, and retiring the Tigers 1-2-3 in the sixth. Omara also helped himself at the plate with a double to left, the Giants’ only extra-base hit of the game, scoring incoming second baseman Quinn Miller and making it 15-0.

Redwood continued to pour it on, adding another run in the 6^th, and three in the 7^th, for a total of 19 on the day. Wells and Sofnas led the way with four hits each, with Sofnas reaching base six times – the other two the hard way, via fastballs to his left shoulder.

Analy fans broke out in applause in the bottom of the 7^th, as the Tigers managed to touch Giant reliever Matt Knauer for two unearned runs, and their only hit of the game, a two-out double by third baseman Ben Menard over Sofner’s head in center field. When Knauer drilled the next batter, the Giants brought Veley to the mound to end things, which he did with a single pitch, getting Cantu to pop up to Wells for the final out of the game.

The Giants (0-0, 0-0 MCAL), will start their early season non-league play on Feb 21, visiting the Montgomery Vikings in Santa Rosa.

5/13: There was a big, enthusiastic crowd on hand at Albert Field for the MCAL Championship game. Redwood and MC had split the season series, so this figured to be a good matchup. In the end, MC prevailed on a walk-off HR in the 8th to win 3-2.

The bottom line in this game was that Giants couldn’t put together any clutch hits. Indeed, the Giants only had 2 hits total, to MC’s 7. It also didn’t help that Giants hitters struck out 10 times! Despite that, the Giants were up 2-1 going into the bottom on the 7th, but couldn’t hold on. MC got a run to tie the game, sending it into extras.

In the top of the 8th, Redwood went down without any hits. In the bottom of the 8th, Brad Burnes stepped up to the plate for MC and destroyed a ball over the left field wall. This was Burnes’ second dinger of the game and both of his blasts were big-boy home runs. Absolutely crushed. It was an impressive display, which unfortunately came at the Giants’ expense.

Rory Minty got the start for the Giants and he pitched well. He went six innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits, with 5 strikeouts and 1 walk. He certainly pitched well enough to win, but just didn’t get enough run support from the Giants’ offense. The only real notable AB for the Giants was Colin Cuneen, who put a charge into a ball that was hit to the warning track in left. The ball was smoked, but caught by the left fielder for a long out.

The Giants fell to 18-8 on the season. NCS play begins next week.

5/5: Kent Goodman had all of his pitches working on a nice afternoon at College of Marin versus Branson. On the strength of Goodman’s no-hitter, the Giants cruised to an 8-0 victory. Although Goodman’s pitching was the story of the game, Redwood’s offense was productive and efficient. The Giants tallied 11 hits. Cole McGowan had a big game with 3 hits, while Rex Solle went 2-3 with 2 RBIs.

Nick Gehrman came on in the seventh to pinch hit and blasted a single to left field. While this hit wasn’t terribly consequential to the outcome of the game, it raised Gehrman’s batting average to a lofty .500, while also pushing his on-base percentage to an eye-popping .714.

The Giants ended the MCAL regular season with a record of 17-7 overall, 12-4 in MCAL. The MCAL playoffs commence next week. The Giants (3 seed) will take on Tam (2 seed) at their place on Tuesday, May 10th at 4:30.

4/29: It was a beautiful day at Moody Field in Larkspur. Perfect weather. Reminded me of why we live here. Sadly, the game against Tam was anything but idyllic. Tam put the hammer down for an 11-2 drubbing. They swept the season series and are 5-0 against us over the past two seasons.

The first 5 innings of this game were horrific. Redwood gave up seven runs on seven walks. You just can’t win ballgames when you can’t find the strike zone. At the end of 5, the score was 7-0. The Giants showed some fight in the last two innings, but it was too little, too late.

There weren’t too many positives in this game, although there were a few. First, Tyler Blair returned to the mound after a long layoff. Blair was the ace of the staff last season, so this season was highly anticipated. An injury postponed his return, but it was great to see him back. And the team is going to need him down the stretch. Luca Bove made some great plays in right, including a sliding catch in foul territory where he crashed into the fence. A truly remarkable play. Charlie Welch was the star on offense with three hits. Rory Minty also crushed a double off the right field wall. Finally, I was impressed by Colin Cuneen’s AB. He came off the bench to pinch-hit and scorched a ball to right center for a base hit. In the end, though, the Giants just weren’t consistent enough on either side of the ball.

This team has an abundance of talented ballplayers. It is time for this team to put it together for the stretch run.

The Giants are now 15-7, 10-4 in MCAL.