3/7/23: Redwood JV continued their early season roll with an 8-2 win over the San Marin Mustangs in their first MCAL game of the year.  Redwood is now 6-0 overall and 1-0 in the MCAL standings.

San Marin came out swinging in the first inning.  With one out, the Mustangs used an infield hit and a booming double to go up 1-0.  After a Redwood error, San Marin had two on with only one out and looked ready to add to their lead.  But Redwood’s ace Jack Gurley, having just allowed his first earned run of the year, shut the door with back-to-back strikeouts.

The Giants came alive in the bottom of the second thanks to some strategic at-bats and plenty of San Marin miscues.  After Miles Harrison was plunked on the helmet to open the frame and then stole second on the ensuing pitch, Cole Engstrom dropped a bunt directly in front of the plate.  A throwing error by the Mustang catcher scored Harrison and allowed Engstrom to race all the way to third. Jordan Kimball drove Engstrom in with an infield single and moved to second on another throwing error.  After a Kiran Murray single moved Kimball to third, Kaelin Chrisman picked up an RBI with a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher.  Speedster Conall Bourke came in to run for Murray at second and quickly came in to score with a head-first dive after the left fielder for San Marin misplayed Eric Mittelman’s line drive.  TJ Beck eventually drove Mittelman in with a hard single up the middle, putting Redwood up 5-1.

Redwood faced down another threat in the top of the third, as San Marin loaded the bases with no outs on two singles and a walk.  Gurley struck out the next batter, and catcher Miles Harrison nabbed a runner at the plate on a failed suicide squeeze for the second out.  An error allowed a run to score before a groundout ended the frame and limited the damage.

The Giants plated three runs in the fifth on RBI singles by Ryan Scott and Harrison.  Kimball tripled in Engstrom for his second hit of the day, and that closed the scoring for the game.  

Ryan Scott made his first appearance of the year on the mound when he came in from right field to pitch in the 6th.  After he walked the first batter, he induced a 6-4-3 double play on the next pitch to clear the bases.  Scott settled in after that and finished the game, going two innings and giving up no runs on a couple hits and a walk.

If weather permits, the back half of this home-and-away series against the Mustangs will take place on Friday in Novato, as Redwood looks to continue its early-season run.

3/02/23:  Jack Gurley continued his early-season dominance on the mound in Redwood’s 3-0 victory over the visiting Petaluma Trojans.  Gurley was highly efficient, tossing a complete game two-hitter on just 73 pitches.

Redwood was able to push 3 runs across the plate with a combination of small-ball tactics and speed on the basepaths.  In the first inning, Carter Capobianco reached on an infield single to shortstop, and stole second on the next pitch.  TJ Beck singled sharply to left to drive Capobianco in and put Redwood on the board.

The second inning for Redwood started up a similar path, as Jordan Kimball reached on an infield single to short and immediately stole second base.  Kimball was running again on the next pitch and never slowed down – Kiran Murray dropped a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher, and Kimball scored all the way from second when Petaluma opted for the out at first and was unable to relay to home in time to get the speedy Kimball.  

In the fifth inning, Cabobianco hit another infield single, and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  TJ Beck dropped a bunt down the third base line and reached on a error, Petaluma’s only miscue of the day.  Capobianco came in to score on the errant throw, closing out the scoring for the day.

But this was Gurley’s game.  The tall right-hander is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA this season, having thrown 15 innings across three starts while allowing just three hits and two walks.  His next opportunity should come next week as Redwood JV starts their MCAL slate with a home-and-away against San Marin.

The Redwood JV Baseball Giants’ 2022 season ended on a muted note, as the Giants fell, 7-3, to a much-improved Tam High squad.  Having “mercied” the same group of Red-tailed Hawks three days prior, Redwood came into the game with high expectations.

The sun was shining, the winds were calm, the crowd was large – and an umpire even showed up five minutes before the game.  All the elements seemed to be in place for a thrilling contest.

