On Wednesday, May 17 the varsity baseball team defeated Livermore High School with a score of 6-3 in the first round of the North Coast Section (NCS) Playoffs. The Giants entered this game after suffering a heartbreaking loss to San Marin in the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) Semifinals. The Giants were feeling very motivated and confident going into this game, especially after having a strong presence in the MCAL all-league teams. Senior pitcher Rory Minty was awarded Pitcher of the Year and pitched a complete game with 99 pitches and seven strikeouts. 

“My main mindset for this game was getting the win and making sure this wasn’t my last baseball game ever. It’s win or go home, so we had to make sure we did everything we could,” Minty said.

The Giants’ scoring run was led by Danil Wells who had two hits and two runs brought in (RBI). Rory Coughlan, Jack Moseley and Rory Minty all collected one hit and an RBI followed by Ben Resnick who had one hit and two stolen bases. 

The game started out slow in the first two innings with both teams struggling to drive in any runs. Both pitchers looked fresh and were tough to hit. In the third inning, Livermore was able to take advantage of sloppy defensive play by the Giants. After a fumbled ground ball and botched throw to first base, Livermore was able to drive in one run and load the bases with two outs in the third inning. After another Giants defensive error, Livermore found themselves up 3-0 going into the bottom of the third inning. The Giants’ offensive remained stagnant until an explosive fifth inning. 

“When you have the Pitcher of the Year on the mound, there is nothing that can beat us. We were able to rally back. Minty got a little fire in him and told us that we can’t win like this. So we made sure we got our hits together and focused on the basics, and went back to make us this team, like I said when we got the pitcher of the year on the mound no one has any fear on this team,” Resnick said.

The Giants made an explosive comeback in the fifth inning led by Danil Wells who brought two runners home. After the fifth inning, the Giants were up 6-3, and with Minty on the mound, the dugout was feeling confident with a comfortable lead. Minty was able to close the game out in the last two innings and was fired up after the final out. 

“We have to make sure that we stick to the things that make us a winning team and we just made sure this wasn’t our last game,” Resnick said.

The Giants are set to play Ukiah High School on May 20 in the quarterfinals of the NCS tournament.

“We are going to bring that same dog mentality we had in the fifth inning that led us to scoring six runs,” Minty said.