2/24: They might have had some first game jitters, they could have also felt some pressure to continue the Giants 15-game home winning streak, maybe they still have a lot of rust to kick off from the offseason, or perhaps they are still figuring out their identity.  No matter, the Giants were not the better team today as they lost their home pre-season opener, 6-2, against the Casa Grande Gauchos on a sunny day in Larkspur.

The game was scoreless until the the top of the 3rd.  Starting pitcher Zach Cohen struck out first batter he faced in the inning, but a couple of errors in the outfield led to a 4-run inning for Casa.  Redwood answered with a run in the bottom of the frame when Henry Zeisler plated Parker Bartlett on a sacrifice fly.  Casa scored twice in the top of the 6th on an infield error that was followed by a single, taking the Giants into the bottom of the 6th down 6-1.

The Giants tried to spark a rally in the bottom of the 7th as Trevor Foehr walked with one out, Zeisler singled to right, and Parker Laret hit a missile off of the pitcher, loading the bases for Aubrey Sine.  Sine hit the first pitch he saw deep enough to score Foehr from 3rd, putting the Giants in striking distance, 6-2.  But with only an out to spare, the game ended on a pop fly with the tying run standing in the on-deck circle.

The Giants offense struggled as they struck out 9 times and failed to get timely hits as they stranded 9 runners on base.  Zeisler, Laret, Nicolas Belgum, Zach Cohen and Josh Cohen combined for 5 hits for the Giants.  Defensively, the Giants logged more errors than runs scored, 3-2. However, 2nd baseman Parker Bartlett was flawless on his 5 chances in the field and stole a hit when he made a diving play to his left that saved a run.

Zach Cohen struck out 2 in his 4.1 innings of work and was relieved by his brother, Josh, who struck out 1 in his 1.2 innings.  Parker Laret closed for the Giants with a scoreless frame, striking out 1.  When asked if he was concerned about opening the season with a loss, Coach Firenzi said, “You don’t win championships in February, you win them in May.”

The Giants are on the road as they play Petaluma on Friday at 3:30 and have a quick turnaround with a scrimmage against Riordan on Saturday.  The game on Saturday will be followed by the Dugout Club Fundraiser at the Redwood Cafeteria that night.