In a surprise move, erstwhile outfielder Gavin Soper took the mound for the Giants. Soper began dealing heat right away, striking out the side in the bottom of the first..

Redwood drew first blood in the top of the second. Giants’ first baseman Jordan Kimball dropped a single into right field, then promptly stole second. Left fielder Wyatt Turkington then ripped a double through the right-center field gap, scoring Kimball. A wild pitch and two walks then loaded the bases for Superman DH Tony Metaxas, who had torn up the Hawks at the plate three days before.

Hawks’ starter Henry Simpson, having watched that performance, brought his kryptonite to the party, in the form of a curveball which Metaxas watched spinning by to retire the side, with the Giants up 1-0.

Soper’s second inning didn’t go quite as smoothly as the first, as four walks, a pair of singles and a wild pitch resulted in two runs for the Hawks. One bright spot: with runners at first and third, Hawks second baseman Cooper Kift broke for second base, but was gunned down by Giants’ catcher Ryan Ip, with a throw so good that it held the runner at third.

All of this resulted in quite a workload for Soper, who by the end of two innings had already thrown 69 pitches. Nevertheless, with Hawks’ shortstop Hugo Barbieri’s bases-loaded popup to Kimball, the Giants were out of the inning down only 2-1.

Soper helped himself right away in the top of the third, leading off with a blast over the head of Hawks’ right fielder Holden Bougie. Soper thought about three, with a big turn around second base, but settled for a long double. Giants’ second baseman Max Paul sent a scorching grounder over the bag at first, which was somehow handled by Bonneau for one out. Soper took third, then came racing in to score on a wild pitch, tying the game 2-2. Soper had time to waltz in standing up, but elected to go for the hyper-aggressive head-first slide, which was definitely a crowd-pleaser, even on the Tam field artificial turf.

After a walk to Giants’ shortstop Sam Sumski, Kimball watched two of those kryptonite curveballs go by, then lifted the third one to shallow right center. Hawks’ center fielder Gavan Smeltzer looked like he had no chance at the ball, but raced in, and with a full dive, got his glove under the ball as it landed, robbing Kimball of a hit, and sucking away the Giants’ momentum. The pesky Smeltzer continued to vex the Giants throughout the game, including on the very next play, chasing down Giants’ right fielder Harrison Lapic’s deep drive to center, to retire the side.

The bottom of the third was the end of the line for the Soper pitching experiment. With Bonneau leading off, Soper bounced a pitch so far in front of the plate that it bounced up and clocked the umpire in the ear, triggering a five-minute timeout for first aid to be applied.

Soper’s final pitch to Bonneau was a wild ball four. As Ip chased the ball to the backstop, Bonneau unexpectedly rounded first and raced towards second base.  The umpire hadn’t called time out, and the ball was live. Ip fired down to second, but no one was covering, as the middle infield seemed uncertain that such an advance was even legal. Alas, it was, and so Bonneau helped himself to third base while he was at it.

With this bit of Keystone Kops behind them, and the score still tied, the Giants hoped to turn the page. They brought Paul in to pitch, swapping Soper to second base (another position he had not played all year).

Paul got Hawks’ catcher Ben Miller to line out to center fielder Jack Corvi, but Corvi’s throw wasn’t in time to catch Bonneau, who was tagging at third.  Several fans remarked that Bonneau had left the base prior to the catch, but the ump hadn’t seen that, so when Ip carried the ball to third, his protest was denied, and the run counted, putting the Hawks ahead 3-2.

A hit, a hit batsman and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with one out, bringing Hawks’ backup right fielder CJ Ceral to the plate. Ceral hit a line drive which found its way under the glove of Soper, scoring both runners and bringing the score to 5-2.

But the Hawks weren’t done yet. The pesky Smeltzer grounded into what could have been a 6-4-3 double play, but beat out the throw to first, taking second on a wild pitch, and then third on a wild pickoff attempt.  With two outs, Hawks’ left fielder PJ Ceral (brother of right fielder CJ) topped a grounder over third base to close out the scoring for the inning at 6-2.

