After a defeat last season to the rival Marin Catholic (MC) Wildcats on May 13, 2022, the varsity baseball team has worked for countless hours to reach their goal of winning the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) title this season.

The team’s talent will be showcased this spring with leadership from last year’s standout players, including Rex Solle, Rory Minty and Jerry Omara. This season will reveal the team’s ability to compete with a majority underclassman roster, following departures from multiple senior key pieces who are now fulfilling their college baseball aspirations. 

The team began official practices and had their first scrimmage on Feb. 11, focusing on improving overall offense and pitching efficiency. Outside of practices, players are working independently on their own strength and stamina to prepare for the upcoming season. 

Solle, a junior who has been on the varsity team since his freshman year, will take on more of a leadership role after posting some of the best numbers last year by any pitcher in the MCAL with a 1.99 earned run average (ERA) — meaning he allowed an average of 1.99 runs per nine innings pitched without the aid of an error or passed ball. Solle looks ahead on how he expects this season to unfold.

“I think we are [going to] have a great season again. The fans should be expecting a strong, exciting year, with many exciting games,” Solle said. 

Since last year’s departure of seniors, the team has been heavily spotlighting their attention on leadership and chemistry. Standout pitcher Minty has a large senior management role to fill and discusses how he intends on creating a successful environment for the incoming underclassman. 

“This season, we have a lot of younger players [compared to] last year, [when] we had a team full of mainly seniors. We are relying on a lot of younger classmen to fill a big role,” Minty said. “I love building a team around young guys knowing that the rest of their high school careers are going to be good ones, as I’ll be able to help them build the chemistry they need to win.”

The Giants’ season last year came down to the very end, with a nail-biting extra inning loss to the Wildcats in the MCAL championship game. The overall performance was strong, however, some flaws were present in the bullpen which Solle intends to improve this season. 

“We threw a lot of balls last season so we are working on throwing right at the hitters and not walking a lot of batters,” Solle said. “We gave up a lot of walks that turned into free runs, so this year we are going to come down on just going after [the opponents].” 

Omara, who transferred to Redwood last year and played a significant role on the pitching staff, is confident that the team will be aiming for nothing lower than the MCAL championship. He and the team will be taking the season week by week, focusing on what is right in front of them. 

“People should expect us to make a comeback from last year, [which] was a tough year. As players, [we] will do our best to make everybody in the school proud. The end goal is to make the playoffs, win MCALs [and] then make it as far as we can [in the California Interscholastic Federation North Coast Section]. I believe in the team and I hope everybody else believes in [us] too,” Omara said.

The Giants continue their preparation for the upcoming season as they strive to turn their hopes into a reality.