Sports
Marin Catholic In Title Fight
Redwood baseball holds out hope for NCS playoff berth, despite a loss in the league semifinals.
The Wildcats have had Redwood High's number all season, and Thursday night was no different as Marin Catholic pounded out a 6-1 victory in the Marin County Athletic League baseball playoffs at Albert Park.
"They were told that they beat Redwood twice, but to beat a team three times it wouldn't be an easy task," Marin Catholic coach Tim Grayson said.
It was a big night for Marin Catholic's Gunnar Sandberg, who was honored earlier at the Marin County Survivors Celebration. Sandberg fell into a coma after he was hit in the head with a baseball last year. Sandberg, who was near death for weeks as he lay in a coma, fought hard over the past year to recover and took the field with his team for the start of the 2011 season. His misfortune resulted in the adoption of new rules for baseball bats and helmets.
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"He's handled it pretty well. … He's kind of put that behind him," Grayson said. "The kids just want to play baseball."
Sandberg has said he still has some trouble with his memory, but that doesn't seem to be slowing him down. Sanderson singled and scored on an RBI by Andrew Traver in the bottom of the second inning to give Marin Catholic a lead it did not surrender. Traver scored on a wild pitch.
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The Wildcats (20-4) put the game out of reach with a three-run fifth inning. Allan Kunst stole third base, then quickly got to his feet and ran home after an errant throw. Tyler Scott's single then scored Conor Murphy to give the Wildcats a 6-0 lead.
Wildcats pitcher Robb Woodcock threw five scoreless innings for the win. The Giants' Cal Becker went four innings and took the loss.
"Marin Catholic's a great team. We made some costly errors," Redwood coach Jeff Packman said. "We just didn't capitalize when we had runners in scoring position."
MacKenzie Thomas scored Redwood's only run in the sixth inning on a single by Jason Fike.
Marin Catholic will play in the title game Saturday against the winner of Friday's game between Drake and San Marin.
Redwood (15-10), meanwhile, will apply for a berth in the North Coast Section playoffs.
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