The Giants tried to formulate a rally in the bottom of the fifth, but the bounces just didn’t go their way.  Soper led off with a blast nearly to the fence in right field, but CJ Ceral was playing him just right, and put it away for out number one.

Paul followed by tomahawking a high fastball up the middle for a single, followed by Sumski’s own hard-hit ball – a single to right field. And when Kimball poked a soft liner just out of Kift’s reach into right field, the Giants found themselves with the bases loaded and only one out.  But the rally was not to be; for some reason, at that moment, the baseball gods turned their backs on Redwood.

Lapic’s soft liner curved towards Barberie’s shoetops, where he bent down and plucked the ball on the fly for out number two, bringing Turkington to the plate. Turkington, who had been hitting the ball well all game, smoked a line drive up the middle, raising the hopes of the Redwood contingent – hopes that were just as quickly dashed by the long arm of Barberie, reaching out behind second base to snatch the ball out of the air, and quash the Giants’ rally.

The Hawks tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth, as 6’6” Reed Hanna, now in at first base, blasted a ball nearly over the fence in left center, scoring Hawks’ DH Jack Scalisi to make it 7-2. In retrospect, the Giants had saved another run on Scalisi’s grounder to Lapic, who caught the ever-pesky Smeltzer off the bag at third, and initiated a lengthy rundown involving four throws, until Ip finally applied the tag. For those of you scoring, the play went 5-2-6-2-5-2 (which is also Smeltzer’s locker combination).

Down five runs, the Giants made a last-gasp effort in the top of the seventh. With Hawks’ reliever Henry Stoll on the hill, Soper led off with a single to left field, followed by a walk to Paul. Sumski’s soft liner was handled by Kift, though, and when Kimball struck out in front of a slow curveball, the Giants were down to their last out.

A collective groan erupted when Lapic swung and missed at another curveball for strike three, but the groans became shouts when the ball skipped by Miller, and Lapic hustled to first base. The Giants were alive, and the bases were loaded! A subsequent walk to Turkington made the score 7-3.

Stoll,  now facing the tying run in Corvi at the top of the order, dished up a fastball that Corvi smashed to third base. But alas, Hawks’ third baseman Ryder Covey was there in front of it. Covey went to a knee to smother the ball, then picked it up, took two steps to the base for the force, and just like that, Redwood’s season was over.

The Giants closed out the year at 14-9 (8-4 MCAL). Max Paul led the team with a .407 batting average for the year, followed by Jack Corvi at .362, Sam Sumski at .339, Jordan Kimball at .333, and Quinn Miller at .321. Of course, no discussion of batting average can ignore Quinn Newlin  – off the charts at 1.000.

Paul and Lapic shared the team lead in RBIs with 14 apiece, followed by Chas Veley with 12.

In terms of pitching, Paul led the team in strikeouts with 35, followed by Veley with 28, and Cole Engstrom with 27.

The Redwood JV Baseball Giants journalistic staff wishes all players, families and coaches a beautiful, Covid-free summer, and looks forward to the resumption of play in 2023.

The Redwood JV Baseball Giants snapped back from disappointing losses in their last two games, taking out their frustration on visiting non-league opponent the Pinole Valley Spartans. The Giants rested many regulars for the game, but the fresh faces in today’s lineup gelled together nicely, coming out on top 8-1.

Julian Kempler took the mound for Redwood, and looked like a new man, throwing 70% of his pitches for strikes, and holding the Spartans to just one walk and three hits over five shutout innings. Kempler started off the game nicely, with a 1-2-3 inning. 

Redwood got on the board in the bottom of the first, as shortstop Quinn Miller bashed a single on the first pitch he saw from Spartan starter Craig Jensen. Miller promptly stole second, then took third on a wild pitch, before right fielder Wyatt Turkington reached out to poke a single just inside the right field line, scoring Miller.

