Following a heartbreaking 15-inning loss to Novato in the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) championship, the Giants were ready to start fresh in the first round of the North Coast Section (NCS) Division I Playoff. On Tuesday, May 19, the Giants rallied past the Campolindo Cougars in a hard-fought 6-4 victory, in a game filled with clutch hits and intense temperament from both teams.
With sophomore Landon Brunk on the mound, the Giants breezed through the first inning and struck first as senior Ethan Ferry laced a single to right field. Senior Theo Trono followed by drawing a walk, and junior Maxim Wells came in clutch for the Giants, hammering a one-run double to right field, putting the Giants on the board 1-0.
In the bottom of the first, the Cougars caught a few breaks, as sophomore third baseman Danny Alvarez committed a throwing error, causing the runner to reach first base. On the next pitch, a groundball was hit to junior shortstop Noah Gersch, who flipped the ball to Trono, who then fired the ball to first base to make for a smooth 6-4-3 double play. Another error from Alvarez put a runner on first base and continued the inning. Brunk was able to get out of the jam, as he got a Cougar batter to ground out to Gersch.
The Giants’ bats went silent in the second inning, as they weren’t able to add to their lead.
In the top of the third, Brunk was having a difficult time locating his pitches, which led to a walk and a single, putting runners at the corners. With just one out, he allowed a hit to left field that went underneath left fielder Rowan Borghuis’s glove, scoring both runs and putting the Cougars ahead 2-1. On the next pitch, a ball was lined straight at Brunk and hit off his thigh. He was able to recover and leave for the rest of the inning unharmed.
As the Giants approached the plate, tempers started to flare as the Cougars dugout began to heckle Giants batters. Ferry responded by launching a leadoff double down the right field line, and as soon as he reached base, he was caught between second and third where he was tagged out aggressively by the shortstop, sparking tension between the teams.
Brunk noticed the interaction between the players and cited it as the cause of the Giants’ rallying.
“Their trash talking really fired us up, and helped power us to win the game,” Brunk said.
Trono followed this by grounding a single to the right, and a few batters later, Wells came in clutch again, hitting a run-scoring single to tie the game at 2-2.
Returning to the mound, Brunk was fatigued as he walked the first batter. On a steal attempt, Ferry threw down to second, but the throw was offline, and the runner advanced to third on the costly error. The Cougar batter grounded a ball to shortstop, but took a bad hop over Gersch’s glove, making the score 3-2 Cougars. After the run, Brunk hit and walked a batter, causing the Cougars’ bench to heckle once again. Senior Jake Post was sent into the game to get the Giants out of the jam, resulting in two strikeouts to end the inning.
The Giants found their momentum in their half of the inning, as Borghuis reached on an error, and a sequence of a forceout and a stolen base got him to third. Stepping to the plate was Gersch, who grounded a ball up the middle to tie the game at 3 apiece. The next batter, Ferry, was hit by a pitch, causing both sides to chirp at one another, creating an intense interaction between both teams. Trono grounded a ball to the second baseman, which ended up being a productive out as it scored Gersch, extending the Giants lead to 4-3. As the fourth inning came to a close, the Giants were hanging on to the lead by a thread, as four errors had cost them greatly.
Post returned to the game pitching, and recorded two early outs before hitting a batter and allowing a single to put a runner in scoring position. On a heads-up play from Post, he dove for a comebacker and got the out at first, stranding the runners.
Leading off the 5th inning for the Giants, Wells walked and managed to steal his way to third. On a sneaky move from the batter Brunk, he faked a bunt on a wild pitch to throw the catcher off, scoring Wells from third, making the game 5-3.
The Cougars got on base quickly. On a walk and hit by pitch and on a double steal attempt, the runner on second was caught in a pickle. Gersch was knocked down on the basepath, which was ruled a fielder’s interference. The play sparked more volatile tension between the teams, firing up the Giants. The Cougars were able to score that runner on a sacrifice fly on a diving catch by Borghuis in deep left field. The score remained 5-4 at the end of the sixth.
The Giants’ bats went quiet in the sixth and were unable to add onto their lead, leaving the game up to Post going into the seventh.
Post proved dominant, recording a routine flyout, and after walking a batter, Ferry was able to catch the runner stealing at second base for the second out. Post struck out the final batter of the game, the same player who had tagged Ferry aggressively and tripped over Gersch, which fired up the team.
After this win in the first round of the NCS playoffs, the Giants will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will play Petaluma at home on Friday, May 22, at 5 p.m.
“[Petaluma] beat us early in the season, so it’s a pretty personal game now. It’s a revenge game for us, so we’re gonna go after them early,” Ferry said.
