4/2: The Giants beat Marin Catholic 3-2 on a wet night at Moody field. After conceding a first inning solo home run, the Giants dug their heels in and played seven innings of exciting baseball with rival Marin Catholic.
Ben Cohen is mobbed by teammates
Down one run, the Giants immediately responded in the bottom of the first. Genki LeClair got the offense started with a single to right field. Starting pitcher, Ben Cohen, then smoked a hard grounder under the second baseman’s glove and by the right fielder, scoring LeClair. Capitalizing on the successive fielding errors, Cohen raced around the bases and slid safely into home, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.
In the second inning, the Wildcats had men at first and second with nobody out. Cohen then picked off the lead runner at second and catcher, Jake Nordstrom, threw out the runner attempting to steal second. Cohen would induce a ground ball to end the threat.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Sam Warren singled to left field. First baseman, Jack Morken, then collected his second hard base hit of the day, advancing Warren to second base.
#3 Sam Warren scores on #4 Jake Nordstrom’s single in the bottom of the 3rd to take a 3-1 lead over Marin Catholic.
Catcher, Jake Nordstrom, ended the Wildcats’ starting pitcher’s day with a line drive to right field, scoring Warren and advancing Morken to third base..
Robbie Wilson pitches 3-2/3innings, striking out six and giving up no earned runs.
Robbie Wilson entered the game in relief of Cohen and pitched three plus gutsy innings. Wilson would strikeout six batters throughout the heart of the MC order, often during critical moments of the game. The game almost got away from the Giants in the top of the seventh after two errors allowed one run to score and the tying run at third base. Wilson then struck out the clean up batter for out number two. The game ended on a spectacular play by right fielder Ben Cohen, who tracked down a foul ball along the right field fence to catch the third and final out of the contest. Tamalpias and MC are now tied for first with a 7-1 record and Drake and the Giants are tied for third with a 5-3 record. San Marin stands alone in fifth with a 4-4 record, setting the stage for a five team battle for four spots to make the playoffs. Head Coach Mike Firenzi has his sights set on winning the league not just making the conference playoffs. “This is a big win for us. We drop this one, and we are fighting just to make the playoffs. Now, we are just two away from first place with more than half of the season left. We are back in the hunt.” Firenzi said after the game.
The Giants resume MCAL play on Friday, April 5th, when they take on Branson High School at the new stadium at College of Marin. First pitch – 4:30 p.m.