In the bottom of the third, Miller was back at it, slamming a shot over the center fielder’s head for a leadoff double. First baseman Jordan Kimball walked, while Miller was stealing third base, then immediately stole second himself.  Lapic brought the crowd to their feet with a line drive to left which landed just foul, before walking to load the bases.

Turkington lined a pitch, but right at Spartan right fielder Daniel Sheppard, so was unable to advance the runners. But left fielder Drew Song took an outside pitch the other way into left for his second hit of the game, scoring Miller.  Catcher Ryan Ip followed with his own single into left, bringing Kimball across, and making it 3-0.

With runners on 1st and 2nd, center fielder Theo Eschliman continued the Giants’ streak of hard contact, smashing a grounder down the third base line. Spartan third baseman Gael Castellanos dived to make a spectacular play, landing with his glove on the bag for out number two, before leaping to his feet and firing across the diamond. The throw would have been in time, but went wild, allowing Eschliman to reach safely, and scoring Song to make it 4-0. Kempler (obviously eager to get back on the mound) then grounded out to shortstop to end the inning. 

In the top of the fourth, Spartan shortstop Junior Malan led off by crushing a ball to center field for a standup double, but was unable to advance. Following a walk and a strikeout, Spartan DH Dennis Rae lined a ball to Giants’ second baseman Elakai Anela, who grabbed it and wheeled to second, doubling off Malan to end the inning.

The Giants didn’t let up in their half of the inning, putting two more runs on the board. Anela led off by taking a fastball in the back, before Miller rapped his third hit of the game. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, before Lapic scored Anela with a long sacrifice fly to left field. Miller scored soon thereafter on another wild pitch, bringing the score to 6-0.

In the top of the fifth, Anela charged a weak grounder by Spartan second baseman Mario Lopez, throwing it away and allowing Lopez to advance to second. This all seemed to be a setup, however, as Spartan center fielder Jaylen Smalls lined another ball to Anela, who snagged it and turned what looked to be an instant replay from the previous inning, doubling off Lopez at second base to retire the side.

Max Paul came in to close out the last two innings, holding the Spartans to one run on two hits. Meanwhile, the Giants still had a few tricks up their collective sleeve, as they came to bat in the bottom of the sixth. Lapic led off and was plunked, bringing substitute right fielder Danny Lim to the plate.

Lim hit the ball sharply off the glove of Castellanos, who was now in to pitch. Jensen, now at third base, pounced on the carom, but threw it away at first, allowing Lapic to score, while Lim continued all the way around to third base. Song followed with his third hit of the game, scoring a joyous Lim, who made his way triumphantly into the Giant dugout, the score now 8-1.

Quinn Newlin, who had come in to play center field, followed with a sharp single to left field, making him a perfect two for two on the year. Newlin, who joined the team as a scorekeeper after last playing baseball in third grade, maintained his world-record 1.000 batting average, never having been put out in the last seven years!

Down to their last at-bats, the Spartans managed to load the bases on two walks and a hit batsman, bringing Castellanos to the plate.  A palpable gasp of hope arose from the Spartan fans as Castellanos lifted a ball to deep right field. Danny Lim, who hadn’t yet handled a chance in the field this year, took a few steps back, blinked once or twice, then raised up his glove to make the play and end the game.

With the win, the Giants move to 13-8 on the year (7-3 MCAL). They close out their season next week with two games against Tam, hosting the Red-tailed Hawks on Tuesday, before traveling to Mill Valley on Friday for the season finale.

The Redwood JV Baseball Giants lost a heartbreaker of a game Tuesday to the Archie Williams Peregrine Falcons, despite the heroic efforts of Giants’ pitcher Chas Veley, who threw a no-hitter over six innings for the second time this year. The final score was 1-0.

