Wednesday, April 13, 2016, Campolindo High School, Moraga, CA.- The Giants traveled to Moraga on Wednesday night to take on baseball power house Campolindo Cougars in a much anticipated test. Pitcher, Robbie Wilson, started on the hill for the Giants, opposite the Cougars ace. Both pitchers kept the game scoreless through four innings. The Giants, however, were not without their scoring opportunities, as they left several base runners in scoring position in the third, when Nick Cook singled and Robbie Wilson drew a walk, eventually stranding them on second and third base. Giants also threatened in the top of the fourth to no avail.
The Giants finally broke through in the top of the fifth. Nick Cook led off with a single. Second baseman, Genki LeClair, got things moving with a lead-off walk. Catcher, Sam Warren, laid down a text-book bunt to advance Cook and LeClair to third and second, respectively. Jack Morken then hit a hard infield troublemaker, scoring Cook. The game might have been looked a little more secure after Enzo Santa drove a bullet up the middle, only to see his opponent make a diving catch to end the threat. (1-0 Giants)
Kyle Felder took over for Wilson in the fifth inning. Challenging the Campo batters with high-heat and a variety of off speed stuff, Felder kept the Cougar dugout silent-throwing two scoreless innings (5 & 6) of relief.
The Giants kept the pressure on the Cougars in the sixth. Jacob Klionsky drew a walk. Nick Cook added his second hit of the day, moving Klionsky to second. Genki LeClaire then singled, moving Klionsky to third base. A wild pitch that pin balled behind home plate gave Klionsky the opportunity to alertly steal home safely. (2-0 Giants)
The contest seemed at hand with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Unfortunately, the baseball gods had other plans and decided to intervene, giving the Cougars some unearned help, that tied the game at two-a-piece at the end of regulation. (2-2 after seven innings)
The top half of the eighth started out promising. Nick Cook got on base after the Campo infielder had trouble with the hard hit ground ball. LeClaire then drew a walk, putting Cook in scoring position. Sam Warren hit into a fielders choice, forcing Genki out at second but moving Cook to third. Robbie Wilson was awarded first after being hit by a pitch, putting runners at first and third with two outs. Jack Morken then yanked one just foul that would have cleared the bases. The next pitch, Jack drove a hard hit ball to the hot corner and in-between the third baseman’s wickets, scoring Nick Cook from third. (3-2 Giants)
Tabor handed the ball to Jack Morken in the bottom of the eighth to hopefully decide the match. Morken struck out two, but the Redwood defense forgot themselves on a few infield hits, allowing Campo to once again tie the game 3-3 after eight innings of play.
With the sun sinking in the west, and the air temperature falling, Jackson Barry led off the top half of the ninth inning with a shot to right center (Erik Simonson entered to pinch run for Barry). Dean Watson then drew a walk. Jacon Klionsky then successfully laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving Watson to second base (1 out) and Simonson to third. Nick Cook then crushed a high ball to right field, but the endless outfield gave the defender plenty of time to run down the ball (2 outs). The game winning sacrifice fly, however, allowed the speedy Simonson to tag up and score the Giants go ahead and winning run (4-3, Giants).
Jeremy Sellier entered the game for Morken in the bottom half of the ninth inning. Sellier faced the heart of the line-up, but calmed his teammates and certain parents nerves by securing three pop-ups to finally end the contest and give Redwood a hard fought, high intensity, extra-innings victory to start their much deserved spring break. Final: 4 to 3 Giants. The Giants finished with with four runs, six hits on two errors. Campo finished with three runs, seven hits on three errors.
Notable stats: Zack Gordon entered the game in the seventh inning at shortstop, making a stellar short-hop to throw out a campo runner in the bottom of the seventh. Erik Simonson (winning run), Genki LeClair (6PA, 4AB, 1 hit, 1 RBI, 2 BB), Jacob Klionsky (5PA, 2PA, 1 run, 1BB), Jackson Barry (hit), Nick Cook (5AB, 2 hits, 1 RBI, 2 runs), Jack Morken (2 hits*, 2 RBI, HBP). The Giants resume play next Tuesday, April 19, 2016 @ Justin Sienna in Napa-4:30 pmm first pitch. GO GIANTS!