With multiple starting pitchers unavailable coming into the Giants’ Friday afternoon game against Branson, varsity head coach Mike Firenzi was looking to get a few innings out of senior Parker Laret. Instead, he got a complete game shutout and a 1-0 victory.
“I was hoping to get four innings out of him,” Firenzi said. “To get a complete game from [Laret] is huge for us.”
Laret dominated the mound, striking out nine batters and giving up just five hits throughout the game. According to Laret, he utilized his fastball and mixed in his curve and splitter.
“I felt like I threw well,” Laret said. “I just threw strikes and [Branson] couldn’t hit [the ball].”
The only threat by the Bulls came early in the game with runners on first and second base in the bottom of the first. Branson freshman Will Jacobsen singled to left field, and senior Ethan Terrell attempted to score from second base. Fortunately for Redwood, junior Henry Zeisler fielded the ball and fired it to the catcher––junior Trevor Foehr––multiple steps ahead of Terrell for the out.
“At the time it was a nice play, but it didn’t seem real important,” Firenzi said of the out at the plate. “At the end of the game it was huge, it could’ve been the tying run.”
While the Giants were clean in the field and on the mound, their bats were only a bit warmer than the Bulls’ on Friday. Their only run came in the top of the fifth when senior Zack Kopstein scored from second on an opposite-field single from sophomore Josh Cohen.
“We just need to hit more ground balls and line drives,” Laret said. “We were popping it up and they can catch fly balls, but they can’t get ground balls so I think we need to just focus on hitting down on [the ball] more.”
Top Performers:
P, Parker Laret: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 9 K
RF, Josh Cohen: 1 for 3, 1 RBI
CF, Aubrey Sine: 2 for 3, 2B, 2 SB
Up Next:
The Giants’ will be facing their toughest league challenger on Tuesday when they play Marin Catholic on the Wildcats’ home turf. The two rivals have not played each other since Redwood walked-off against MC in last year’s MCAL championship game. According to Laret, the Giants will need to bring their best offensive game in order to win.
“We’re not going to let who we play dictate what we do,” Firenzi said. “We’re going to throw strikes and play catch on defense and put the ball in play a little better than we did [against Branson].”
Kopstein is set to start on the mound, according to Firenzi. The game is on April 5 and begins at 4:30 p.m. at MC.