Veley, returning from a two-week hiatus for a back injury, re-emerged stronger than ever,  in a scintillating pitchers’ duel with Archie Williams’s Sam Black. Veley struck out ten batters to Black’s seven, and walked only one to Black’s two.  Both pitchers went the distance, as there was no reason for either coach to make a move.

Both teams played outstanding defense throughout most of the game. In the bottom of the third, Falcon second baseman Jack Evans’s high chopper over Veley’s head looked like it could be trouble, but Giants’ shortstop Sam Sumski charged across the diamond to make the play.

In the top of the fourth, Veley tried to help himself with a single up the middle, but Giants’ second baseman Max Paul’s sharp grounder was expertly handled by Falcon shortstop Luke Winter, who turned it into a 6-4-3 double play. Paul, in response, handled all three chances in the bottom of the fourth, which was the only inning of the first five in which Veley did not strike out at least two Falcons.

Redwood managed more contact than the Falcons on the day, with fewer strikeouts and three singles, but were unable to advance past second base. In contrast, the Falcons never even hit the ball out of the infield, yet somehow managed to push a runner across the plate, in a maddening series of events which one might summarize as “The World’s Most Unearned Run.”

With the game locked in a scoreless tie after 5 ½ innings, Winter, who had been DH’ed for the entire game, arrived at bat for the first time of the day.  Veley delivered a fastball right down the middle of the plate, which was called just high.

Veley, slightly rattled by the call, proceeded to plunk Winter in the back of the helmet on the next pitch. Fortunately, Winter was ok, but the Falcons now had the potential go-ahead run on base.  With the crowd noise rising, Veley responded by picking off Winter, who was frozen so far off of first base that he had no choice but to run towards second, where he looked to be out by a mile.

Alas, it was not meant to be. Giants’ first baseman Jordan Kimball’s throw down to second hit Winter squarely in the back, allowing him into scoring position.  With this development, a small group of Falcon students who had been chanting behind the plate became so obstreperous that they had to be warned by the umpire, and threatened with expulsion from the grounds.

The crowd noise did nothing to improve the Falcons’ hitting against Veley, who bore down and struck out Falcons’ second baseman Jack Evans for out number one, bringing leadoff hitter and Falcon center fielder Max Lefferts to the plate.

Lefferts, who had struck out looking in his first two at-bats, managed a comebacker to Veley. Veley turned and ran at Winter, who had made a break to third, and again looked to be out by a substantial margin. But sadly, Veley’s toss to third baseman Quinn Miller sailed high, tapping off of Miller’s glove and allowing Winter to race around third and score the go-ahead run.  Lefferts took second on the play.

With one out, Falcon third baseman Hudson Lofrano tapped another comebacker to Veley, who this time decided to take the safe route, keeping it himself and tagging Lofrano along the basepath for out number two, while allowing Lefferts to take third.

With Falcon right fielder Jackson Oliver Roa at the plate, Veley uncorked a pitch which got past Giants’ catcher Ryan Ip, prompting Lefferts to break for home. Ip scrambled to recover the ball at the backstop, turning and throwing to Veley, who was racing in to cover the plate. In a dramatically close play, Veley’s tag on Lefferts arrived just in time, retiring the side and preventing another unearned Falcon run.

But the damage had been done. Leading off the top of the seventh, Paul, the only Giant who hit Black well all day, raised a stir with a line drive to center field, but Lefferts was there to make the play.  And after Sumski and Kimball went down swinging, reality sunk in that there were to be no more chances. Redwood had fallen, and now stood 12-7 on the year (7-2 MCAL).

The Giants get another chance at home against the Falcons, when the two teams square off again Thursday at Moody Field. Next week, the Giants travel to Livermore on Monday, before hosting the Spartans of Pinole Valley later in the week.

The Redwood JV Baseball Giants returned home Wednesday for the rubber match of a two-game series against the Cardinal Newman Cardinals of Santa Rosa. Having lost the first game 5-2 with many fresh faces in the lineup, the Giants returned most of their starters to the field – unfortunately with a similar result – falling 7-2.

