Sports briefs: Amesa’s home run the difference as San Rafael takes down Marin Catholic
Catcher Angel Amesa led off the top of the eighth inning with a two-run homer as the San Rafael High softball team rode another dominant outing from Thomara Drummer to a 4-2 victory against Marin Catholic on Monday.
Drummer pitched all eight innings, allowing one hit and two runs while piling up 16 strikeouts.
The Bulldogs (14-2, 7-2 MCAL) got on the board in the fifth inning when leadoff hitter Sophia Everett hit a two-run homer. Drummer took a no-hitter into the bottom of the seventh as MC (4-4-1, 3-3) manufactured a run on a hit batter, a walk and an RBI groundout by Vivian Partain. Lana Wihlborg doubled to tie the game at 2-2 before Drummer got out of the inning with a groundout.
Amesa reached base all four times with two hits and two walks, scoring once. MC pitcher Selina Peña struck out 12 hitters in eight innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs.
- Redwood got multiple hits from four different players in securing a 4-1 win against Terra Linda on Monday. Ava Brown and Gia Meyers had two hits apiece batting second and third, respectively. Addy Dunn and Elle McElreath also had two hits each batting back to back in the seven and eight holes. Redwood (10-5, 7-2) scored three times in the third on RBI hits by Brown and Meyers. Eleanor Johnson pitched a complete game for TL (3-5, 2-2).
- Lydia Battaglia had three hits as Archie Williams remained atop the MCAL standings following a 7-4 win against Tam Monday. The Peregrine Falcons (9-3, 7-1) scored three times in both the third and fifth innings to break the game open. Paige Murphy pitched five innings, striking out nine. Murphy also had a hit and scored twice. Amelia Richer had a hit, an RBI, and scored a run in addition to pitching two innings in relief. Zoe Pletcher and Ava Lee had two hits apiece for Tam (3-11, 1-8). Archie Williams continues a busy week with a makeup game against Marin Catholic on Tuesday before facing San Rafael on Wednesday.
Prep baseball
San Marin took advantage of three walks and a hit batter issued by Livermore in the first inning, scoring four times in an eventual 7-0 win on Monday. Sean McGrath and Tyler Keehn had run-scoring hits for the Mustangs in the opening inning.
Cole Chamberlain led off the bottom of the third inning with a home run. Anthony Scheppler had two RBIs for the Mustangs (9-7).
- J.P. Harmon hit a solo home run, Cohen Garcia and Trevor Cleary had two hits apiece as Novato posted a 4-1 win against Miramonte. Novato (11-6) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth then tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh.
- Errors proved costly as San Rafael was unable to hold a late lead in a 6-4 loss to Analy on Monday. The Bulldogs (4-12) led 4-2 through five innings but committed an error in the sixth that led to an Analy run. The Tigers tied the game in the seventh inning then scored twice in the eighth to pull ahead for good. The Bulldogs tallied five hits but committed four errors.
Boys tennis
Marin Catholic won three of four singles matches to hold off Tam 4-3 on Monday. Andrew Gorcyzcki, Qas Vidyarthi, and Corey Miller won at Nos. 2-4, respectively for MC, which is seeded third in this week’s MCAL playoffs and faces No. 2 Branson on Wednesday. Tam’s Tyler Byrne picked up the win at No. 1 singles but the Red-tailed Hawks needed to beat MC to force a play-in game against Archie Williams for the final playoff berth on Tuesday. The Peregrine Falcons travel to face top-seeded Redwood in Wednesday’s other semifinal. The final is to take place at 4 p.m. Friday at Tam.
- Novato got singles wins from Matthew Moyer and Tamato Toshi as it closed the season with a 4-3 win against San Marin. The Mustangs claimed the top two singles matches, courtesy of Oliver Pool and Milo Reyes.
Boys golf
Mason Sylvester took medalist honors with a 1-under-par 34 as Marin Catholic posted a 198-246 victory against San Rafael at Meadow Club on Monday. Kai Payne paced the Bulldogs with a 39.
- Hayden Thill carded a 32 at Mill Valley Golf Course to keep Tam unbeaten on the season following a 186-199 win against San Marin. Ben Friedman and Max Berg both shot 34s for the Red-tailed Hawks (14-0), who have two matches remained. Cal Marshal led the Mustangs with a 35.
Boys basketball
San Rafael announced the hiring of Colin Hamilton as the new head coach of the varsity program. Hamilton has been an assistant coach at College of Marin, Marin Catholic, San Domenico and Branson during his career.
Hamilton graduated from Sonoma State and has been a teacher in Marin at Saint Hilary School and Mill Valley Middle School.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 6-20 campaign with a league victory over crosstown rival Terra Linda in the final game of the season. All-MCAL honorable mention Gio Brovelli is set to return as a senior next year.