5/4: The Giants broke out of their three-game slump in a commanding way with a 17-0 victory over Justin-Siena today at Moody Field. Josh Cohen, Blake Cusick and Noah Arrick combined for the shut out on the mound for the Giants, with Cusick earning the win, pitching 5 2/3 innings while giving up just four hits, striking out five and walking none. Noah Arrick closed out the seventh, sealing the victory for Redwood.
The Giants scored a run in the first, two in the second, and blew the game open with nine runs in the third. Redwood would score two more in the fourth and drop another crooked number, scoring three in the fifth. Despite getting two runners on, the sixth inning would be the only inning the Giants wouldn’t score. In the six innings of offense, Redwood would amass twenty hits, score seventeen runs and strike out only two times. Redwood’s defense stepped up, committing just one error in the field. “We needed this today” Head Coach Mike Firenzi said after the game, “We were good on the mound, Cusick came out and did a hell of a job. The bottom line is that we haven’t been playing up to our potential, hopefully today is a sign of things to come.” Blake Cusick earned his second win of the year and has given up just one earned run in his last ten and a third innings of work.
Luke Zlatunich had one hit on the board, but reached base two other
times on hard hit balls that could have been scored as hits, and scored two Giants runs. Riley Marsh also had a hit, breaking out on a base hit up the middle. Mackie Skall also had a single while adding another RBI on a sacrifice fly. Skall completed his 1-1-1-1 day by scoring. Gregory Block came in to relieve Skall behind the plate, but it was at the plate that Block made the difference with a single and a double, scoring twice while knocking in a run. Drew Jacks got the start in the outfield and banged out two hits, scoring twice, while knocking in three runs. Genki LeClair and Trevor Foehr both had two hits each with Foehr scoring twice while knocking in two runs. Nicolas Belgum, Anthony Pomilia and Aubrey Sine combined for nine hits, each collecting three. Sine knocked in one, Belgum two, with Pomilia plating three. Aubrey Sine has five hits in the last two games.
The Giants are now tied for second place (10-5) with Tam and will host their cross-town rival, Marin Catholic, on Friday at 4:30 at Moody Field. Marin Catholic has a 9-5 record and will likely start their ace, Jack Harris on the mound. Ironically, Harris is a 2016 transfer to MC from Tam. Oddly, the Wildcats still have a rain-out game to make up with Novato, despite the sunny weather we have had in the last two weeks. Drake still stands atop the MCAL Conference after their win today, they boast a 13-2 record with three games to play. With just one more win, Drake will win the round-robin and lock down the #1 seed for the MCAL play-offs. The Giants turn around and play Drake on Tuesday. Friday’s MC vs. Redwood game looms large, as the winner will improve their chances of earning the #2 seed.