The Cardinals got on the scoreboard right away. In the top of the first, starting pitcher Cole Engstrom plunked Cardinal center fielder Tanner Bradley, who promptly stole second, advancing to third on a passed ball.  Shortstop Carson Meyer knocked him in with a single to right, making it 1-0.

After Cardinal pitcher Jacob Morena flared a single just inside the right field line, Engstrom hit third baseman Anthony Gonzalez to load the bases.  When Engstrom hit his third batter of the inning (first baseman Mason Farrell) forcing in a run with just one out, fans were checking the skies for locusts or other signs of the apocalypse. But just like that, Cardinal left fielder Isaac Phelps lined a drive to second baseman Max Paul’s glove side. Paul made the play and quickly doubled up Farrell at first, pulling Engstrom and the Giants out of the inning.

Center fielder Jack Corvi started things off for the Giants with a bang, rapping a standup double into the gap in left center, then taking third on a grounder to Meyer by third baseman Quinn Miller.  With the infield in, Corvi made a break for home on a grounder to second baseman Aiden Wedge, but Wedge gunned him down to keep the Giants off the board.

The Cardinals struck again in the top of the second, as Wedge led off by slapping a single over Miller’s head. Wedge then took off running as Cardinal right fielder Jack Pezzollo laid down a textbook bunt to the third base side. Miller raced in to make the play at first, vacating third, which became Wedge’s next target on the basepaths.

Giants’ catcher Ryan Ip hustled up the line to cover third, but first baseman Jordan Kimball threw the ball past him. Left fielder Gavin Soper’s backup throw from the fence in foul ground was not in time at the plate, scoring Wedge and making it 3-0.

After another walk and stolen base put runners on second and third with one out, Engstrom settled down, making Meyer look silly on a wicked curveball. Shortstop Sam Sumski then picked a Morena line drive up off of his shoetops for out number three.

The Giants broke through in their half of the second, as Paul hit a bomb over the head of Phelps, who kicked it around, letting Paul roll into third with no outs. Paul scored when Sumski floated a single into left field, dropping the ball just in front of Phelps.  Sumski and the Giants were robbed, however, when Kimball’s sharp grounder to third was snagged by Gonzalez, who threw wide to Wedge at second. Despite Wedge being at least a foot off the base when handling the throw, the ump called Sumski out, stalling the Giants’ momentum, and holding the score 3-1.

After a welcome 1-2-3 inning by Engstrom, the Giants added another run in the third when Miller’s sharp grounder sizzled under Gonzalez’s glove and off his foot, scoring Corvi and making it 3-2.

In the top of the fourth, Engstrom got two quick outs, but then walked Pezzollo and Bradley, bringing Meyer up to the plate. Meyer bashed a ball through the gap in left center, all the way to the fence, scoring two and making it 5-2.  But when the dust settled and Meyer stood on second, Engstrom raised some eyebrows by tossing the ball from the mound over to Miller at third. To the surprise of many in attendance, the ump raised his right fist for out number three.  Apparently, Bradley had never touched third base while racing around to score, and the sharp-eyed Giants’ challenge was upheld, stripping a run off the board, and keeping the game within reach at 4-2.

The bottom of the fifth was highlighted by the Ryan Ip fan club, a merry handful of student spectators who celebrated Ip’s every move of the day. When Ip blooped a ball just between Moreno and Wedge, and Wedge skipped the ball past Farrell, allowing Ip to race to second, the fan club went wild, only briefly lowering their enthusiasm when Ip was almost immediately picked off.

Sumski came in to pitch for the Giants in the sixth inning, quickly walking his first two batters. Things looked up when Pezzollo lined into an instant replay of Max Paul’s double play in the first, with Paul turning it equally proficiently the second time around.  However, Bradley didn’t get the memo, lifting a monster shot to dead center, all the way over the fence and onto the Redwood track. Corvi could only turn and watch as the ball came to rest near the soccer goal, sending the Cardinals up 6-2.

