On Saturday, March 23, the Redwood Giants varsity baseball team took on the Marin Catholic Wildcats at the home of the San Francisco Giants, Oracle Park. Ranking as a top five major league baseball stadium by many publications including Sports Illustrated and USA Today, playing ball doesn’t get any better for these high school players.
Starting pitcher Rex Solle took the bump in the top of the first inning as the visiting Wildcats were up to bat.
“This is what dreams are made of,” Solle said. “Since I was a child, I never imagined that I would ever play baseball on the same field as the San Francisco Giants, let alone at the high school level.”
After a single by the first batter Carter Capobianco of the Wildcats, Solle retired the next three batters with a groundout to first base and two strikeouts.
The large righty Liam Smith took the mound for the opposing Wildcats as the Giants started off their first inning at bat with a two out single from Solle (who was batting in the third position). Another single to right field from sophomore Jack Moseley advanced Solle to third base. Solle was then left stranded on a groundout.
With a quiet second inning, the game took shape in the third with Solle on the mound hitting three batters with pitches, two base hits and a walk, bringing in three runs for the Wildcats. The Giants then responded with three outs in a row at the plate. The score after the first three innings was 3-0 Marin Catholic.
The fifth inning brought some more action as junior Lucas Ghio led off the inning with a single on a hard ground ball to shortstop. Senior Gavin Soper then advanced him with a single to right field. A great sacrifice bunt and a single to right field from freshman Chase Johnson allowed Ghio to score. A groundout to second base then let in the second run of the game for the Giants, leaving the score 3-2.
In the top of the sixth, Solle was taken out of the game and the relief pitcher Matthew Knauer was brought into the game. After a tough showing of two hit batters and a walk, he was promptly taken out and replaced by Moseley. Moseley then walked two more batters and senior Max Paul was brought into the game. In two pitches, he managed to obtain two outs and end the inning on defense for the Giants. The score was now 5-2 Marin Catholic.
The rest of the game was quiet for the Giants as the score remained 5-2, a win for the Wildcats at Oracle Park. This took the Giants to a record of 8-1 in league play, making it the first loss of the season.
“It’s only one out of 24 games this season. It would have been nice to get a win today at Oracle, but we got to move on to the next one with our heads held high,” Solle said.
