KENTFIELD, Calif. – Marin Catholic overcame some early fielding errors as the Wildcats more than made up for it by putting on their hitting shoes to roll past Terra Linda in a 12-4 Friday afternoon home victory.
Fielding problems in the first inning for senior starting pitcher Alex Saavedra led to an RBI single by Terra Linda sophomore Henry Herrera, but the 1-0 lead was short-lived.
Marin Catholic (8-2, 4-2 Marin County Athletic League) took advantage of the wildness of Terra Linda sophomore starting pitcher Wyatt Dagenais to put a three-spot on the board in the bottom of the first, and from there Saavedra settled down and the Wildcats coasted to an easy win.
With one out in the first Marin Catholic sophomore catcher Jake Lyall drew a walk, junior designated hitter Carl Schmidt got a base hit, and senior second baseman Kody Perry was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After a pop out up stepped sophomore left fielder Jayden Lee to the plate. He ripped a two RBI single up the middle scoring Lyall and Schmidt, and sending Perry to third, and Marin Catholic had a 2-1 lead it would never relinquish. Texas A&M-bound senior first baseman Dylan Eshoff was hit by a pitch to reload the bases and senior Greg Schiff followed with an RBI single plating Perry and it was 3-0 Wildcats who ended up batting around in the first inning.
Saavedra had a bit of trouble in the second. An error, a walk, and a single loaded the bases, but he pitched his way out of the jam and left the bases loaded.
Dagenais gave way to junior Miles Finn in the bottom of the inning but Marin Catholic touched him up for three runs after Lyall reached on a one-out error, Schmidt singled again and Perry drove both of them in with a double. Junior third-baseman Brad Burnes singled in Perry and went to third on a single by Lee, however when he tried to score on a fly out to centerfield by Eshoff, he was thrown out on a perfect throw by Terra Linda senior centerfielder Chris De Langis.
The Wildcats added two more runs in the third as Finn got wild to help. Schiff was hit by a pitch, stole second and then third after a lineout by junior right-fielder Spencer Wheels. Marin Catholic leadoff hitter and senior centerfielder Jake Galetti was hit by a pitch and took second on indifference. That brought up Lyall and he drove both Schiff and Galetti in the make it 8-1 Wildcats.
After a scoreless fourth inning Marin Catholic got its final four runs in the fifth as Finn continued to be wild. He walked Schiff, hit junior Maddox Thompson who came in for Wheels, and then he hit junior Ronnie Estrada who came in for Galetti. Senior Cruz Quezada, who replaced Lyall, singled home Schiff and Thompson. Schmidt reached on an error that sent Quezada to third and he scored the final Wildcats run to make it 12-1 on a sacrifice fly by junior Nick Ferraro, who replaced Lee.
Terra Linda (1-5, 0-4) got three runs (two earned) in the top of the sixth off Wildcats sophomore reliever Liam Smith. The big hit was a double by Trojans senior leadoff hit and centerfielder Chris De Langis. He had a double that drove in two and he came all the way around to score after the ball was booted in the outfield.
Marin Catholic went down in order in the bottom of the sixth and then head coach Jesse Foppert brought in junior reliever Bruno Condit and he set down all three batters he faced on eight pitches including striking out the final two batters to end the ballgame.
Saavedra went four innings and gave up an unearned run on five hits, two walks and six strikeouts to get the win. The tall right-hander now improves to 4-0 this season with a 0.57 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched.
As for the rough start but after finding his groove and the offense came through for him as it has all season Saavedra had this to say.
“I trusted my team and I trusted my defense and I settled down and filled the (strike) zone.” Saavedra said.
“We’ve got some great guys that can really swing it.” Saavedra continued.
Speaking of those guys Lee was 2-for-2 with the double and two RBI, Perry had two RBI and scored twice, Lyall had the two RBI and scored a run, Quezada drove in two and scored a run, and Schiff had an RBI and scored twice.
“It’s early in the season and there’s a lot of room for improvement,” Foppert remarked. “I tell these guys every day if we want to reach our goals and get to where we want to be at the end we need to get better every day. A win is a win but after today we still need to get better.”
The next chance to get better will be on Tuesday and Wednesday with a home and away series with MCAL arch rival Redwood-Larkspur.
Note: Marin Catholic student reporters Preston Powers and Brendan Sheehan contributed to this report by conducting interviews.