Redwood fought back in their half of the sixth, hitting the ball hard, and putting runners on first and second, but the Cardinals always seemed to make a play to keep the Giants from scoring. The Ip Fan Club held their collective breath as their hero skied a popup to the right side.  Farrell staggered around, trying to keep a bead on it, and at the last second, lurched and threw out his glove to make the play, retiring the side.

The Cardinals proceeded to tack on another run in the seventh, sweeping the season series, and bringing the Giants to 11-6 on the year (7-1 MCAL). The streaky Giants, now dropping three of four following a seven-game win streak, will come back tomorrow to host the Albany Cougars in another non-league contest.

Friday Mar 25 – Bishop Thomas A. Daly Field

Redwood Giants @ Marin Catholic (Kentfield) Wildcats

Starting Time: 4:30PM

Starting Temp: 68°F Sunny

Final Score: 1-0 Redwood 

Starting pitcher Chas Veley spun six innings of no-hit ball, and the Redwood JV Baseball Giants hung on for a 1-0 win over the Marin Catholic Wildcats on a sunny Friday afternoon in Kentfield.

With the Wildcats threatening in the bottom of the seventh, Cole Engstrom arrived on the mound and slammed the door on them, bringing solace to a Giants team which – three days before – had fallen to the Wildcats in an extra-innings nail-biter, squandering numerous scoring opportunities towards their first loss in ten games. 

On Friday, Redwood managed an early run which stood up the entire game, as both pitchers turned in stellar outings. Wildcat Gavin Simurdiak tossed a complete-game two-hitter, issuing only one walk and fanning four on the day.

In the top of the second, Simurdiak doled out his only free pass of the day to Giants’ left fielder Gavin Soper, who took full advantage of the gift. Soper advanced to second on a wild pitch, then stole third as Wildcat catcher Grady Krause threw behind him to second base. Soper appeared picked off, but stayed alive when his slide at third kicked the ball loose from Wildcat third baseman Brody Ransom’s waiting tag.

With two outs, Sam Sumski worked the count full, before delivering a clutch line drive to deep center field.  Wildcat Bennett Hadd was playing Sumski well, but started in on the ball, misjudging the carry, and was forced to turn tail as the ball sailed over his head, scoring Soper and allowing Sumski into third with an easy triple.

The middle innings raced along, as both pitchers settled in, and both teams played error-free defense. Chas Veley’s single up the middle was the only hit by either team until the bottom of the seventh.

Down to their last two outs, the Wildcats finally reached Veley, and stirred up the makings of a rally. First baseman Grant Cooper slapped a single to left – Marin Catholic’s first hit of the game – and went on to steal second.  When Wildcat left fielder Toby Richards lined a Veley fastball into right-center, only an outstanding play by Redwood center fielder Jack Corvi prevented Cooper from racing home with the tying run, as Corvi delivered a bullet home on the fly, just up the third base side, which would have meant certain doom for Cooper’s scoring hopes.  

With runners on second and third now, and still only one out, tension was mounting, and the raucous chatter on the Wildcat home side grew louder to greet relief pitcher Cole Engstrom. When Redwood coaches decided to intentionally walk shortstop Carson Davis to load the bases, goose bumps were flaring among fans on both sides.

Engstrom however, would have none of it – blowing three straight fastballs pastthe pinch hitter Noah DiRienzo for out number two, then two straight past Wildcat catcher Grady Krause.  With two outs, two strikes, the bases loaded and up by a single run, Engstrom then snapped off a curveball that froze Krause solid at the plate for out number three, and the shutout win.  

The Giants, now 11-4 on the year (7-1 MCAL), travel to Santa Rosa to take on Cardinal Newman in the first of a two-game set, returning to host the Cardinals in Larkspur on Wednesday.