On Tuesday, May 7th, the Redwood Giants boys’ varsity baseball team took on rival Marin Catholic in the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) semifinal playoff game. The Giants came into the game as the top seed in the league, while the Wildcats came in as the fourth seed. On the mound for Redwood was star senior pitcher Rex Solle. The last time the two teams met, they played in the San Francisco Giants’ Oracle Park, where Redwood suffered a defeating 5-2 loss, just one of two losses for the Giants this season in MCAL play. Wildcats’ senior pitcher Liam Smith shut down the Giants in that game and was slated to pitch in the playoff match as well. However, he was met with a very different outcome on Tuesday. The Giants’ offense exploded after Solle could work out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first. With the help of four errors and two hit-by-pitches, Redwood tacked on six quick runs to give themselves a comfortable early lead. Solle continued to dominate the MC hitters, but with the significant lead, he was pulled early to rest for the looming championship game. The game took a weird turn in the sixth inning when junior Matthew Knauer entered to pitch with two outs. He got the first hitter to pop out, but because he entered on short notice, he had little time to warmup. Knauer returned to the bullpen between innings to fully prepare for the next inning. The Marin Catholic coaching staff quickly protested the game, arguing that the pitcher was not allowed to pitch in the bullpen between innings after already pitching in the game. This resulted in an excruciating wait until the umpires ruled that no guideline was banning this. Due to some shaky defense and untimely hits, the Wildcats could tally seven total runs, but the Giants still pulled away with a dominant 11-7 victory. Yet, on the game’s final play, tensions boiled as Marin Catholic’s Luke Martin took a hard slide into junior Theo Trono at second base. Head Coach Mike Firenzi took exception to this, as did Marin Catholic’s accusations earlier in the game. Managers from both sides got involved in a heated argument and had to be separated. Things were eventually settled, and Redwood will play in the MCAL championship game against San Marin on Friday, May 10, at Albert Park in San Rafael.
